Green water - Help

Thank for all your information. This is what I have done so far:
  1. I did a 50% water change tonight and will do this every other day until clear;
  2. Cut back my light from 12 hours to 5 hours;
  3. Removed my aerator;
  4. Found that my ladder Co2 chamber is set at 1 bubble every 10 seconds;
  5. Will cut down my nutrients to 1x per week;
Answers to questions:
  1. Lighting: I have a blue / white light I bought when I had lots of foliage. I had to get rid of the plants becuase it got hairy algae and some other algae on it and I took them out
  2. Ammonia = 0, Nitrite, 0, Nitrate = .01, PH is between 7.2 and 7.6 which is normal for my water (don't like chemicals for PH)

I had a wisteria that grew like mad and it was really pretty, but then it got slimy and I got rid of it. I plan on getting more plants but want to go slow.

Also how do you tell how long you leave the lights on for the type of plants you use?

I have attached a picture of my aquarium. You can see how cloudy it is from the algae.

Thanks again for all your useful information.
 
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Wrench said:
I'm not the only one that uses it for that. It's what the LFS told me to use. Who cares what it's supposed to be for? If it works and will solve this guys problem with no adverse affects, then I guess it IS the right thing for the job. Granted, he's got some things to sort out so the algae doesn't come back, but this will get rid of the stuff thats already there.
Click to expand...

I am not trying to argue, but I have been told by tons of people who know what they are doing that it is not good to add anything to the tank. Especially when there are better alternatives. Just because you had no adverse affect doesn't mean that someone else won’t. If you can solve it by doing water changes and a few other little things other then adding chemicals then that would be a better way.
 
ckeck said:
Thank for all your information. This is what I have done so far:
  1. I did a 50% water change tonight and will do this every other day until clear;
  2. Cut back my light from 12 hours to 5 hours;
  3. Removed my aerator;
  4. Found that my ladder Co2 chamber is set at 1 bubble every 10 seconds;
  5. Will cut down my nutrients to 1x per week;
Answers to questions:
  1. Lighting: I have a blue / white light I bought when I had lots of foliage. I had to get rid of the plants becuase it got hairy algae and some other algae on it and I took them out
  2. Ammonia = 0, Nitrite, 0, Nitrate = .01, PH is between 7.2 and 7.6 which is normal for my water (don't like chemicals for PH)

I had a wisteria that grew like mad and it was really pretty, but then it got slimy and I got rid of it. I plan on getting more plants but want to go slow.

Also how do you tell how long you leave the lights on for the type of plants you use?

I have attached a picture of my aquarium. You can see how cloudy it is from the algae.

Thanks again for all your useful information.
Click to expand...
Well, I hate to interrupt this riveting discussion of... what was the additive again? ;) Anyway, I think we found the problem. Get rid of the blue light. Those are for SW reef tanks. Blue light penetrates very deep and is trong at shallow depths. If you went with both lights being white (or if this is one of those dual bulb things then one PC that is solid white, around 6700k) you would probably be on your way to getting rid of the bloom.
 
Yes, try to replace the bulbs so that you have 5400 or 6700k bulbs. I use 6700k. Once you have done this, I would put the lights back to 10hrs/day as your plants need light to grow.

For the co2 injection, you're getting on the slower side at 6 bubbles per minute. Once you get your new bulbs, I would change the solution for co2. You can use sugar, yeast, and baking soda mixture to get going again. How much of yeast will depend how fast your bubble rate will be. Baking soda will slow the rate down a bit and prolong the solution. 15b/min. would be a much better rate. Make sure you use lukewarm water as this will speed up the initial production of co2.
 
Still no help

Hello again. Well it has been a week and this is what I have tried.

1. I bought a sword plant, 3 bunches of carrot tops and a money wort and put it in my tank with the existing banana plant and java ferns.

2. I boosted my Co2 level to at least 6 bubbles per minutes (acutally I think it is faster than that).

3. I did a really good water change so that I got rid of most of the green in the water.

4. I put in a micro filter until I can get rid of this algae. I have been rinsing these every 24 hours.

5. Since I did a big water change, I put in micro and macro nutrients for the plants.

6. I change my light to a 6500 watt white lamp.

And still the water is turning GREENER every day.

I am about going nuts! What else can I try? Any ideas? Some one told me to use Stability as it would eat the algae. Has anyone ever tried it?

:( Any help would be appreciated as I am about at my witts end.

Signed

Frustrated in Florida
 
Aquarium day after water change

Here is a picture of my aquarium 24 hours after major water change. It was crystal clear last night and I thought I had some hope. As you can see it is very green. I am putting the light on for only 8 hours a day, so that isn't it.

:sad
 
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Ckek, here is what I think. Your bio-load is pretty heavy. Your CO2 is pretty low(at 6 bubbles per minute, it's not much). Here are two possible problems - over-feeding and nutrient excess. Feed the fish no more than two times a day and very little at a time. Don't dose any nutrients. Most of the nutrients you're getting from the fish waste and fish feeding. Your co2 is pretty low as well so you don't need to supplement, at least for now. Your plants will be fine.

Try this for a couple of weeks with 3/wk w/c and see what happens. This usually takes time, it's not an overnight thing.
 
More Questions

Thanks Falcon for your advice. I am alwasy very careful feeding my fish. I only feed them 1xdaily and use very minute bits and watch them eat only for a couple of minutes. When I see they are getting bored, then I stop. So I don't think it is the feeding. Another clue is I have 4 snails who don't populate anymore, so I must be doing ok on that level.

From what you said the only thing left is the nutrients. Since I have a shrimp or two and snails, I like to keep up the micro nutrients as they need them, but I have stopped the iron for now.

I will keep doing w/c and hope for the best. After 6 weeks of this, it is really getting old. I will beat it yet.

I want to thank everyone for all their help and output.

Oh, one last question. How do you know when you have too much Co2?

Thanks again everyone. :bowing:
 
green water

A Vortex diatom filter will clear your tank in a few hours. It won't get rid of the cause of the bloom, but your tank will stay clear while you get the water right. Later, Ray
 
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