my water keeps turing green like 3 days after i do a water c...

my water keeps turing green like 3 days after i do a water change. it just started doing this. i was told to do a blackout on it. can i do a blackout with live plants?

The green stuff is probably algae. To grow, it needs food and light, so it's getting too much of one or both. If the aquarium receives any direct sun light, it can cause an algae bloom. If not, you should operate the aquarium light 10 or 12 hours a day, that is provided it's a regular aquarium light not of the high intensity variety. Fast growing floating plants will help control algae by using up the nutrients and providing some shade.

Another common cause of algae growth is over feeding. Try to make sure the fish eat all of the food offered in a couple of minutes. More frequent partial water changes will also eliminate some of the algae nutrients. If your tap water is high in nutrients, you can use distilled or reverse osmosis water for some (not all) of the partial water changes.

I don't recommend using algae killers, because they can have undesirable side effects. If you remove the live plants then go with the lights out routine, be careful to check water parameters. Dead algae will decay and make a deadly chemical soup. Before doing anything radical, please make sure any lighting and feeding issues are resolved, and try some floating plants.

I had my first tank years ago in the direct glare of window thinking natural sunlight would be good for plants when aquarium light was out. My tank went green every 3days as well
Since then I keep my tanks in nook in room where chimney brest gives partial shading from window
I also use an automatic plug timer like you might use with christmas lights so my aquarium light is only on 10hours or there abouts So lights off when no one in house to see it anywhoIf Im away for day or so fish+plants still get required controlled lighting too, its a win, win

But like johnarthur said if you go blackout method you will have remove plants to seperate aquarium cos prolonged blackout would kill them They require 10hours light a day to be healthy
Best of luck!

no sunlight, not feeding to much( i think not anyways). i have 80 watts of light for a i think its a 55 gal. i have driftwood in there but before i put it in i soak it and i thought it was clean. maybe thats the problem? i dont know i have been doing a water change everyday. about 20% didnt know if i should do more since i was doing it everyday.i think imma take the wood out. i think i would rather clear water and no wood. but wait wood wouldnt cause green water. lol talking to myself. idk!!!

Most of the driftwood sold for aquarium use will not cause algae. However, it's possible that pine or other woods with lots of sap could produce algae nutrients. I'll do some more research, but in the meantime you may want to consider doing a partial water change then not feeding the fish for a couple of days. They can go for much longer without eating, and this would be a good way to find out if you're over feeding.

Not that i think you are..............

I had alot of algae experiences this summer. Indoors and out. It is good and bad. Algae of course needs alot of light. BUT I only had crazy "green water" algae blooms when cycling a new tank and or it was outside in the sun. Also algae needs nitrates, the step in cycling AFTER nitrites. With nitrates and a bit of sun/or an aquarium light you get algae blooms. I had goldfish which get the nitrates quite high quickly and it is soooo hard not to feed your cute wigglin fish! Even if you dont feed and you have a new set up you might get algae bloom. or maybe it is an old cycled tank and algae is from....something else! keep up 25% water changes and probably it will adjust itself. KEEP those plants in your tank! You need more plants to absorb the nutrients algae feed on. Also moss balls might help. They are actually algae balls called something fancy like marimo balls. Good luck. Also if you kill all the algae clean your filter, carefully,dont kill your bacteria, the algae dying will raise your nitrites back up. What kind of fish you have?

i have 7 corys, 3 mollies,2 guppies and 5 neons. i hope that isnt to many. i have my lil shrimpy tank that is doing really good to my suprise. i have about 7 plants coming in the mail. ill have to set them aside for a week or so and then i can put the in the tank. i want to thank every1 for all the advice.

That doesn't look to be too many fish.

I just read some more about green algae, and it seems to be a problem of too much light or too much food. The partial water changes should take care of the food part. An air stone may also help. The most likely cause is uneaten food.

Please keep us posted.

great great great!!!!! the blooms are gone for now. i kept doing water changes everyday and the last day i did a 70% water change. i added a few more plants but the water wasgetting clearer before the plants. i hope all the plants do help but what about when i add ferts for the plants, wouldnt the cause the bloom to come back? i just wanted to thank all that helped me with this head ache. (bc wasnt doing the trick)

The fish add fertilizer every day. You can also get clay based substrate supplements and liquid and tablet form fertilizers. The trick is to have just enough for the plants with very little left over for the algae. Once that balance is achieved, weekly partial water changes should be enough.

For now, you may want to go very slowly with any fertilizers.

Hope we get pics when its done! I agree go easy on fertilizer. I like liquid fertilizers. If you have red plants get them some with iron in it.
*dont do 70% water changes if cycling a new tank. You need to keep the bacteria ther so it builds and grows, the healthy bacteria that is. I would only do MOST 35% water changes.

heres a few pics

After the aquarium is well balanced, a 20 or 25 percent water change every week is usually enough. A larger partial water change may be appropriate for smaller aquariums.