[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #568




> From: gomberg at wcf_com
> Date: Sun, 09 Mar 97 07:34:49 -0800
> Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #567
> 
> In <199703090839.DAA03110 at looney_actwin.com>, on 03/09/97 
>    at 03:39 AM, Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com said:
> 
> > Clear does NOT mean 'colorless'.

No, if by not clear you are refering to turbidity or light scattering.

If by clear you mean "not visibly hazy to you" then I can accept that.  
If you mean clear by absolutely no turbidity when viewed along the tank 
end to end by me, I highly doubt it.
 
> OK, I accept that.  My water is clear, but green.  Any good way to get rid
> of the green tint?  Or is that normal?

Is it green when you look at it in the tank, or is it green when you pull 
a sample in a white container?  If it is green in the tank, then you may 
be simply seeing the color of the cheap glass they use for aquaria.  If 
it is green when held in a white container, it means that there is green 
"stuff" in the water, be that microalgae or dissolved organic compounds.  
Most green colored water actually has microalgae in it.  Most yellow 
water is colored primarily by humic acids.

I'd think the solution to the former problem is either biological 
(microfauna that eats microalgae) or physical.  If the water is so yellow 
that it bothers you, then activated carbon is a quick way to take care of 
that.

If people have problems with iron loss when they use activated carbon, 
and they still want to get rid of the color, then transient use of 
activated carbon is probably the best way to go.  It can't remove iron 
when it isn't present in the system.

> From: mark.fisher at tpwd_state.tx.us
> Date: Sun, 09 Mar 97 10:42:35 cst
> Subject: Where's the yellow?
 
>      There has been so much discussion on using carbon to remove the yellow 
>      color in aquarium water I deceided to check my own tanks, as one 
>      person suggested.
      
>      I keep both a 90 gal planted tank and a 75 gal reef tank; neither has 
>      ever been carbon filtered.  The 90 gallon has been set up for 4 years, 
>      and the 75 has been set up for 3.  Both are very successful.  I taped 
>      a sheet of white paper at one end, and sighted along the length of the 
>      tank (4 feet).
      
>      The result?  A slight blue-green color.  This is not because of the 
>      water, but because of the glass--it has a slight blue-green color 
>      (very distinct on the glass edge).  Both tanks were manufactured by 
>      O'Dell.  Maybe the glass color masked the water color, but I don't 
>      seem to have yellow water.  Where's the problem?

That wasn't the test that I suggested.  It was to put a water sample in a 
white container and look at it.  Why did I suggest that?  So one would 
not be thrown off by the color of the glass in the tank.

If it doesn't bother you, it isn't a problem.

But if you have had a reef set up for three years with no activated carbon
use, the water is yellow.  If you have had a planted tank set up for four
years, the water is yellow.  If you don't believe me, do the test that I
suggested, not the one you imagined.  Remember, pure water will have a
light blue hue when you put it in a white container.  The intensity of the
blue color is dependent on the depth of the container, but I can discern
it in something as small as a quart yogurt container.  If it is the first
time you have looked, I'd suggest using a five gallon bucket, white,
polyethylene, nearly full. 

Craig