30L (7G) Aqua One tank ALWAYS goes green

[Stuquarium]

i have this little 30L Aqua One tank that was given to me by my sister.

at the moment it's housing 4 platys and a male guppy and live plants,

when ever i seem to add plants and leave the light on for more than a few hours a night the water begins to go green. eventually pea soup.

i have some photos
the light that comes with the tank.
http://www.stuartsmithmusic.com/fish/a1/light1.jpg
the light specs...
http://www.stuartsmithmusic.com/fish/a1/lightspecs.jpg
the tank with a biolux tube on it
http://www.stuartsmithmusic.com/fish/a1/tankwbioluxtub.jpg
with the original light
http://www.stuartsmithmusic.com/fish/a1/lighwa1.jpg

am i destined to have pea soup green water? or can i change the lighting, i'd really like this to be my desktop tank, but it always goes green! it doesnt matter how long i leave the light on for, eventually it'll do it, it's never moved rooms, would it help if i moved it to some hwere else? and the lid will get warm when the lights been on for a little while

any ideas?

 

[BrianNY]

Green water is caused by single cell algae. In order to erradicate the problem you must kill all the algae or another population explosion will occur. Diatom filters are excellent for controlling this problem. If you can't get your hands on one, try a total blackout period for 3 days. Cover the tank so that no light can penetrate. The fish will be fine.

 

[Stuquarium]

are these diaton filters expensive?

i have tried the blackout thing, and that didn't work either..

 

[Hoovercat]

The cheapest diatom filter I know of is a Marineland H.O.T. Magnum with Diatomaceous Earth squirted into the intake to coat the micron filter. It'll cost $50-60 for the filter and a box of DE.

 

[FawnN]

For a 7 Gallon, it's not worth it. I would reduce the amount of time you have your lights on and do partial water changes every other day.

Or small water changes every day. IMO, you can never do too many water changes.

 

[willowthepoet]

keep up with water changes and rinse out your filter cartridge every couple days, as long as you have other stuff in there to keep up your good bacteria population.



also.... you have a furby. scary.

 

[Stuquarium]

lol the vurby ain;t mine, it's my girlfriends.

i'll see how i go woth more frequent changes.
10L every few days ok for a 30L tank ?

 

[Blucat]

Hey I had green water and nothing worked. ii found a cheap easy solution and it worked: tetra water balancer. ill see if i can find my thread

 

[Stuquarium]

that would be great thanks.

 

[Blucat]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=46017&highlight=

the last few pages show the improvements in photos

 

[Stuquarium]

thanks mater reading it now