green water. need help

[Chrismac]

I agree with blacking out, for any major algea breakout.
As for the Aqua-clear you can put what ever you want in it, there is room for three media packs in each filter just be sure to buy the correct size media pack for the filter you buy. Ex, A-C 100 buy 100 media, you can put three carbon packs in if you like.
I don't use Carbon very often unless needed of newly setting up a tank.
the sponge is good just rinse it out every so ofter,
aqua-clear is a great filter. I only ran into one problem, I sucked up sand in a tank once using a 500 and the motor started to grind, anything else was life expectancy.


Chris.

 

[Karen]

A picture of my covered tank....

It's all covered and padded up! I'm using material to make room darkening shades (good thing I never got around to doing that!) It's cloth, batting, insulation layer, mylar and more batting.

The kids helped me decorate it.

So you think 4 or 5 days will do it??

Thanks!
Karen

ACK! My picture won't post. It's a titch over the limit. I can't fix it...will have to have dh do it

 

[Karen]

Took some water into the LFS today to check for phosphates. There was such a trace amount in both my tank water and the bottled water I use for water changes that it didn't amount to much.

BUT...to confuse me even more...the guy at the LFS said I need to take out my live plants if I"m doing the light blockout thing. He advised putting them in a bowl in a sunny window. Do I need to do this?

Thanks,
Karen

 

[Barney]

yes, live plants need light. A simple bowl of water will do.

 

[Karen]

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

i've had that room darkening material on for just over 24 hours. I just took it off in order to take out the live plants as suggested by Barney (thanks!)

I CAN SEE THE BACK OF MY TANK! Incredible! Of course, now it looks terrible because I churned up a lot of mulm and debris getting the plants out.

Incredible I've been battling this for at least 2 months and the cure was sitting in my basement!

Thank you, everyone, for your help and suggestions. i'm going to keep the shade on another day or two then give it a good vacuuming before putting my plants back in.

God bless,
Karen

 

[Karen]

Ok, dh fixed my picture of our blacked out tank.

My kids and I drew the faux aquarium scene so it didn't look so start white for several days.

Hope this comes through.

Karen

 

[Karen]

Hmmm...
What happened to the pic? After I posted it, I had checked and it was there. Now it's gone.

Anyone? Anyone? Ferris?

Thanks,
Karen

 

[d9hp]

It is here, i am glad things are working out for you.

 

[Barney]

I can see your picture

 

[Guest]

The lfs guy has no clue. (sorry Barney, no offense to anyone here) it was not necessary to take the plants out, and now you've disturbed everything. leave them out now, since the deed is done. in the course of a blackout 5 days is nothing to a plant or fish. Personally, I would start the 5 days over as of the last time you took the cover off. If you go back and read my intial response, all of my plants lived through it just fine, the just got kinda long and stretchy looking for some light.

Remember what i said, 5 days, no peeking!!!! even that 10 minutes or so of room light you let in when mucking about with the plants has given the algae some light for photosysnthesis, thus prolonging the process. Also, when you put the plants back in, you are likely to re-introduce the same algae to the tank. You may end up doing the whole thing over, after putting the plants back.

Sorry if I'm coming across rather stern, but a total backout is just that: TOTAL!!!

 

[Barney]

No offense here. But remember the green floating algae didn't come from the plants itself. So before reintroducing...they would need some simple rinsing. The free floating form of algae as experienced here is caused by other things like high nitrate, phosphate, silicate and sunlight (aka lighting).

So removing the plants was just for safety reason since it was not clear on what kind of plants was/were in the tank. Some plants are lovers of light (photosysnthesis), some just don't care of the amount of photoperiod(photosysnthesis). I was just being on the safe side.

I have no problem agreeing with you, but watching this thread, I can see where the tank has a major nutrient load.

 

[Guest]

Time for me to explain why this is all wrong, and I have done this procedure before, I KNOW what works, and why.

Just going to have to totally disagree. removing plants was large mistake. no plant will die in 5 days of darkness, unless it was gonna croak anyway. Example: put a healthy house plant in a dark closet for 5 days. will it die? NO, it may get pale, the branches may stretch, but it won't die!

the rinsing may or may not work, it's very difficult to tell. some of the free floaters leave spores on leaves and such, that will now have a chance to survive the blackout, and may not be removed by rinsing.

another whole issue: plants in a tank are supposed to out-compete the algae for nutrients. if you leave them in during the blackout, they still use some nutrients in the dark. now they can't. Also, the subtrate has now been disturbed (and will be disturbed agin when plants are put back), likely adding to nutrients in the water column. When plants are put back, they have to spend energy, re-rooting and getting settled in, instead of just picking up where they left off, sucking up nutrients.

I laid out a plan on page one of this thread. Since that plan has been messed with, I have far less confidence that the problem will be solved.

Again, I apologize if I hurt anyones feelings or came across like a jerk. I just have experience with this, and some strongly held opinions.

 

[deanhuff]

thanks for the explination

I read through this post and now have a much greater understanding as to what causes green water. I am seeing the same problems as karen and I will attempt the BLACKOUT.

thanks to everyone for taking the time to discuss this in a public forum for others to see.

-Dean

 

[Mary]

Thank you all for your insight. I have the same problem as Karen and I have reached the end of my rope with this tank. I just did a 50% water change and tightly covered the tank with a blanket. Now the BIG question- how do I prevent this from happening again? I am very diligent with the tank as far as water changes and upkeep goes and I am very upset about my green water. I feel like I failed and I never want to see this happen again.
Any advice?

 

[Guest]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=3250

Since this is an old thread, I thought I'd post this link to the BEST way to get rid of green water.

Diatom filtration will rid your tank of green water in a matter of hours!

If you have a Manum cannister, follow the instructions in the above link.

If you can afford it, purchasing a diatom filter is a good investment. If not, many lfs rent diatom filters, make a few phone calls.

In so far as preventing it from coming back, photoperiod is a large factor, If you leave your lights on too long, it may come back. Every tank is different, I have 1 tank that gets GW with anything over 8 hours, another tank has lights on for 12, and has never had GW. go figure!