Green Water Problem...

[thetmaxx]

When I changed my lighting from some makeshift plant lights from wal*mart to a real 55gal over head light, My water started gettign cloudy. When I drained soem of the water in a white bucket it was easy to see it was green. After a few days of not running the lgiht, the water quickly cleared up.

It's a 48" 40Watt Bulb with reflective material behind the bulb.

Very bright, but I didn't think it would be bright enough to cause algae problems. The problem is I have is my plants ned light too, but running the light all day quickly brings back the green water. My heater keeps the tank at about 75 F. I don't have many fish, and chanhe my water and filter on a normal schedual that doesn't differ from before i had the lights. ALso my chemicals are all in the ideal range rfor a tropical aquarium.

What can I do to combat the green water? Thank You!!

 

[malkore]

Kind of odd to see greenwater in such a low light tank. Its typically the bane among higher light setups.

Please list your water parameters. Its not sufficient to say "they're all good". we need the real numbers.

 

[Simpte]

Agreed. Did you redecorate the tank recently? Stirring up the gravel can release pockets of NH4(3) which can cause a greenwater bloom. Diatom filters or UV sterilizer is the best method of getting rid of greenwater.

 

[thetmaxx]

I think I might have, when I planted 4 new plants near the time i got the light, but i cannot say for sure when.
Nitrate - 20ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
hardness 100ppm
alkalinity - 120ppm
pH 7.2
amonia - 0ppm

I'll check into some UV sterilizer.
Curently the tank is cleared up, aftetr a week of very little light "on" time. so i'm going to run it regularly, and if the problem comes back i'll look into UV sterilizer.

Thanks for the help!

 

[malkore]

no phosphate test kit? You need one of those if you expect to keep a healthy planted tank.

 

[thetmaxx]

ok, will do... I have always just kindda had them in there, and they grow half decently. whould knowing the phosphate level help to determine the green water problem?

 

[malkore]

Yes. algae is always caused by an imbalance in nutrients, specifically nitrate and phosphate ratios.

lack of phosphate usually prompts greenwater....lack of nitrate usually starts a BBA bloom (among others)

 

[travis simonson]

If you can find one, Seachem makes a great affordable PO4 test kit that is pretty easy to read.

One cost-effective solution that has worked well in the treatment of green water for me is the AquaClear Quick Filter, a low-micron filter attachment for powerheads that can make quick work of green water depending on the severity. The filters are very inexpensive and provide a great low-cost alternative to diatom filters or UV sterilizers.