Setting up Canister filters on a 250g

[IKeepFish]

i have a 250g tank, stocked with 2 Red Devils, 4 Jack Dempseys, a convict, a fire mouth, 4 red belly pacu's (before anyone says anything, i know im looking at needing a tank 4x this size eventually) and a pleco and marble catfish.

now, i cant seem to get rid of the green water in the tank. even with changing the tank once a week, and changing the floss out. The tank has 3 rena xp3 filters running currently, all 3 each set up with floss, carbon, and caramic rings.

is this something to do with my filtering set-up, or is there another possible problem??

im new to the whole large aquarium thing, so i appreciate any and all help. biggest tanks i have other than this are 55's and a 75, which ive never had issues with.

[gm72]

Green water=algae. Let's look at lighting first and foremost as it is often the root cause of many algae problems. Is this a planted tank? Cycled?

[IKeepFish]

not planted....and been up and running around 8-9 months now.

no artificial lighting, and not in any direct sunlight during the day.

[Fishguy2727]

How much water are you changing twice a week?
What is your nitrate concentration?

I rarely recommend anything chemical as a cure, but this is an exception. Greenwater algae is just about impossible to get rid of with the normal algae control methods in my experience. When I have had it I used AlgaeFix. The tank had a visibility of maybe 8" or so. Within an hour I could see a difference. By the next morning I couldn't tell there was ever any algae in there. AlgaeFix is relatively mild (safe for fish and live plants) and very effective.

[IKeepFish]

i generally change out around 100 or so gallons each week now with the green water.

the reason i asked about filtration, was my water was crystal clear, until i added in a 16" pacu, and an 8" oscar i took out of someones 30g tank. i figured it added to much of bio-load for my configuration to handle. im assuming i have acceptable filtration being that im set up for almost 500g.

[KcEE]

Whoa!!! Non-planted tank with such an algae prob! Yeah, what are your levels? How much food are you feeding? How often do you perform a WC.

[cocoa_pleco]

Whoa!!! Non-planted tank with such an algae prob! Yeah, what are your levels? How much food are you feeding? How often do you perform a WC.

he said he changes 100g/week most of the time

[KcEE]

Opps! didn't read that bit...sorry.

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, its okay.

[Fishguy2727]

What and how much foods are you feeding?

Just use the AlgaeFix.

[IKeepFish]

their getting hikari cichlid pellets. generally around a handful each day. counting several of my fish are slightly larger, i dident think it was too much. and theres never any food left over either, that i notice atleast.

[Fishguy2727]

Nitrate concentration?

Which Hikari? No matter which you should check out New Life Spectrum. It is hands down the best fish food out there. I used to think Hikari was the best but had not tried NLS yet. Better colors, growth, health, and less waste.

[Sasquatch]

It's possible that the new fish added more bioload than your bacteria could handle. Keep a close eye on your nitrogenous wastes (NH4, NO2 & NO3) and if you get a nitrate buildup, maybe step-up the water changes. You might also consider going for 2x50gals/week instead of 1x100/week. Depends if you have the time mid-week or not, but I find that two smaller water changes are more effective than a single large one (at least in my 10g:c2: ).

A worthwhile investment might also be a UV filter. It should keep down the waterborne algae, though you'll probably end up with a momentary peak in NH4, NO2 and NO3 while all the algae decompose.

With all the cichlids, I don't think a planted tank is an option, so you're going to have to find another way of controlling your nitrates. A few option:
- More frequent/larger water changes
- Switch your charcoal to Zeocarb, it's a mix of activated charcoal and nitrogen trapping resin
- Check your phosphate levels too. If they're high, consider a phosphate removing resin in your filtration setup.
- A more extreme option would be to setup a planted sump tank. Run the water from your tank to a sump with lots of plants and little bio load. A 50 gal with 30 or so tetras. Looks cool, easy to maintain and most of your ferts come from the other tank. Not easy to do, but cool.

[Lady Hobbs]

The Aglae Fix sounds like a simple and easy solution to me. Some algae's need to be killed off or will continue to just come back. You have a lot of large fish, you lucky guy.

If your tank is not getting direct light from outside sources, then it's a good bet you have too many nutrients in your tank. Clean your gravel well and do more water changes for awhile.........and use the Algae Fix.......to get rid of your current problem.

Feed your fish less at a time and more often.

If you continue to have problems with algae, possibly a diatom filter will work for you but getting to the cause should fix it for you without the additional cost.

[Fishguy2727]

If you actually go through and do the math, it is actually more effective to do a single big water change than two or three smaller ones. It reduces the nitrates (and concentrations of other wastes and harmful chemicals) more.