Very Green Planted Tank After Ick Heat/Salt Treament (PICS)

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WhiteCloud

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 17, 2004
Messages
305
Location
New England
My 90 Gallon FW Planted tank survived it's first...and hopefully ONLY...Ick Infestation...barely!

It has now been 2 weeks since I turned the heat back to normal at 76.7F. I have done 20% water changes 3 times a week for 2 weeks, including a 40% water change today...and I cannot get rid of the green color of the water.



I have had some unicelluar algae outbreaks much worse...and 4 hours of a diamotic filter clears it. I have used my Diatomic Filter for 4 to 8 hours a day for a week..and barely touches the green color!

The Heat and Salt treatment did a job on the plants...and I have removed the dead leaves from the resultant treatment. I have also cleaned my Canister filter...and put 2 pouches of carbon filters to see if that would help with the color...and no help!

Specs of the tank:
90 Gallon Planted
Lighting: 4 x 65W CF 6700K providing 3 watts/gallon..only been using 2 bulbs and providing 1.5 watts/gallon until I get this under control
Pressurized CO2 maintaining a pH of 7.0, and a KH of 5, which should give me a CO2 of 18ppm....which should be perfection.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks

WC
 

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Wow, if a diatom filter hasn't helped that must be some serious green water. I've gotten rid of GW by using the blackout method before. I had a 30G with serious GW and ran a three-day blackout (50% water change before and after blackout, turn off all lights, cover tank with towels/blankets so no light at all gets in, keep temps below 77 degrees, add some extra circulation like a powerhead or airstone, don't feed fish during blackout). This should kill the algae in most cases - at least it's worked for me :)
 
I've used the blackout method with success as well... for it to work be sure that NO light can get in. Don't be tempted to feed the fish, they'll be fine without it. Run an extra filter if you can, and a diatom when you put the lights back on (if possible). HTH... hey, at least the ich is gone!
 
I just tested my water will all available testing methods/kits to see if this can help in determining the problem:

pH = 7.0
KH = 6
thus CO2=18ppm
GH = 7
Ammonia = 0pmm
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 5ppm
Phosphate = 0pmm
Specific Gravity = 1.0015 (down from 1.0035 for Ick treatment) per refractometer

Given these parameters....I should have NO algae in the tank.

Given the fact that I have had algae before and the diatomic filter had taken care of it, and it is not this time...could it be possible we are dealing with something else?

I lost about 50% of my plants from the Heat/Salt treatment. Could this actually be plant degration product (?chorophyll) that is causing the green coloring??

I am tempted to try one of those "clumping" agents...and get rid of it easily with the diamotic filter. Does anyone have any good recommendation for one...or perhaps recommend NOT to use it.

The blackout method may be nearly impossible. With 2 toddlers in the house...the thing they would want to do most in peek behind the blanket...and perhaps make some kind if underwater fort with them.

Thanks for any suggestions!

WC
 
I'd avoid the clumping agent if possible. I haven't heard good things about them. Keep up with the water changes... since you lost plants, can you try adding some quick growing stem plants? not that it looks like you have a lot of nutrients in the water, but it may help... too bad you can't do the blackout thing, it always does the trick for me....
 
well, you have low nitrates, and no phosphate...nutrients aren't very balanced right now.
I'd also go for 25-30ppm of CO2. 18ppm is on the low side of 'good'.
 
Medge,

What would you recommend as a fast growth stem plant. I am not good with plant names and their growth traits quite yet. Any pointing in the right direction would be great.

Malkore,

Thanks! My Nitrates/phosphates before the heat/salt treatment were usually Nitrate: 10-15pmm and Phosphat 0.5-1.0ppm. I am thinking that the mutiple and numerous and large water changes I have done trying to rid the green had thrown things off some. I will turn down my pH to 6.8 to get the CO2 up just a little more to the 25ppm range. I don't really dare to get nitrates and phos up too high...just incase this the contributing to the green water problem.

Thanks
 
well... most hygro's (Hygrophila difformis, polysperma) are good... watersprite.... Anacharis is a good algae buster, as is hornwort. HTH
 
Thanks for the info:

I already have Hygrophila difformis and polysperma and hornwort in the tank already. Unfortunately Anacharis is illegal in Maine...so I can't do that one. I have not tried watersprite..so I shall try to search some down.

Thanks for the help!

WC
 
well, then kick on the lights and blast the co2! think a little about ferts, just enough to get a little more balanced... crazy I know, but what you need to do is get your plants to thrive... that will help knock out the algae. Still its too bad you can't do the black out thing... it just works so well! HTH, let us know how it goes.
 
I used "algea Gone" on my planted tank and it worked in 45 mins. I then quickly of the next 3 days did 40% water changes so the stuff wouldn't have time to hurt my plants.. It works great for me.
 
I agree with Malkore, 18ppm of co2 is a bit low. IME more WCs make GW worse but you have other reasons for doing them. Getting your levels back up and in balance should help.
 
I had to run my diatom filter for almost 3 days straight to get my green tank clear (i only stopped to rinse out the filter)
 
Let me ask this...did you recently see ammonia rise from 0.00ppm, like, days before greenwater hit?

A lot of plant geeks who are smarter/more experienced than me feel that greenwater is instigated by an ammonia burst.

I've been lucky enough to not have a case of greenwater. Once my 75 water seemed tinted green in a white bucket. I stepped up my fertilizing routine, and it cleared up.

prior to the greenwater, your nitrate/phosphate levels seemed ok...in the 'safe zone' so to speak.
 
You know...there could have been a little ammonia spike. During the heat/salt treatment...I lost a few of my snails...and it wasn't until I saw the empty shells did I notice. The dead snails could have caused a little ammonia spike. I did not actually test the ammonia at that time....perhaps I should have.

I have stepped up the lighting and the CO2...added some ferts...and stopped the frequent water changes.

Lets see what happens!

Thanks for the help!

WC
 
Seriously, I'd have to question whether your diatom filter is working properly. If it's typical gw, as you stated it should be unicellular algae(ua). I've never experienced any ua that was small enough to pass through a diatom filter which is working properly.

I lost about 50% of my plants from the Heat/Salt treatment. Could this actually be plant degration product (?chorophyll) that is causing the green coloring??
Interesting speculation, but I've never heard of this happening before. I believe chlorophyl is destroyed when the leaves/plant die, I don't think it can exist just floating around in the water, like food coloring or something.

I'd prolly try a few more bunches of hornwort and some duckweed, just let them float. They are my personal favorite algae busting plants.
 
Here is a picture of the tank...1 week later!!

This is what I did to fix it:

1. Stopped the waterchanges
2. Stopped the diatomic filter
3. Kept all light on for 12 hrs/day
4. Used ferts 2 times during the week
5. Cranked up the CO2...bring my pH down to 6.8...and my CO2 at 25ppm
6. Removed all the dead and near dead leaves from the heat/salt treatment

...and looked what happened!! All nice and clear again!!! Thanks everyone for the help! I was a little leary in doing basicially what I THOUGHT would make matter worse...but low and behold...it did just the opposite!
 

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Good job White Cloud, tank looks great!
I was a little leary in doing basicially what I THOUGHT would make matter worse...but low and behold...it did just the opposite!
Sometimes this hobby is counter-intuitive, isn't it? Advice that seems all wrong, is actually just what you need... go figure... :?
 
Congrats! Nice tank btw...I especially like that piece of driftwood with the holes in it. Did you buy that or find it?
 
Thanks for the compliments. I need to trim up and tidy the air hose (which I have turn on when the light come one)..and I need to get another peice of driftwood to replace my plastic tree trunk...I jusy haven't found anything quite yet...and add a few more plants.

I thought the driftwood was a GREAT find!! I went into a local Pet Quarters...where I do not usually frequent...and I saw it and loved it! The top hole even looks like Mickey Mouse if you look at it in the right direction. The Fish love it too!

Anyway...I brought it out after I bought to show my wife my find. She couldn't believe I spent $20 on a block of wood.

Needless to say...I don't tell her how much things cost anymore!

WC

Thank for
 
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