Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The water in my aquarium has a greenish tint to it. There is no algae on the sides of the tank but I have noticed a little brownish red stuff on the turtle dock. We had an over-feeding problem for a while so I have been doing some pretty aggressive partial water changes once a week and I changed 1/2 the filter pads and all the charcoal in the Fluval 304 to see if that helps (I've had the Fluval about a month now and hadn't changed any of the media yet). Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to clear up this problem? I don't know if there is a really good product out there for this sort of thing that I could add to the water. Thanks.

Most products that claim to get rid of algae are junk.

The best way to get rid of algae is to continue what you are doing and control the nutrients.

A few things to try

1. If they aren't already, set the lights up on a timer to minimize the amount of extra light the tank gets

2. make sure it is not by a window

3. Siphon out any uneaten food with a turkey baster and do not allow (as best you can) uneaten food and debris to collect on the bottom of the tank.

4. but a good quality (Sera is a GREAT brand) nitrate test kit and measure your nitrate levels as nitrate will cause algae blooms.

5. Keep in mind that since you are undergoing a series of pretty serious water changes your water chemistry is all over the place at the moment. This alone could be the reason for green water and it may fix itself with proper nutrient control(not over feeding) when you have finished your series of water changes and settled back down to a more regular schedual.

Hope this helps! Good luck
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