General Care Discussion :: Green, Cloudy Water

[LocateCloseWith]

I have a fairly new tank (2-3 weeks old) and am experiencing green, cloudy water. It's a 50 gal that previously had Oceansun Full Spectrum lights (which I'm sure probably didn't help the situation). The water is 75-78 degrees, it now was about 10 hours of UVA/UVB (5.0) light a day, and is using a Rena Filstar filter with the foam and biochem zorb. In addition to the turtle I have a pleco (so far). Any advice how to get rid of the discoloration? Thanks

[Bascomb]

LCW -- Without a lot more information, after you clean your tank, get a larger filter. You need one that will pump, gph, at least 5 times the volume in your tank. I would suggest that you get a minimum of 350 gph for your tank. Turtlers think in terms of gph, not 2x or 3x the size of a fish tank. Turtles poo a lot more.

[SpotsMama]

Green means algae. Algae grows when there are nuitriants in the water (ie, nitrates, which is turtle waste and uneaten food that has been broken down) and light, such as from an open window. A little algae in a tank and on surfaces is fine, but if the water itself is green, then it's getting out of hand.

[Nettle]

What level of filter do you have? XP1, 2 or 3?

[marisa]

Have you tried doing partial water changes?

Aside from the foam/sponges and bio chem zorb (carbon would be cheaper, I think), your Filstar also needs some biomedia in it (ceramic rings or stars or both).