Tank issue

[evelyn_003]

Hello. It’s me again. I keep having issues with the color of my tank water. I changed the water two days ago (cleaned all the furniture with diluted vinegar solution as well as washing out the filters in the ild water by squeezing them out and then cycled the tank) and it has already started getting green again. The substrate is a fine enough sand to be safe, the sponge filters are a little filtering a little over twice the size of the tank, the curtains are always closed, and there are some Java fern. I took the chemical measurements and the ammonia level is 0.2ppm. Idk what to do.

 

[wolfen]

direct sunlight will encourage green water (artificial light uses a different light wavelength), nutrients and nitrates will also encourage algae as will phosphates.

 

[evelyn_003]

direct sunlight will encourage green water (artificial light uses a different light wavelength), nutrients and nitrates will also encourage algae as will phosphates.

It’s not getting any direct sunlight though. I have the curtains closed and I have poster board behind the tank. So there must be another issue. Do you have any other ideas to what it could be? Also I realized the ammonia ppm seems closer to .15

 

[wolfen]

what are the other tank parameters?
although java fern will grow in an axolotl tank the growth will be slowed due to temperature and may not be able to compete with algae.
unfortunately green algae is a very common problem and although there are numerous solutions not all are suitable.
plants will out compete algae for food (try to get plants suited for cold water low light environments).
chemicals can be used but can be harmful to axolotls (most algae chemical products contain formaldehyde).
blue backing on back and sides (the blue light wavelength interferes with algae)
uv steriliser (uv light kills algae)
three stage filter (mainly external filters, mechanic filter stage strong enough to trap algae, biological filter stage to remove all ammonia and nitrites, chemical filter stage to remove impurities)
darkening the water (algae like plants require light for photosynthesis by darkening the water it reduces amount of light absorbed by the algae)
the are some natural products such as barley straw extract that kills algae.
make sure to test nitrates regularly and use water changes to remove them (percentage of water changed is percentage of nitrates removed, never remove more than fifty percent at a time to reduce risk to biological filtration)
reduce food levels.
increase tank size.