Greenish / Cloudy Water / Substrate

JSchmidt: i read somewhere that plants actually prefer ammonia and/or possibly nitrite to nitrate as a fertilizer. it was something like it was easier for them to use i think.......

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/nitrate-chart.html

I think I can add some information on the ammonium vs. nitrate debate.

About a year ago there was an article by Diana Walstad that said something
to the effect that aquatic plants preferred ammonium over nitrate.

She based her article on a peer-reviewed publication that cited
results from a study done with Spirodela (a kind of large duckweed).
This floating plant was grown in a mix of equal concentrations of
ammonium, nitrite and nitrate. Tests showed that the ammonium was
absorbed first, and nitrate last. Nitrate *was* used up, but only
after practically all the ammonium ions were gone."
Click to expand...

There are no experimental studies (as far as I know) that indicate
aquatic plants are unable to use nitrate. There are several studies,
however, that
indicate clearly that aquatic plants CAN utilize nitrate. Some of these
studies also show that ammonia(um) is preferentially absorbed. This makes
sense due to the high metabolic cost of reducing nitrate.
Click to expand...

edit: the white could be caused by a screwed up cycle and a "bacterial bloom"..........
 
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perhaps its a phosphate problem? phoshpates are food to algea like this, you should get it tested, and if its high, which is the case with most anyone that brings in green water to our store, get phos gard, put it in the filter, bam shold be good!
 
Thanks for all of your help!

Just a couple of questions ewok.
When using the blanket, can keeping your fish in pure darkness for up to a week have any negative effects?
Also, do you suggest I put a vacation feeder in there for them to eat during that time?

Thanks!
 
i'm not sure it would take a whole week to kill the algae off. i think i would check after 4 or 5 days and see how it's progressing. the whole key is keeping the light to an absolute minimum tho. look quick to check things and then cover it back up if it's green still.

as far as detrimental affects, the only thing that comes to mind is the fish might be slightly skittish when you start using lights again. other than that nothing comes to mind, hopefully someone will chime in if they think i'm wrong.....

skip the vacation feeders, if you've used one of them that *might* have contributed to your problems somehow. i'm not super sold on them at all. i've heard rumors that some of them contain plaster to hold them together and i've seen a few posts that reference them and having some serious problems. in theory, if your feeding your fish well you should be able to go a week without feeding them. i'd go with feeding them lightly with a little flake food every day.

you don't want to neccesarily bury your tank and forget it, just keep it as dark as you can until the algae goes away. the more light you let into it the longer it will take to kill the algae off. too much light and the algae just won't die.
 
Thanks for your help, again.

No, I've never used a vacation feeder.
There are plenty of plants in my tank, so if they get hungry they can munch away on them. :)
 
Ewok suggested cleaning the filter after using accu-relf.. I was not performing this seeminly obvious task. I cleaned the filter after accurelf clumped everything together.. I also wiped the sides of the tank very well as hard brownish algae that was starting to form onto the glass. The water has been clear for 48 hours now.


If the water stays clear i would conclude this:

1) The first product i used to clear the water (accu-clear) may have had a greenish after-affect or solution as accu-rel-f has a brownish one. When it clumped everything together and cleared the water all of that stuff was sitting in the filter slowly breaking apart and returning to the water giving the illusion of green water.


2) A thin layer of algae on the glass around the tank was giving the illusion of green water (but this wouldnt explain the green substrate and green filter) but perhaps cleaning the glass contributed to inhibiting further algae growth.


I will advise if the water changes.

p.s.
the LFS did not (in my case) check for phosphates and i dont have this test.
 
Originally posted by drdream
p.s.
the LFS did not (in my case) check for phosphates and i dont have this test.
Click to expand...

Ooops... that was elcano, I guess. I'm getting all you green water guys mixed up...


:)

Good luck with the lights out... remember, there's always UV if all else fails!

Jim
 
I had two rugs over my tank for 4 days..
Pulled it off and it was still green/white so I did a 50% change and change the filter pad (not medium) in my eheim. I also did a major vacuum and cleaned the hoses. That made a noticable difference to the water flow from the filter, but the green persists.

I guess all I can do is keep trying and hoping.. :rolleyes:
 
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