Green water :(

laurenrocksth

laurenrocksth

AC Members
Jun 24, 2008
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Milford, NH
Well, my 55 planted has green water :( This started when I did an algae scraping about a week and a half ago and has just gottern worse. I've done two water changes since and it cleared for a couple hours and was back to green. My params are ammo - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 10, pH - 7.2. My lights are on for 8-10 hours a day.

I'd rather not do a blackout as I've finally gotten the tank to where I'd like it to be and I don't want my plants to die.

Are there any other options?
 
What would be the minimum?
 
a 3 day blackout will not kill your plants. They are often shipped for that long with no supplemental light.

You could try adding a heavy water column feeder like hornwort, anacharis to try and out compete the algae.
 
Wow, Ms J you're my savior today :) I have a bunch of hornwort in my 125 so I could throw some into my 55. How long (approx) do you think it would take before I would see a difference?
 
its goona really depend on whats causing the GW and whether or not the hornwort and anacharis can out compete it....id probably still keep doing the water changes...when I had it I had to take my tank apart and it STILL came back...I then bought a UV sterilizer and it cleaned up in a few hours....I also read this on aquaticplantcentral where someone used a willow branch...never tried it but it seemed to work for some people..see if this link works...if not search for it on that site...as msjinkzd http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=66215 said your going to want to put in some fast growers to help out compete that algae hope this helps!http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=66215

www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/7212-fighting-green-water-simple-cheap-method.html
 
Ok. I bought a cheap UV sterilizer and it's clearing up the water really well. After the water's cleared, should I leave it on all the time? Will it do bad stuff to the water in the long run, or will it just add extra filtration?
 
You can leave the UV running 24/7 if you want, though that's likely overkill it won't harm anything.

Willow branch works on the same concept as adding lots of plants, you want enough plant mass to out-compete the algae for nutrients and a willow branch is alot of plant.
 
I'm kind of overdosed on plants as it is... I was really surprised how quickly the water started to clear up with it. I think that I'll leave it on until the water is all the way cleared then only use it if I get another outbreak. Thanks!
 
lord at that price couldnt i just hang a black light over the tank? thats uv
 
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