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Re: algae



Tom,

Thanks for replying to my post.
> >
> > I have a 10 gallon green water tank. No matter that it's been up for
over
> > six months, has had the osmocote removed, the substrate replaced etc. It
is
> > still green. It remained green after I stuffed so many plants in there,
the
> > one betta has no room to swim in. It was green when there was _no_ fish
in.
> > There is no amount of plant growth that will clear this tank.
>
> Try blackout for 3-4 days instead.  Cover very well with a towel or thick
> blanket so no light at all gets in. That magnum with some Diatom powder or
> mulm might help. Do a water change prior to this.

I've done this. This green algae is so persistent, it doesn't even need
light. Ambient room lighting is enough. If I cover the tank completely and
the water does clear, couldn't I expect it to return once the light hits the
water again? It turned green again after replacing _all_ the water and
cleaning the filter material. I don't have a diatom filter. Yet.

> >
> > But now, my 29 gallon tank, where I placed 2 x 55 watts over it, has
been
> > green for quite a while. Initially it was great. Rotala macranda growing
> > gangbusters, rotala wallichii & indica which have a tendency to show up
> > stunted if they don't get what they want. In fact, no stunted looking
> > leaves, despite the high light levels, everything was growing
beautifully.
> > Then it turned green. I let it go, I changed water now and then. It
would
> > ultimately turn green again. I decided to ignore it because I didn't
have
> > the time to attend to it. Just when I decided it wasn't going to clear
up
> > until I changed some water I woke up to a clear tank one day. Of course
the
> > tank was so overgrown, that it required a trimming. And then it turned
green
> > again.
>
> Yak! I've had this happen with a tank I induced with GW. I have 110watts
> over a 20 gallon which is even worse. High light tanks are certainly prone
> to GW though. I had some problems in the past with a tank but a simple
Hagen
> filter cured it.

Which Hagen? I have a Whisper 2 hanging on there, with the co2 hose bubbling
into the intake of the filter. The filter doesn't clog, but doesn't do a
thing to help get rid of the green water.

> But you have to get rid of the Green water first and make
> sure the CO2 is stable. Then add a stable filter that doesn't clog. The
> blackout method will work but you'll have to keep up on the filter
cleanings
> and the CO2 levels. If you do a blackout that will take care of the GW.
The
> rest is up to you:)
>
> When you do a trim you are likely doing a big hack and you should do a
water
> change afterwards or do say 20-40% only of the tank and not uproot as much
> if possible. Your crashing your tank when you do the big hacks.
>
> Try adding no iron/fertilizer to the water column and adding root tabs
that
> are iron rich etc. Add fish food only.

I thought it interesting that the rotalas all do as well as they do in this
tank, with _no_ water column fertilization at all. (What the heck are they
putting in my water?) I haven't added any to this tank in months, and the
plants are doing great. I have added jobes to the substrate though, along
with calcium tabs, but very sporadically (like maybe 2x). I'll bet I uproot
some of this stuff when I trim. Unfortunately, this tank has a lot of plants
that don't do well when hacked off in trimming. Meaning, a trimming requires
uprooting. Let's see, cabomba furcata, rotala macranda, indica & wallichii,
eusteralis. They get really ugly when cut off and some won't regrow tips.

>Daphnia work also but your fish
> likely eat them.

Good idea. I tried dumping a bunch of daphnia in at lights out. I figured
they'd make it overnight at the least. I didn't see one by morning. Either
happy fish, but then, daphnia don't know enough to stay out of the filter
either.

>I usually don't touch the gravel
> when I move or the plants. It's just a big water day instead.
>
> Maybe I gave you some ideas that are doable without extra cost etc. It
takes
> work at least for awhile to get thing back to normal but then it's not too
> tough.

I'm just wondering if the amount of plant growth that is at the same time
aesthetically pleasing (to me) is just too little to compete with green
water. Hence my thought to change those light bulbs and wind up with 80
watts rather than the 110.

I think I'll go mix up a new batch of co2 juice.

Sylvia