RE: [APD] green water and water changes

["Rick Engstrom" <rick703 at mts_net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: aquatic-plants-bounces+rick703=mts_net at actwin.com
[mailto:aquatic-plants-bounces+rick703=mts_net at actwin.com]On Behalf Of
Kurt Wiedenhoeft
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 12:26 PM
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
Subject: [APD] green water and water changes


Yesterday I did a 50-60% water change in my tank, and refilled using
only the carbon filter (no water conditioner). After I refilled the
tank, the water was a bit cloudier than before I drained. This morning
the water is much, much cloudier than yesterday. I was suspecting that
perhaps the water conditioner I was using was contributing to the green
water, but now I'm wondering if there isn't something nasty in the tap
water that I should be worried about?

I checked online, but there are no data sheets available. Should I try
to contact them and ask about any particular nutrients or contaminants?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree here? If this is being caused by
something in the tap water, should I look at an RO unit to clear it up?

Thanks,

Kurt



Kurt
it appear that at least for now my green water problem has cleared up. I did
several large 50-60% water changes however I also did a deep gravel vac. I
had a lot of dirt that had accumulated beneath the gravel at the front and
sides of the tank. This tank has been running for more than 3 years and
although I do gravel vac's biweekly I never did a deep cleaning. Anyway , I
removed as much of the black crud and it was crud, came off in large chunks.
Did a large water change and then ran the Vortex for 2 days. I also did not
dose any ferts at all for 5 days and only yesterday added a 1/2 tsp of KN03.
This is the 2nd day and the tank is still nice and clear so I have my
fingers crossed. I will slowly increase my ferts adding PMDD and some extra
trace and see how it goes but at this point things are looking up. I still
have some BBA which I continue to manually remove but not anything like
beofe. I also did try some Bacti-pur pond clarifier and some Algae remover
chemical however they did not seem to have any effect although I did this
while doing everything else so I'm not sure if they helped or not. I have
also been told by a friend that Seachem makes a product that you add to the
water that causes all the free floating algae to bind together and fall to
the gravel at which point you vacuum it out. He said it worked great in his
tank and almost instantly cleared the water up however on the down side it
completely plugged up his filter so I guess if you get some then unplug the
filter first. Good luck.

Rick


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