green algae

cradlefan

cradlefan

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Jul 24, 2008
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Kris
Ok, I have been dealing with this green algae for a while now. Here's what I have. A 15 gallon tall tank. I have had it set up for about 8 months now. The tests come out 0 ppm amm.,0 ppm nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate. My lighting is a 40 watt power compact(10,000k bulb) and the bulb is only a couple months old. I have 5 pearl danio's and 2 cardinals, 3 cory habrosus, and 3 small discus about 2 inches across that I will be giving back to my friend when he gets his large tank. (note: the green water started about 2 months ago, and my friend gave me the discus last week). Anyway, I have tried 50 percent water changes every day for a week, no good, the water looks the same the next day. I thought, well maybe it's fertilizer, I put some root tabs in about 4 months ago, maybe longer, maybe the plants i have need more fertilizer(the root tabs are no longer any good?) and they aren't growing as fast as they should be and the algae are taking advantage. I eliminated that idea because when I added my liquid fertilizers the green algae just appeared faster. I make sure I add potassium weekly with my water changes, and my phosphate level always reads .5 ppm. I had to start adding liquid nitrogen because I am doing so many water changes, there weren't any nitrates in the tank(the test read zero after my second 50 percent water change, so I made sure there were always nitrates in the tank by adding liquid nitrogen). I add co2 to the tank by diy 2 liter bottle. I have a co2 indicator thing in my tank, and the color is always green. In the tank as far as plants go, I have a big bunch of rotala rotundifolia, 4 stems of alternanthera reinekii, anubias nana, and dwarf hairgrass in the tank. The house faces northeast and the tank is located in the living room facing northeast about 3 feet from the window(it gets a little ambient morning sun but it isn't direct light). The photoperiod has been shortened by 12 hours to 9 hours to see if that helps but so far it hasn't and it's been 4 days at the new hours. Does anyone have any other ideas? I loved my tank when it was clear and clean but I am really at wits end with this green algae crap, the tank looks like green soup. ahhhhhh:swear:. And I don't want to cover the tank or do a black out because that is just a temporary fix, i want to find the problem. Thanks in advance for your help everyone.
 
What is your stocking for fish?
My tanks are outside, and for me, all it takes is a good cleaning crew.
Oto's, shrimp, cories, SAE's.
I'm adding daily Potassium and Liquid Fertilizer in small doses instead of weekly one big dose. My lights are on too long, typically around 14 - 16 hours due to the tanks being outside and sun-up at 6 ~ 6.30am. I get home around 6pm so I want to enjoy the tanks evenings...
But all in all, for me the cleanup crew seems to be the deciding factor and I stick to that together with regular cleaning/pruning.
 
Apologize for not reading properly on the stocking...you did mention indeed..
Would still stick to having an Oto or SAE on the cleaning crew first and maybe some shrimp.
Might not help directly on the green water, but it will help to get the basic algea down which might in turn help on your green water.
Are you running without filter?
 
the lights may have been on too long it may take time for the effect to improve.
is there any other light(sunlight )?

if this is green water(suspended algae) you can try a black out for 3 days.

can you identify the green algae? is it on the glass? stringy?

those discus will not last in a 15g tank long. the tank is much too small for a trio of discus.
 
There is no algae on any of the plants or anything, there is no hair algae or bba or cyano, nothing like that. The plants actually look really healthy, but the water itself is really green. When i do a water change after syphoning the water into a 5 gallon bucket I can't see the bottom of the bucket, that's how green the actual water is. I know the discus won't last long, they will probably only be in there a couple weeks or so till my friend gets his tank cycled(new 75 gallon tank, he's lucky). Anyway, I guess I will have to do a really large water change and black the tank out? Is that the only way to get rid of it? Will it come back if I don't fix the initial problem though? Thanks for all the ideas so far.
 
Looks like it will come back if you don't fix the problem(which is not really a problem just some green algae)
If it bothers you a lot you can look into a UV sterilizer, I am looking at one from Petsmart, not too much $$$.
 
usually the result of an imbalance .. I suspect too long a photo period.. it will take some time to correct. but usually best to reduce photoperiod . a 3 day black out will usually wipe the greenwater out.

uv sterilizers word as well as floating plants and believe it or not.. willow branches.
 
Star_rider, what floating plans would you recommend for low lighting setup, tough to find willow branches now in NYC
 
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