First BBA, now Green water.....

[BlazerFRS]

I've been battleing a recent outbreak of BBA with pruning and fert balancing... then I go away for the weekend and come back to find a tank full of GREEN WATER...... grrrrr

So today I did a couple of WC to clear things up some and to prune some more BBA. In the process I found a dead ghost shrimp- could this be the cause of the GW? I know adding NH4 will induce green water...

Perhaps it contributed to the BBA as well?

I've also been noticing some browning leaves lately- I belive it's a problem with traces since my NPK are all in line. I've got some Plantex CSM+B coming from greg watson.... what's the proper way to dose this?

Thanks

 

[travis simonson]

Blaze,

Hard to tell what your trace issue may be. Here is my tried and true fert regimen. It has worked for me and, given steady testing to make sure you're inline, should work for you:


*All listed values assume 100 gallons of water in your tank. Express it as a percentage if your tank is smaller.

Nitrate (Dose 10 mL Sat - Mon - Wed - Skip Friday)*
1000 mL Water
7 TBL KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate) = NO3 + .2 ppm/mL or NO3 + 1 ppm/5 mL Dose
= K + .13 ppm/mL or K + .65 ppm/5 mL Dose

Phosphate (Dose 40 mL Sat - 30 mL Mon - Wed - Skip Friday)*
1000 mL Water
4 TSP KH2PO4 (Monopotassium Phosphate) = PO4 + 0.04 ppm/mL or PO4 + 0.2 ppm/5 mL Dose

Potassium (Dose 50 mL Sat, 25 mL Mon - Wed - Skip Friday)*
1000 mL Water
4 TBL + 1 TSP K2SO4 (Potassium Sulfate) = K + .1 ppm/mL or K + .5 ppm/5 mL Dose

Trace Mix*
1000 mL Water (Dose 35 mL Sun - Tues - Thurs)*
2 TBL Plantex CSM + B (Iron and Traces) = Fe + 0.0025 ppm/mL or Fe + 0.05 ppm/20 mL Dose
1 TSP (packed) Iron Chelate (Fe only - Get it from Greg)
2 TSP MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate) = Mg + 0.015 ppm/mL or Mg + 0.3 ppm/20 mL Dose


*All listed values assume 100 gallons of water in your tank. Express it as a percentage if your tank is smaller.

 

[Simpte]

Greenwater is sometimes a blessing. No other algae grows when you have greenwater. Use a blackout (3-4 days) and do a 50-60% waterchange afterwards, A uv sterilizer (2 days) and same waterchange, or Diatom filter (1 day cleaning filter twice that day), and same waterchange) will take care of it. You will still need to figure out what triggered it. Did you rescape the tank?

 

[BlazerFRS]

I did rescape the tank, and I found a dead ghost shrimp after the water was green for about 2 days- looked like it had been dead awhile. I'm imagining the rescape+NH4 source is what got it going. I did a huge water change and it has come back very slightly in the past 48hrs, but nothing like it was on sunday. I think it has stalled since I removed the NH4 source... so for right not I"m just gonna do WC and see how it plays out.

I have to leave on spring break for 10days starting wed; so If it's not clear-er by then I'm gonna remove some plants from the tank, and put them in a 5 gal bucket (with my tank light) and blackout the tank for the duration... that ought to take care of it.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I am testing out this proven way to get rid of green water.If availible take a few 2 in. in diameter willow branches and stick them in the aquarium.After a few weeks the branches will develop roots and absorb up all the nutrients that greenwater was feeding on and the green water should die off,then water change.I am one week into this process and the branches have not developed roots yet,just make sure you don't leave the branches in the tank too long or you'll starve your plants.HTH

 

[BlazerFRS]

Haven't seen any willow trees about, but I think I'd do a blackout first anyway.... why wait weeks when a blockout only takes days, and is more proven.

I really wish there was some way to get my AC HOB to do diatom filtering

 

[BlazerFRS]

Alright, so it seems I've rid myself of my GW problem. All it took was 1.5 weeks of nothing!

After ridding myself of the suspected source (a rotting ghost shrimp), I found the GW hung on for a week with no sign of slowing. Just before I left for spring break, I dosed the tank to 30ppm NO3 and 4 or so ppm of PO4, added one last dose of excell, and reduced my lighting to 1.3 WPG.

When I got back sunday I expected the wost... but it was actually good! My plants had grown quite a bit. The water was hazy, but not in a greenish way... After a 50% WC and a few days the water is completly clear!
I've brought it back to ful lighting now and things are good. Thanks for all your advice!