Green Water

[CarlClassen]

Ok i've had green water for over 2 months. It aint going away. I do massive water changes but it just comes back. Any ideas? The tank has been very hot due to this weather and we don't have a/c

[Mettle]

Fresh water clams may do you some good. Green water is what they feed on, for the most part. They act in part like a living filter.

[BigDaddy]

The quickest way to get rid of it is with a UV sterilizer or a diatom filter.

I use my HOT Magnum with the micron cartridge.  You charge the filter with diatom powder and voila!  diatom filter.  Nice bonus is you have a great filter for polishing your water in any of your tanks afterwards.

[kennyman]

Another way of dealing with it is to keep nitrates low and reduce light.

How much light is the tank getting?
Whats your nitrate at before you swap out some water?

[gvv]

Another way of dealing with it is to keep nitrates low and reduce light.

How much light is the tank getting?
Whats your nitrate at before you swap out some water?

And add water plants, that will be happy to get exessive nitrates...

[Anubias]

Green water is the result of low nitrate, not excessive nitrate. Add plants and lower the lighting a bit.

[shell]

I had that problem about a year ago.  Its hard to get rid of, but the way I did it was to cover the tank so that no light was able to penetrate, change all the filter media, and put in this stuff they sell at any aquarium store called, PhosX or something like that.  It kills suspended algae (which is what green water is).  Along with water changes, it finally went away.

[PNA]

Cover the tank and don't allow any light to reach it for a week.  That should kill all algae.  Your fish and plants should be fine.

[fishycanuck]

I had a similar problem... is this tank a newish one?
I did the blackout - I think BigDaddy did an article on that somewhere on this site - lowered the temperature, and used a phosphate-grabbing filter.
Once I used "algae clear" or similar, and killed my plecos.
good luck!

[CarlClassen]

Fresh water clams may do you some good. Green water is what they feed on, for the most part. They act in part like a living filter.

I thought about that. i read somewhere that you have to be careful with clams though cause if they release babies there attach to fishes gills. However i was going to do it anyways but didn't see any at the LFS

[CarlClassen]

The quickest way to get rid of it is with a UV sterilizer or a diatom filter.

I use my HOT Magnum with the micron cartridge.  You charge the filter with diatom powder and voila!  diatom filter.  Nice bonus is you have a great filter for polishing your water in any of your tanks afterwards.

I decided to go this root. Now i just need to charge the filter!

[TR]

Hi Carl, regarding your green water problem....

While all the previous answers you recieved will suffice.....

Having green water does not always entail drastic measures! UV sterilizers will of course destroy all the multiplying organisms in the water, blacking out the tank is another option aswell.

The first step should always be to try to trace the problem as to where, what and why this could be happening.

Is the tank in front of direct sunlight or window! Are there live plants in the tank? maybe you are adding to much plant fertilizer? What about your lighting, could it possibly be too strong?

Temperature is one thing yes, but where are the phosphate spikes coming from? Putting on diatom filters etc.. is not far off, from saying its that it's a quick "Band-Aid" solution to merely taking all the molecules in the water and voila! the tank looks nice and polished.

But this does nothing to the why and how questions in the first place.  An aquarium that is properly maintained will nautrally run well maintained!

Yes, we all face hurdles or need to alter things from time to time.  I am not disputing that fact.

But, as in this case... before jumping on the bandwagon as to getting or needing the more "high-tech" equipment such as UV sterilizers, adding diatom filters etc, etc.... whereas even something less "high tech" such as simply adding (GreenX) or (PhosX) might be all you need.

In regards to fresh water clams.. yes they will look "neat" in the tank, but you shouldn't need to buy them for that type of water you shouldn't have in the first place!

                                     TR

[BigDaddy]

The quickest way to get rid of it is with a UV sterilizer or a diatom filter.

I use my HOT Magnum with the micron cartridge.  You charge the filter with diatom powder and voila!  diatom filter.  Nice bonus is you have a great filter for polishing your water in any of your tanks afterwards.

I decided to go this root. Now i just need to charge the filter!

Put your HOT in the tank.  Then take a pitcher or something like it, and scoop it up under the intake and exhaust sides of the filter.  Lift everything up so that the only water the HOT is filtering is the water in the pitcher, not the water in the tank.

Now... slowly add about a cup of diatom powder.  Drop a bit in... and then wait until the water becomes clear again.... Repeat until you've used a cup.

Then... WITHOUT TURNING THE FILTER OFF (important because if you turn it off, the diatom powder won't stay stuck to the micron cartriddge and just blow out into the tank), lower it back into the tank, and then remove the pitcher from the intake and exhaust.

Properly charged, you tank should become clear within an hour or two at worst, and a few minutes at best (depending on how much green water you have and the size of your tank).

Once your green water is gone... clean up the HOT (it will be a beautiful neon green) and PUT IT BACK ON THE TANK FOR A WEEK.  Otherwise you are likely to get it back again within days.

I have done this exact procedure on two of my tanks and it worked beautifully... with the green water never to return again.

[mseguin]

Just a quick note: clams don't use fish as vectors, they have free-swimming larvae. Native freshwater mussels do use fish as carriers for their larvae, but the fish are not harmed.

[CarlClassen]

Worked great BD, had to do it twice though to totally get rid of the green water. Should it have worked with just one cleaning?

[CarlClassen]

Bd, when you put it back on for a week do you put the powder back in or just use the micron cartridge?

[BigDaddy]

Worked great BD, had to do it twice though to totally get rid of the green water. Should it have worked with just one cleaning?

Nope... if you had a really bad case, the filter will get so clogged up, you sometimes need to clean it out and do it again.

And yup, you want it charged with powder for the week just to pick up any remnants left in the water column.

[CarlClassen]

OK now its clear enough to drink. Wow. I want to start fertilizing again. I found another post of yours where you recommend

Here's my routine (75gsame size tank, 220W lighting and pressurized CO2)

3 x a week... 1/2 tsp of KNO3 dosed dry
2 x a week ... solution of KH2PO4 to increase P to .35ppm total
3 x a week... 15mL of trace mix (flourish will do, but is expensive. Get a trace element mix from a hyroponics place instead 2 tbsp to 500ml of distilled water).


My tank is 29G with over 3wpg
I went to a hydroponic place and bought these ferts. Is your trace mix yellow by the way? I added the same amounts but i'll do it once a week. Is that too much? The trace mix turned the water yellow

[BigDaddy]

Don't follow that routine unless you are injecting CO2.

As well, don't assume you have 3WPG unless you are using normal fluorescents, compact fluorescents or VHO.  Spirals will NOT give you the same results (3 WPG of spirals is not the same as 3WPG of normal fluorescent).

And, of couse, don't use the same measurements... scale it back a little under half, since your tank is a little more than half as small as the one in that post.

Depending on your fish load, your KNO3 can be adjusted.  I've added more fish load to that tank and now only need 2 doses of KNO3 a week instead of three.