Re: Green water fallacies?

• To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Re: Green water fallacies?
• From: olga at arts_ubc.ca
• Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 16:42:16 -0700

>From: gtong at sirius_com (G.Tong)

>I've got another question for you all. Someone on the Goldfish List has
>stated firmly that green water is caused by incomplete biological
>filtration, that if our filters were working, there would never be green
>water. His reasoning is that green water algae can only live when there is
>ammonia around whereas "hairy algae" (his term not mine) can thrive on
>nitrates and phosphates. He claims this is why green water is *never* found
>in planted tanks.
>
>Neither his conclusion nor his assumptions along the way sound right to me.
>Advice? TIA.

Hi Greg,

Well part of his conclusion *can't* be right because I have a *very*
heavily planted tropical tank and I had a "green water" problem about 6
months ago. The other part about "ammonia" can't be right either. As my
water is always below pH 7 neither my goldfish or tropical tank has had any
ammonia problems but they have both had "green water". In both cases it was
due to light and in both cases cutting light solved the problem.

Olga

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