I have a 14 gallon aquarium. I have three Giant Danios with no live plants, just a fake tree stump, a UV sterlizer, bubble curtain, and bio-mechanical filter. I have a flourescent hood, and only put AquaSafe and EasyBalance when I change the water (Between once a week and once a month). The water is always a greenish/yellowish color, no matter wahter. I try to change the carbon filter once a week. I vaccum the gravel and wipe the tank when I either change the filter or do a water change. I only give them a small pinch of food per day. I haven't done any water tests in a few monthes. I don't want to add a bunch of chemicals to the water. What can I do to clear up the water? Could it be the EasyBalance? I had an algae problem once (a few monthes? ago) and ever since then the water hasn't been the same.

What color is your light?

white

Is your filter system plastic trays that had to be put in the tank before the rocks went in,,,as the filter cleans pulling or sucking down through the gravel??
If not?
TRY getting that filter system,,as it works best when I was into tanks,,,
And THIS problem is almost always a bad filtering system...

The filter system is cheap, it came with the tank. It's an Aqua-Tech 5/15 power filter. I've thought about trying one of those gravel filtering systems. I'll have to see about getting one.

Undergravel filters suck, look into buying a fluval system, kinda expensive but work well!

I've never heard of fluval, I'll look into it.

Also, I want to change the gravel, right now I have black and blue gravel. I've had it since I've had the tank, which is about a year. I want to get all brand new white gravel. I know this will probably throw the water out of whack, but it shuldn't be a big problem should it?

the water may be too warm, encouraging algie growth,?
But, a couple of these algie eaters will do the trick.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/1822042075_107d8f29e7.jpg

The water is at 78 and I keep my room at 70. I can't change the temp. on my heater, it's one of those cheap automatic ones.

I've thought above getting some algae eaters, but I already have three adult giant danios and it's only a 14 gal. tank. I don't want to overcrowd the tank.

Someone told me the reason I was battleing water problems was beczuse there was too much ambient light between the the kitchen light and the light that came in my long windows. Might be as simple as relocateing the aquarium.

You guys are making this tougher than it needs to be.

Get rid of the fish.

Seventy-eight is a little high for a temp. Sounds like you still have an algae problem. Take a water sample to your local fish shop and have them test it for ya. That will give you an idea of what you're looking at as far as nitrates go. The real secret is REGULAR partial water changes of about one third of the tank. EasyBalance is that a PH regulator? That may also have an effect on algae growth.

When I do a water change I change 25 - 50% of the water. EasyBalance is a PH and KH stabilizer it's suppose to keep the water stabilized for up to six monthes without the need of a water change.

I did some strip tests just now:

Nitrate @ 20
Nitrite @ .5
Hardness @ 150
KH @ 120
PH @ 7.8
Ammonia @ 3.0

I did a 25% change and changed the carbon filter either last night or the night before.

Nitrate seems a little high, Nitrite is way high, PH is a little alkali, Ammonia is also a little high. But these things will go in cycles if you have a working system. Carbon filters remove chemicals from the water so yours may be pulling out whatever the easy balance is. Regular water changes are key. And giving the filter enough time to build up the bacteria it needs. Also check how long you have your light on and what wattage it is.

The light is on an eight hour timer, and I think it's somewhere around 20W. I've had the fish for over six months.

I'll try a different filtering system and see if that helps.

people have said that you should have a gallon of water per inch of fish, if your fish are too big, you may need a bigger tank. when cleaning you want to drain about half the tank, and Don't replace the gravel, it actually builds healthy bacteria that will help the tank, do you have any plecostusmus fish or any algae eaters? Also alot of corycats are bottom feeders, they will vaccum through your gravel. you can also buy the liquid bacteria at any pet store. Just try to find someone who knows alittle about having a fish tank, I worked in a pet store a couple years ago and I can't remember what the stuff is called, but it's not anything toxic to the fish.

All I have are three Giant Danios. I want to get some algae eaters or plecos but I'm worried abut over population. IDK, I might get an algae eater or two and see how that works out with a new filtering system.