# Green water in new tank. Help Please



## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Green water comes from high ammonia levels and to much light, it's called phytoplankton which is part of the algae family. Cut back on the light and do daily water changes. You might be invest in a uv sterilizer.


----------



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Nitrates I would check just before a water change.
How far is it from the bottom of the light to the top of the sub ?
Going by the 24" numbers you would have about twice as much light as needed for a tank that is not yet growing many plants well. Different story once they are.
Screen wire will cut PAR by about 30% per layer of it.


----------



## bbfishin (May 1, 2015)

I guess a current photo of the tank would help. Sorry for the bad picture. I still need to read up on aquarium photography.

Bump:


Raymond S. said:


> Nitrates I would check just before a water change.
> How far is it from the bottom of the light to the top of the sub ?
> Going by the 24" numbers you would have about twice as much light as needed for a tank that is not yet growing many plants well. Different story once they are.
> Screen wire will cut PAR by about 30% per layer of it.


Thanks for the replies so far. The distance from my light to the sub is about 18.5 inches. The tank is pretty full of plants right now... I put some fast growing stems in there to help with the cycle. I will test the nitrates after I get back from my fishing trip and post the level then. What is the screen wire you speak of? I was also thinking on raising the light up a little bit but i would need to build some sort of legs for the light then.


----------



## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

As all have said UV can fix a lot of algae problems.

That's a heck of a change in CO2.
@6.95 pH it is 26.92ppm
@6.54 pH it is 69.21ppm
@6.25 pH it is 134.96ppm

To solve for the chart here is a link to equation.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=7341762&postcount=2


----------



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Regular fiberglass screen. If it's 18.5" then I would use two layers of the screen.
I don't think that where the nitrates are is related to this. That reading is just for you to be sure it doesn't get too high.
You haven't mentioned what ferts are being used, and EI can run up the nitrates if your stocking level is anything like high. But checking it just before the water change will let you know if the plants are using it mostly or you need to make adjustments.
Those particular plants(all of them which I can see) use more Potassium than normal.
Watch for pinholes in older leaves as it's a sign of that being not enough of.


----------



## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Maryland Guppy said:


> As all have said UV can fix a lot of algae problems.
> 
> That's a heck of a change in CO2.
> @6.95 pH it is 26.92ppm
> ...


Even with a decent pH meter that has recently been calibrated, pH measurements are a bit fuzzy. KH is worse using an indicator/drop method. Finally, the chart assumes ideal conditions, which we aren't under. 

I like the idea of using chemistry in our tanks, but expecting clean results from real, complicated systems is one of the things I try to teach my students to avoid.  Also, the fact that the tank starts at pH = 7 after hours of no CO2 and KH 8 is somewhat suspect in my mind. I would expect significant outgassing overnight.


----------



## bbfishin (May 1, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions to all who replied. The water has cleared up almost completely by the time I got back home from my fishing trip. The Purigen must have really helped. I will be ordering my plants shortly and look forward to starting my EI once they are all planted.


----------

