Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

water has gone green i have just bloked all sunlight out from the tank how quick will the water clear

I lost my Greenage once I had substantial roots soaking up the nutes.
The water was still murky after that - floating particles - it became crystal clear once I achieved 1:1 FT/Filter ratio. Unfortunately I achieved this by losing water from the fish tank.

Clear water is over-rated though. My fish preferred some murk, now they are visible to overhead predators!

Rick

and if you don't have extra air going in, you should add some (the algae will consume oxygen)

mine cleared up in about 6 or 7 days

heaps of air going in just lots of sun here now and i dont think my shade cloth is good enough
had it clear as a bell last week 2 days ago it turned green i'v got it on 24hr flood and will cover it at day break
thanks guys

chucked a cover over the tank we will see over the next week or so
to see how it goes fingers crosed

my next Q is can you still eat the fish or sould i wait for the water to clear?
the fish are still very active and look healthy

I cant see why not Redbeard. Silver perch actually eat algae and we eat them (well, will do in the future )

Redbeard, get some coreflute from a building site (fancy pavers use it in packing) or some aircell cutoffs from a building site and cover the tank with that, it gives complete blockout. Stop feeding until it clears, could take a couple of weeks, watch your pH, algae can cause sudden pH swings and as well as oxygen issues and this can knock your fish over. You may need to make pH adjustments to compensate, don't move the pH more than 0.5 in one day.

New systems will generally get a couple of serious (pea soup type) algal blooms in the first year until they mature, after that they are not as severe (possibly because you learn to better control your feeding).

Have fun,
Burnsy

Burnsy, I was there Saturday and the tank is already covered with a coreflute sign and shade cloth
There is pleanty of air going in, the system is on full time and I think it's just a matter of stop feeding for a bit and observe.

Yep... that old patience thing... Can be quite amazing when it clears suddenly over night....

thanks guys fish are now on a diet while i'm away for the week !!!!!!!!
will see what happens by next wenesday

home now and still no change
this thing you call PANIENCE how long does it last for
and how much$$$ is it at bunnings? im sure they sell it
i need a top up

I'll post you some.
I've been told I have too much regarding our live-in feline overlord

The funny thing is, you CAN pay for clear water. A UV filter will kill the algae if you want to fork out for the filter and then the cost of running it. I've got one in my shed that's still in it's box... might come in handy one day.

Last year during our first season we had a bloom that took nearly 4 weeks to clear with no feeding I found the turning point in the bloom is when the pH takes a dive. On correcting this over a few days the water started to clear. Until it got to that stage though no amount of water change or anything else made squat difference.

thanks guys i'll let it sit and see how it goes
going to make a wood slat cover this break to give it better shade and looks
my tank is 20mm thick so the water is keeping pretty cool and the fish are still looking ok