Help! Green water!

So, yesterday I noticed my water was had a faint green fog, I didn't think much of it because it was time to change 10-20% of water anyway, I thought maybe it would go away after the water change (Change from distilled to arrowhead since I recently heard distilled is bad)... Then I go to work,,, I was very... VERY wrong, just in the five hours I was gone that green fog got a little thicker... I figured maybe it was algae? So all day I left my room as dark as possible to prevent UV to feed whatever it was (Photosynthesis?)..

I don't think I over fed (Mainly tweezer-feed red wrigglers, and put live blood worms in a clean, empty jar)

I vacuum the top layer of sand then sucked out the twenty or so percent of water (Last week I did bad, I wanted to make sure I got all the ghost shrimp and pest snails out, so tore apart the tank to find them all, very bad no-no)

Temperature is and has been in low sixties

He does not seem bothered, he remains roaming the bottom worry-free

I recently added a powerhead to make a current, and a piece of driftwood

I have like five bunches of water grass in there, as well as three of some other plant, and four baby Wisteria plants from petsmart and one of those dehydrated seed packs from Petco buried in the sand

When I DID do the water change, I noticed the floating island I had was kind of slimy underneath

At work I got a product just for an emergency, it is called Algaecontrol by Tetra, active ingredients are Poly[ Oxyethylene (Dimethyliminio) Ethylene (Dimethyliminio) Ethylene Dichloride]

If I tried it would it hurt my newt? It says it is safe with plants and fish... But a newt isn't exactly a fish

Keep it as natural as possible, I have never thought chemicals were the way to go.... keep doing partial water changes and keep planting! Also, make sure your plants get some natural light, even a north window will do the job. I do not use any filter, just airstones and plants and regular partial water change, the water is always clear.

I do use a filter, it is the duetto 50 for ten gallon tanks (Which is the one I use for my newt) Should I be cleaning out my filter?

If you clean the media of the filter entirely, you kill as well the beneficial population of bacteria. How long has it been running?

my filter has been running.... Maybe less then a week? Or somewhere around there I only added it recently because I thought he was a firebelly until a few of the members pointed out his tail signed he was a pachytriton

A week is nothing, change 10 to 20 % of the water every 2 to 3 days initially if you suspect a problem and it will be fine. Let nature do the job beside that... but provide the light plants need! Do NOT clean the filter, let the bacteria population multiply in the media.... it will work, don't worry too much ;-)

I just heard of cyanobacteria and how it turns the water green, I was just worried if it was that since that bacteria is toxic?

I was planning on getting one of these EcoBio-Stone S for aquarium care made simple I have heard that these are really good for water quality and speeding up the cycling process

This is what cynobacteria looks like....

From what I've read it isn't dangerous, just annoying. A blackout for a few days should help as well as small water changes. I would say do not rip the tank apart, do huge water changes or medicate at this stage - try the "natural" ways first.
Have a look at this website: Algae in the Planted Aquarium-- Guitarfish
If you type in something like "green water aquarium" into Google you'll get a lot of information.

Filter media (the spongy bit) should be cleaned once in a while (weeks or months, check the instructions). Take some water out of your tank and rinse the sponge in this. Do not use tap water (chlorine will kill the bacteria) and do not rinse the filter directly in the tank. If you only had the filter running for a short time then just leave it.

The Duetto has a pre-filter sponge. If you take the motor off, this is the long one in the front. You should clean that regularly. Maybe once a week or so. Mine usually got pretty grungy.

In your tank, cycling bacteria will grow on everything: the tank walls, the substrate, any decorations, etc. A duetto isn't going to be a huge filter for a biological cycle anyway.

Go ahead and do small water changes, 10% or so, every other day to try to get the algae in check. Then your plants should be able to absorb the ammonia before the algae gets it.

The stone you posted is pretty, but useless. It will not contain live bacteria. The cycling bacteria need water, and need a continuous supply of nutrients and oxygen. That's why any of those bottled solutions you get are useless; any bacteria that were in them are dead. It states it speeds up cycling to 2-6 weeks, but cycling the old fashioned way takes... 2-6 weeks. It's no faster.

Greatwtehunter said:

This is what cynobacteria looks like....

Click to expand...

Okay... It isn't that, my water only turned green... Really green

I heard of a UV sterilizer, which it is supposed these fight off free floating algae, as well as disease carrying parasites, does anyone use these?

Hmmmm :-/ sounds like it has spread fast. Is it like a tea green colour? Could the driftwood be leaking tannins? you could check this by putting the driftwood in some new clean water and see if the water changes colour.

Sallermander said:

I heard of a UV sterilizer, which it is supposed these fight off free floating algae, as well as disease carrying parasites, does anyone use these?

Click to expand...

A UV sterilizer is a waste on anything smaller than 100 gallons or a multi-tank setup.

We told you what to do, read our answers again and it will be fine.... Make your tank as natural as possible, just like where your newt would live in the wild... natural! Not a lab.

RobM said:

Hmmmm :-/ sounds like it has spread fast. Is it like a tea green colour? Could the driftwood be leaking tannins? you could check this by putting the driftwood in some new clean water and see if the water changes colour.

Click to expand...

I'll try this, I a;so would like to say yes it does kind of rtemind me of green tea

If it is the driftwood could it be harmful? Could I boil the driftwood to get rid of the tannins?

Boiling might speed the process but if the wood is leaching tannins, it will do so for a while anyway. I think tannins are more yellowish brown (tea colour), not green. They are just colour and don't make the water "thick".

evut said:

I think tannins are more yellowish brown (tea colour), not green. They are just colour and don't make the water "thick".

Click to expand...

Generally yeah it goes brown/yellow, but some do produce a definite green tinge. You are quite right it wouldn't make it thick or a "fog" though, but it being the wood would definitely explain why it appeared so fast.

It was the driftwood! Boiled for four hours and after it cooled down I put it in my tank, and seven hours later my water is still crystal clear

Great I was wondering all day!