Green water

[Straick85]

I'm dealing with green water right now on my 55 planted. Amonia and nitrites both test at 0, as well as phosphate if I skip a day of ferts, and nitrate is at under 40ppm (all tested before a pwc that ended in a sad way).
First time in over 6 years of having at least one aquarium to get green water. The gw was already established, but I did up the filter from a Fluval 106 to a Fluval 204 (I know, older but it seems to be working good).
I picked up an AA Green Killing Machine from Petsmart yesterday. The little filter cloged over night, so I reworked it.

I'll keep you all posted on how this goes.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Straick85]

For reference, here's how the tank looks right now.

That is a small sprig of elodea densa on the front glass in an airline clip. Took some hunting to get some due to it being banned for sale in New York. Planning on growing it out to replace most of the anacharis naja.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Autumnsky]

What is the back story on how this tank happened into the GW relm?

 

[Caliban07]

Did you switch the filter prior to the green water?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Straick85]

Filter switch happened after gw started. All was going smoothly, tank set up for about 2 months ago. I had to work some long days, so I didn't see it with the lights on, and had to rely on another to feed the fish. First noticed a hint of it last weekend, and this weekend it was pea soup.
My guess, it was overfed when I was working the long days.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Bert2oo1]

A 204 is far to small for a 55g. You might want to look into more filtration. U want about 8-10 times tank turnover an hour


30g planted, 90g Oscar tank

 

[Straick85]

I know it's small for a 55. A 406 is in the cards, but the money isn't there for it at the moment.
A new co2 reactor will also be bought or made when I get the larger filter as well. The current one puts out micro bubbles with the flow of the 204.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Caliban07]

My guess, it was overfed when I was working the long days.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

This seems likely. UV is probably the quickest most practical way to get rid of green water once it's proliferated.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Straick85]

I'm hoping so. So far so good on the filter I'm using ahead of the UV unit. Been running all night, and flow has not yet been killed.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Autumnsky]

Yes that makes sense. Are you feeding flaked food? That seems to make lots of phosphates and extra light makes it an algae haven.

Try feeding Hikari pellet food. Many options foods for different kinds of fish. They are good as a baseline food and don't break down quickly or in my experience don't cause algae issues.

 

[Straick85]

Flake every other day. Nothing escapes the little sharks. I've been thinking of the Hikari, just haven't gotten it yet.
Ironically, if I don't dose po4, then the test will come back at 0.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Bert2oo1]

Yes that makes sense. Are you feeding flaked food? That seems to make lots of phosphates and extra light makes it an algae haven.

Try feeding Hikari pellet food. Many options foods for different kinds of fish. They are good as a baseline food and don't break down quickly or in my experience don't cause algae issues.

In my experience higher phosphates helps fight algae. I had a GSA problem and killed it by upping my phosphate dosage. Worked a treat


30g planted, 90g Oscar tank

 

[Caliban07]

Increasing phosphates helps to combat GSA. It doesn't have much correlation with any other types. Low co2 will induce most types of algae but green water is induced by excess ammonia and light.

Even if ammonia test reads 0ppm the fact that green water is now prevalent shows that there must have been a small excess at some point. Minor upsets to the bacterial colony can cause this easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Straick85]

I might know my trigger. I trimmed the anacharis naja about a week before the first signs of green water. And by trimmed, I mean removed about 3/4 of it. That, combined with the crazy work schedule, I think led to this.
Here's the progress of the uv unit so far.

It's slowly clearing up. Not sure if it's due to the filter or the uv (I think both), but it is improving.
When I transfered filters, all the bio media moved over to the new one, the only mechanical that could have moved easily would habe been the polishing pad, but it was spent.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Straick85]

Here's tonights view.

Uv isn't an overnight cure once gw gets a strong foothold, but it seems to ne working.
Just to be sure, I checked all but kh/gh. Ph is 6.6(right where it always sits at), and nh3, no2, no3, and po4 are all at 0(all tested using API test kits).
I did stop dosing ferts when I started the UV treatment, so these results aren't a surprise. Should I still be dosing ferts, or should I wait for the algae to clear first?

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Autumnsky]

It is amazing how much plants can clean water, especially Anacharis. I removed a plant which was 2 lengths from one stub 6 and 5 feet and had the worst mini cycle, more like a major cycle (it was only a 6.6G tank) but YIKES!

 

[Caliban07]

Here's tonights view.

Uv isn't an overnight cure once gw gets a strong foothold, but it seems to ne working.
Just to be sure, I checked all but kh/gh. Ph is 6.6(right where it always sits at), and nh3, no2, no3, and po4 are all at 0(all tested using API test kits).
I did stop dosing ferts when I started the UV treatment, so these results aren't a surprise. Should I still be dosing ferts, or should I wait for the algae to clear first?

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Might be better to have the lights off for a day or so? It will stop the green water proliferating as the UV destroys it and it will disappear much faster.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Straick85]

I'm not in a rush to clear the gw. I'd rather it take a little time to clear so that everything can balance out again. This is also showing that the 9 watt aa green killing machine actually does work on gw algae(I had doubts if it would).
Here's tonight's view.

A noticable improvement considering I haven't cut the photoperiod back at all.

The only thing I have found with this UV unit so far is that I do have to shut it off once a day to burp gas bubbles out of it, probably due to the way I have it setup.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Caliban07]

I'm not in a rush to clear the gw. I'd rather it take a little time to clear so that everything can balance out again. This is also showing that the 9 watt aa green killing machine actually does work on gw algae(I had doubts if it would).
Here's tonight's view.

A noticable improvement considering I haven't cut the photoperiod back at all.

The only thing I have found with this UV unit so far is that I do have to shut it off once a day to burp gas bubbles out of it, probably due to the way I have it setup.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

9w clear my dads point in just short of a week. There are more powerful bulbs for sure but 9w is ample.

Looking better already.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Straick85]

The GW is down to a point where I can enjoy seeing the fishes swimming around again. Not 100%, but acceptable, and the only change made was the uv unit.
I did discover that the anacharis naja was basically trying to choke out neighboring plants, so I oulled about half of it out for the moment. I really need to settle on a replacement for it. The fast growth I had expected, but I don't feel the love for it like I do the anubias or crypt.

As I am removing the anacharis, I'm almost expecting it to trigger a second algae bloom now, due to how well it's roots got into the substrate.

My summarization of the 9 wattAA Green Killing Machine, a good unit for GW, but it needs a better filter design for the inlet. I'll have to see how it performs in the long run now. I'm going to let it run 24/7 for the next week to make sure that the GW is done, and then place it on a timer for a while to run it 8 hours a day for maintenance.
Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk