# Green water!! Aahhhh!



## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Specs:
28g bowfront, 3 + months old
4 13w 6700k CFL, 18" above sub.(5-4-5)(used to run six but have cut this back to four)
Haven't had a good test kit in years but strips say
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm


Okay, I've been keeping tanks now for quite a few years (almost seven now). I seldom ask questions but I need help on this one. This is literally my FIRST experience with green water. It started a week or, two ago. It is a Walstad aquarium(one of three). It gets minimal sunlight only in the mornings(sits about 10ft from window receiving light). There's a 20g long right in front of this same window that gets the light directly all day. No green water. Been running three months or longer now. I keep the routine fairly simple. 

- Top offs when necessary(once a week, +/- a day)
- Daily Excel(1ml)
- Every other day API leaf zone (.75ml) Iron and Potassium, if I remember correctly.
-25% waterchange monthly-ish
-Feed sparingly once one day, twice the next etc.(Three bettas, four harlies, three male endlers and, two Elassoma zonatum, two nerites, two assasins, lots of MTSs, and lots of "wild" snails)

Things that have changed:

-Spring, more intense/direct light
-Increase in Phosphate (confirmed by water company)
-Addition of MTSs(trumpet snails, have noticed some places where they have brought underlying soil through sand cap)
-Removal of well rooted Saurarus cernuus, replaced with Peruvian sword(Echinodorus peruiensis)
-Removal of a lot of duckweed and, dwarf water lettuce

What I'm thinking.. The combination of the increased phosphate and intensity/duration of sun is the culprit and/or, the uprooting of the well rooted plant/soil turning by the MTSs have leached Phosphate into the water column. 
Plantwise I have a great stand of Cryptocoryne wendtii going, lots of Juncus repens, lots of Hygrophila polysperma, Hygrophila lacustris(I can never remember the current name for this Hygro.), Hygrophila difformis, Lysimachia numularia, a Potamogeton sp., a Hydrocotyle sp., two large Anubias hastifolia, lots of Microsorum pteropus varieties, Lemna minor, Dwarf water lettuce, another Lemna sp., floating stems of L. numularia, ludwigia palustris, watersprite. It's a decent plant load.

Blacking out is going to be my last resort - I don't want to lose my stand of Cryptocoryne. Would a screen over the top of the tank cut back enough light to NOT melt the Cryptocorynes?
Water changes are not an option - per mentioned above. 
What plants are particularly adept at absorbing Phosphate?
I've thought about adding microfauna but, my Pygmy sunfish will likely eat these before they do any good.
UV sterilizer is not an option for at least a few weeks.
Have already pulled gauze curtains closed in window.

Suggestions, comments, and questions are welcome.. GO!


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## Xirxes (Aug 18, 2008)

90% water change, add mini water lettuce until green water gone.


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## sbowman1991 (Apr 14, 2015)

Just green water? Uv sterilizer for a week. The water will be crystal clear. If your running a canister they even make an in line uv.

edit just read the ending. Why isn't it am option? Just funds or something in the tank preventing it.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

+1 on the uv sterilizer and a couple water changes


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## nchmi28 (Feb 8, 2015)

I haven't tried this myself, but I'd be curious to know if it works.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/7212-fighting-green-water-simple-cheap-method.html
It says to put cut willow branches in the tank.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Xirxes said:


> 90% water change, add mini water lettuce until green water gone.


Can't utilize water changes.. tap water has increased level of Phosphates - per Water company. Water changes will just add to the problem. But, I may just add back the larger floaters!! Thanks!



sbowman1991 said:


> Just green water? Uv sterilizer for a week. The water will be crystal clear. If your running a canister they even make an in line uv.
> 
> edit just read the ending. Why isn't it am option? Just funds or something in the tank preventing it.


Yes, funds. May not even be a feasible option ANY time soon. Buying a car for the wife soon. Daughter's first birthday, school bills, normal bills etc.

Anyone else?


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

How many ppm of phosphate is the tap water from the water company?... You say they increased, but how much are we talking here? 2ppm? 10ppm? 20ppm?

As for the light, I think a window screen should be fine.. you have a LOT of light right now, and crypt wenditii doesn't really need that much light.

I suspect your biggest culprit is the removal of the floaters... Floaters are great at cutting your light levels down, and they're also great vigorous growers. Reducing plant mass and increasing light is a sure-fire way to get algae to show up in some manner.

Also, your nitrate at 5ppm seems pretty low, particularly if phosphate is increasing.

Suggested reading:
http://www.guitarfish.org/algae#greenwater


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

Too much nutrients, not enough CO2, not enough water changes, too much light. Recipe for green water.

Get yourself a UV filter and a test kit and get your water back in spec after a large water change. UV will remove the green water quickly.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

mattinmd said:


> How many ppm of phosphate is the tap water from the water company?... You say they increased, but how much are we talking here? 2ppm? 10ppm? 20ppm?
> 
> As for the light, I think a window screen should be fine.. you have a LOT of light right now, and crypt wenditii doesn't really need that much light.
> 
> ...


Good, informative link! Thank you! I agree with the removal of the floaters. That was something I meant to mention as a potential cause. I had no NOTICEABLE algae before removing the floaters. I will call back and inquire what the increase was. Thanks guys!


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

That sounds about right.. 

Quite frankly, I'm very skeptical of the idea the phosphates are a problem unless they're stupidly high... 

Given that your nitrates are low at 5ppm, I'd say you'd want to be at 1.5ppm or less, but a tank with good nitrate levels (10-20ppm) could go higher without much issue.

I normally aim for 2ppm of phosphate, but I've run at 4ppm for extended periods due to miscalculations in my dosing (oops). However, my nitrate is normally around 20ppm, and I have lots of hungry plants in the tank..


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

mattinmd said:


> That sounds about right..
> 
> Quite frankly, I'm very skeptical of the idea the phosphates are a problem unless they're stupidly high...
> 
> ...


The tank was doing fine until two weeks ago. I was racking my brain about WHAT CHANGED!!?? I had to go back and remember what all I did out of the ordinary. I removed well over have the Pistia to trim the roots and never put it back in. I also removed one of the lamps last night and rearranged the lights. So now I'm running three 13w with the screen.

Xirxes, after mulling it over I realized the 90% water change you reccomended was to remove the suspended algae rather than reducing the amount of Phosphate, that with the re-addition of Pistia would use more of the Phos before the algae could utilize it... right?


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

You don't want no phosphate.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Okedokey said:


> You don't want no phosphate.


Yes, I know that. Gotta have it, lol. I was just clearing up what Xirxes suggested and making sure I understood what his purpose was for this suggestion. To REDUCE Phosphates to a level, not remove them entirely, and remove a large amount of the suspended algae to give the Pistia(and other plants) a chance to utilize the Phosphate before it gets to a ridiculous level again. This, coupled with a hold off on feeding for a few days, water change(s), reduced AND filtered lighting I'm hoping will help. I'm also going to collect rainwater for a few days to get some Phosphate free water to top off with until this is eradicated.

Also, I just read an article this morning regarding the difference in organic versus inorganic phosphates and plant/algae uptake. It was an interesting read.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I see where you have a report from the city on the Phosphate level.
There is a recommended amount of it. For your size tank you can get this by adding
KH2PO4 on the fert calculator and it will tell you the recommended amount.
They call it a "target" amount.
You can then compare that amount to the city report and adjust your dosing of it so you don't have too much of it.
A 28g bowfront is 24"x 18" tall. A 10g is 20"x12" tall and uses one(1) 13W CFL bulb.
A 20L tank uses two of them. It is 24" long just like yours.
For the extra 6" in height, I'd think that the 19-20W bulbs would be best. The 26W
likely would be too much, but could be compensated for by reducing the hrs to about 7
and gradually bringing it up till you started to get algae. Then drop it back some.
But two of these light fixtures is appropriate for the tank if the 10.5" domes are used.
No matter how much nutrients are in the water...green water will not happen unless you have way too much light in intensity or hrs. but it usually takes intensity to do it.
You can either treat the symptoms, as in buying a UV sterilizer and messing/w the nutrients that may deprive the plants of some that they need or you can treat the cause by using the appropriate amount of light for that tank.
It takes algae a while to form. Treating the symptom by using a sterilizer will get rid of the green water, but then because you still have too high of light you will gradually get other kinds of algae problems that the sterilizer won't work on.
First will be GSA on the plant leaves and then Cladophora will begin to grow in there.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I suspect removing the floating plants probably triggered the GW as you are thinking. I have no idea how much phosphate I have in my tank but I dose double EI without GW issues. 

I [still knocking on wood and crossing my fingers after 2.5 years w/o GW] haven't had GW since I put large sponges to serve as biomedia in my sump.

Shading the tank helps with the light but what about ammonia uptake? More plants or more biofiltration is needed. I suspect more biofiltration would work better than more plants as my tank could be completely stuffed with fast growing plants and still GW appeared.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Hey guys thank you for the help! I added back about 90% of the Pistia that I removed. I also doubled the H. diformis. I never added the screen to the top but I did cut the lighting back to three 13w 6700k(same photo period though, 5-4-5). I also performed 30% WC every morning before lights came on and doubled my excel dosing. Cleared it up in about four days!


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

It went from this


To this


And now this


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