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Re: green water hell


On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Roxanne Bittman wrote:

>
> I wrote about one month ago that I had a green water
> problem after a one month vacation.  It cleared up
> briefly after a couple of 25% water changes plus the
> addition of Kent's Pro Clear.
>
> However, it came back!  Despite water changes and
> Pro Clear, it returned.  It's mad now too, because
> NOTHING I do is getting rid of it.  What I have tried:

[snip]

I recall that I had a green water problem (now gone) that started around
the same time as yours.  I used a flocculant and ran a Magnum 350 w/micron
filter over night to clear the water.  That worked, but the green water
rebounded to the cloudy-but-not-real-green stage for about three weeks
running.  I was out of town over Thanksgiving weekend and when I returned
the water was as thick as it ever was.

The green water is now completely gone.  I used daily focculant treatments
(with Hagen P Clear) and ran the Magnum w/micron filter continuously for
several days in a row, changing and cleaning the filter each day.  I also
suspended all fertilizing and reduced fish feedings.

Reducing the fertilizing and feeding probably slowed the phytoplankton
growth rate, and the continuous filtering kept the water clear for a
continous period of time.  I think that the clear period let the rooted
plants (and unfortunately some blue green algae) accelerate their growth
and take over from the phytoplankton.

I have left the tank unfiltered now for two weeks and the water is still
crystal clear.  I haven't returned to my previous fertilizer routine - I'm
looking for convenient and inexpensive ways to replace foliar fertilizing
with substrate fertilizing because green water is a recurring problem in
this tank.  The blue green algae that expanded briefly when I was running
the filter is now in a gradual retreat.

I imagine that our green water problems are as unique as our aquariums, so
this expience may or may not be of any use.  This worked for me, good luck
with yours.


Roger Miller