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Green water vs nitrate
I am a bit puzzled about the correlation between the green water problem and
very low nitrate levels. Green water problems in lakes and rivers due to
eutrophication seem to contradict this.
But as several people seem to experience this correlation in aquarium, and
so many other factors are present...
I have never encountered a green water problem in any of my tanks over a
period of 10 years and indeed, all my tanks have nitrate levels of a least
10 mg NO3 per liter.
Could these organisms responsible for green water in aquaria be able to
perform nitrogen fixation? If they are able to grow so fast, they need some
nitrogen source and lots of it...
Nitrogen fixation is quite energy consuming, this might explain why these
organisms are not able to cope with the competition of other algae and
higher plants in the presence of other N-sources than nitrogen gas. Then, on
the other hand, do these organisms disappear when you just add enough
nitrate?
Roeland