Help What is happening to my plant tank?

[bmthepainter]

Hi..
My beautiful tank is going to H@ll.
Started about a week or so ago. Tank started to cloud up a bit with Greenish water.
I have tried To do water changes but the water keeps getting greener. Thought it was an algae boom going on in the water but after today I did another 60% water change I noticed that my Sword plant leaves look like they are loosing their green starting at the tips.

My ph is stable at 7.0 like always.
No ammonia or Nitrites.
It is going to the point of not being able to see from one end to the other by looking through the sides.

There are no dying fish and all else seems normal.
Fertilizing with Big al's Brand and Flourish Potassium.
Maybe not enough though. The tank growth got really good and fast just before this happening.
I"ll include a few pics.

Thanks.
Brian.

 

[Rivercats]

First off your having a green water algae bloom and WC's won't work. You can do a total blackout for 3 days and see if it kills the floating algae off or you can use a UV sterilizer which will kill all the free floating algae in a couple days. Many on this site have very good results with this... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO. Once the bloom is gone reduce lighting to 6 hours daily.

As for the plants you need to be using root tabs for any crypts and swords along with using a good fert dosing plan as you appear to have some nutrient deficiency problems. Do you know your gh, kh, ph, nitrate, and phosphate levels? Are you using liquid carbon daily or CO2?

I use these ferts.... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.html.


I also suggest 3 of these dosing bottles... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/dispenser-32oz.html


Read this thread about dosing PPS-Pro but only read the opening post and not all the comment posts... http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/pps-analysis-feedback/39491-newbie-guide-pps-pro.html.


There are two things I do differently than the thread is that I split my macro nutrients up using one dosing bottle for nitrates, and one dosing bottle for phosphates and potassium. This allows me for better custom dosing to the needs of my tank. I shoot for 10-20ppm of nitrate and 1-5ppm phosphates. The thread also has MgSO4, magnesium sulfate in the macro mix. If your tanks Gh is 4 or over then your tap water has enough magnesium in it that supplementing it is not needed.

 

[bhardtke]

I had the same problem a couple weeks ago. I did wc whenever I could usually every other day. I limited my lights to about 4-5 hrs a day, so I didnt kill my plants. I put clarifying pads in my filter to. Not sure what you're setup is though. Here's an algae web site I found it helped me with little ba I had. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[bmthepainter]

Hello and thanks.
My ph is 7.0 / 6.9
Kh is 8
Gh I think is around 10 or 11
Nitrites are 0
Nitrates were at 50 ish
I just did the feet tabs just before all the green algae started appearing.
My lights are on for 12 hours
I use a double bright marineland led
And a current USA + led light
I use my co2 injection and it is around 30ppm

The plants were growing strong until the green algae in the water.
Thanks

 

[Sk3lly]

Hello and thanks.
My ph is 7.0 / 6.9
Kh is 8
Gh I think is around 10 or 11
Nitrites are 0
Nitrates were at 50 ish
I just did the feet tabs just before all the green algae started appearing.
My lights are on for 12 hours
I use a double bright marineland led
And a current USA + led light
I use my co2 injection and it is around 30ppm

The plants were growing strong until the green algae in the water.
Thanks

Do as Rivercats suggested as it was great advice.

Your lighting is your problem! 12 hours is far too long. You should look to find a balance in your tank whilst running lighting from 6-8 hours

Dont panic though. Green water is easy to fix. The 3 day blackout is a very easy fix and doesnt cost anything

 

[Rivercats]

Nitrates in a planted tank should be between 10-20ppm's. Yours is high and combining excess nutrients with long photoperiods is a green water algae blooms dream. Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? Are you cleaning your filters? How much water to you change out weekly? You need to get nitrates lowered and once the algae bloom is gone you need to keep lighting down and get your plants on track with problem ferts and at least liquid carbon which also acts as a mild algaecide.