Green Water

Fresh250

Fishaholic
May 5, 2009
314
0
0
Massachusetts, USA
Tank Spec's

250
8 bulb CFL custom lighting
Fluval FX-5
2x BioWheel 350's
Playsand and Pea Gravel substrate

I have had this green tinge to the water for about a week now, could this be cause by the Flourish Excel that i started daily dosing?
 
What is the wattage of the bulbs and how long are they on?
 
Im not 100% on the bulbs i know they are the 90 or 100w incandescent replacement bulbs. Maybe 23w actual. they have the R40 reflectors on them. some pics below.
lights are on timers:

10:15 am half on
11:15 am all on
7:30 pm half off
8:15pm all off
Blue cold cathode moonlights on all night
P1020485.jpg

P1020486.jpg
 
8*23=184 watts.

That is not very much light over a 250 gallon.

I am afraid I do not know what the problem is. Usualy it has to do with too much light but it seems that is probably not the case.

One thing I am noticing is your walls are green. The green walls could not be causing a green reflection in the water could they?
 
no the back and side of the tank are black and the water was clear before the current breakout. The bulbs may be pushing out more than that for wattage because im growing all of the plants very well and fairly quickly. I dont think they would be growing so well if the wattage was that low

Would it be a bad idea to try leaving the lights out for a day or two and see if it starts to clear up
 
assuming these lights have been running since june/july of last year without any green springing up like you have now it might just be time to change your bulbs out. if i don't make any changes to my tank in about that time i have the same issue. i replace the bulbs and wait it out a week or 2 before doing anything drastic and it usually works.

if that's not the case i'd assume it's time to start adding ferts.
 
I have had this green tinge to the water for about a week now, could this be cause by the Flourish Excel that i started daily dosing?
F2:

This sounds like you are overfeeding.

I would try not feeding for a couple of days and then reduce your daily feeding.

Micron filter pads will also help this situation.

The Excel is probably contributory.

TR
 
the only way I got rid of green water fast was through the use of a UV filter. It took about 24 hours before if cleared up. Its been almost two years and green water hasn't been back.
 
are you still running a uv-sterilizer?
is there one that you would reccomend?
 
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