Diatom and UV to eliminate green algea

[Speakerman]

Well I've had my new Vortex Diatom XL filter on my 150 gallon tank for a while now and its awesome...It clears the water up completely over night. However, within a couple days the water will become cloudy again...and no matter how many times I repeat the process, the water gets cloudy...sooooo

I went and bought a Laguna UV sterilizer designed for a pond. I hooked it in line with the xP3 canister...

Right now the Diatom filter and the UV filter are both running. I just vacuumed the gravel and removed a LOT of waste and did a 30 % water change.

I'm going to let everything run like it is for a few days. Then I will remove the diatom filter once more, and see where that gets me in a couple days...If the water still gets green after this...I'm going to be very angry.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Ive had the same issue with my tank ever since I set it up!
I've done the diatom powder stuff, and it always helps but never fully clears up the water. I finally broke down and purchased a UV sterilizer (its in transit). So hopefully you and I will have some clear tanks in the near future =o)

 

[Speakerman]

Seriously man...The Diatom is kind of a pain to set up each time I need it...so I hope this is a complete cure for my problem.

I'm also going to get rid of some of the smaller fish in the tank...Like the green terrors, and the parrot fish.

I think that will help to level out the tank a bit as well.

 

[QTOFFER]

I had the same problem a few months ago - green water that reappeared a few days after the diatom filtration.

The diatom and UV filters are great at solving the problem, but they don't prevent it from happening again.
Something is out of whack in your tank and you have to figure out what your problem is.

In my case, it was the phosphate:nitrate ratio, which should be 1:10. My tap water has phosphate, and my nitrate levels were too low. I cut back on the feedings to once a day (decreased phosphates), and started doing PWC every two weeks instead of weekly (increased nitrates).
Such a simple change completely eliminated the green water...amazing!

Good places to start:
Too much light (sunlight and artificial)?
Phosphate:nitrate imbalance?
Overdosing ferts (if you have live plants)
Dead plants or snails in the tank - release phosphates?

 

[Speakerman]

How do I measure phosphates?

 

[rich311k]

With a Seachem Phosphate kit.

 

[Speakerman]

Well I tested the water with all the stuff I have...

Ph 8.4
Alkalinity 200
Hardnes - soft/very soft
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20


I also just bought a PYTHON YEAHHHHHH!!!!!



I just noticed...that I had the lights turned off for about 2 hours...with the UV and diatom running.

When I went in there, turned on the lights...and the water is crystal clear.

Could it be that I have too much light, I've got 4 32 W flourescent bulbs on it.

 

[Speakerman]

Well I've had them running for a while, and the water is clear.

I just took the Diatom off, we will see how long it takes to get cloudy again.

I'm going to set the UV sterilizer to run only at night time...but I don't have a timer yet. I'll have to go get one.