# Greenwater advice - blackout w/ shrimp?



## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

Good morning - I totally rescaped my 1.2 gallon fishbowl and added sand to change the look alittle. Now . . . I expected some cloudiness, but after 24 hours it was still cloudy. Better, but still cloudy. I have done 30-50% water changes every day for about 4-5 days and the cloudiness is starting to take on a greenish tint so I am assuming that I have green water. I can do a black out but . . . I have no where else to put my shrimp. Will the blackout period hurt my plants and shrimp?


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## Guillermo (Dec 19, 2005)

Hi Katy, I´m no expert, I've never had green water, but I guess a couple days period of black out would not harm the shrimp and plants, you can try it and see what happens. You can try some RO water changes, maybe the water in the fishbowl is heavy loaded with phosphates and a different kind of water could help, Just my .02, hope this helps.


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

Doing a blackout for greenwater will help. In addition to the blackout make sure you have added nutrients too. Cover up the tank for at least 3 full days. Don't do any peeking. 

Your shrimp will also add to the clean up during the blackout. Plants will not suffer, just will slow growth rate.

After a full 3 day black out you will remove the cover and see your aquascape in a brand new way!!! Very clear!!!


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## kunerd (Jul 19, 2005)

When you say blackout do you cover the sides also??


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## Livebearer101 (Feb 7, 2006)

Yup, dont let any light get to the water AT ALL.

First, if you're fairly knew to the hobby, im make sure what you have is really green water to stop wasting a few days when you could be curing what the problem really is.

Hope this helps.


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## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

THanks for all the replys guys. I am not sure if what I have is greenwater, but it whatever it is . . . it is getting to be a real pain. I have changed %50 of the water everyday for the past 3 days and turned the lights off with no change. There is alot of ambient light so turning the lights off does not make that big of a difference. The water is cloudy and only slightly green, not pea green like some others have described. Everything has been fine up to this point and I don't dose any nutrients. The only thing that has changed is the fact that I added a layer of sand. Maybe the playground sand that I added was high in phosphates? 

Anyway . . . I am going to go ahead with the blackout and see how everything goes. Thanks again!


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## Livebearer101 (Feb 7, 2006)

Playground sand releases lots of brown particles that cloud the water i hear. Even if you wash it then it'll still appear. Thats your problem.


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## kunerd (Jul 19, 2005)

The sand shouldnt be the problem. I have playground sand in all 3 of my tanks and it will be cloudy only for a couple hours not days. Plus it wouldnt make the water green.


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## Debo (Feb 26, 2006)

*Greenwater advice*

I do have green water in one of my tanks. Does this cause any health problems with fish or snails? My tank is near a window, so I assume that is why my water is so green. Thanks Debo


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

katy_bug said:


> THanks for all the replys guys. I am not sure if what I have is greenwater, but it whatever it is . . . it is getting to be a real pain. I have changed %50 of the water everyday for the past 3 days and turned the lights off with no change. There is alot of ambient light so turning the lights off does not make that big of a difference. The water is cloudy and only slightly green, not pea green like some others have described. Everything has been fine up to this point and I don't dose any nutrients. The only thing that has changed is the fact that I added a layer of sand. Maybe the playground sand that I added was high in phosphates?
> 
> Anyway . . . I am going to go ahead with the blackout and see how everything goes. Thanks again!


Changing lots of water will most likely do nothing in improving algae problems. The reason algae occurs is that there is most likely an imbalance in nutrients, or lack of nutrients.

Plants need nutrients to really do good. And the lack of will cause them to not grow properly leaving conditions just right for algae to thrive on the little amount of nutreint in the water.

You need to add nutreints in order for the plants to grow and consume the nutrients leaving nothing for the algae to thrive on. Seems strange to add nutrients so plant can consume and leave nothing for algae to survive on but this is what happens.

At times I measure the need of nutrients adjustment when I see tell-tale signs of algae starting to grow on the glass of the tank. An indicator for the start of an imbalance.


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## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

Aquaphish - what nutrients adjustment do you recommend for a 1 gal tank? I am not currently supply anything but plenty of light and 3-5 drops of excel per day. What and how much should I dose?


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

katy_bug said:


> Aquaphish - what nutrients adjustment do you recommend for a 1 gal tank? I am not currently supply anything but plenty of light and 3-5 drops of excel per day. What and how much should I dose?


A one gal tank!!! I have no experience with such a small tank, but I did post this about what I dose in my 8 gal and 40 gal tanks.

I suggest you mix as indicated and follow the dosing amount prescribed using the calulator I use.

Read the following post I did on a similar subject.


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/236097-post10.html


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## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

Are there any complete dry fertilizers or liquid fertilizers that you would recommend. I hate to buy $35 worth of dry fertilizer to get the right combo for a 1 gal tank. Any suggestions from fellow nano'ers?


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## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

So I just got home from the bar where (I hate to admit) I have been drinking beer and eating crayfish. It has been 2 1/2 days since I started the blackout and I did exactly as instructed . . . covered with a towel and did not peak. 

To my dismay . . . my fishbowl was full of dead red shrimp . . . that looked much like my dinner . . . yikes!

I don't know what happened. The water is clear, the plants are fine and what were my perfectly healthy shrimp are dead. Every last one is dead. I just got done cleaning up the mess and I might just pout for a while.

I hope everyone else is having a better evening than I am . . .


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

This is just a wild guess as I've both a diatom filter and UVS to deal with green water when/if it crops up, but I would think that the massive death of the unicellular algae due to the blackout might cause an ammonia spike? Have you tested for ammonia? "Everyone knows" , that shrimp are very sensitive to water parameters. I really wouldn't think that just the lack of light for a couple of days would harm them, they're not like a plant that needs photosynthesis to survive for an extended period of time! Again, just a guess and a thought.


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## briandmiles (Feb 23, 2005)

RoseHawke said:


> This is just a wild guess as I've both a diatom filter and UVS to deal with green water when/if it crops up, but I would think that the massive death of the unicellular algae due to the blackout might cause an ammonia spike? Have you tested for ammonia? "Everyone knows" , that shrimp are very sensitive to water parameters. I really wouldn't think that just the lack of light for a couple of days would harm them, they're not like a plant that needs photosynthesis to survive for an extended period of time! Again, just a guess and a thought.


That sounds like a pretty good explanation. I've done blackouts on my shrimp infested 29g and they were always waiting for me to take off the plastic and feed them. But I'm guessing your 1g doesn't have a filter that would circulate the ammonia past your nitrifying bacteria and keep it from spiking.

Brian


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## Stealthy Ninja (Feb 16, 2006)

briandmiles said:


> That sounds like a pretty good explanation. I've done blackouts on my shrimp infested 29g and they were always waiting for me to take off the plastic and feed them. But I'm guessing your 1g doesn't have a filter that would circulate the ammonia past your nitrifying bacteria and keep it from spiking.
> 
> Brian


I'm not sure (and someone is free to correct me) maybe without lights on, the plants don't take in the ammonia too...is this right? or is that only CO2?!


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## katy_bug (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks again for all the advice - I have calmed down now and I just hate that all my cherries that had been so happy are now gone.


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