# I messed up EI - green water!!!



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Don't try daphnia unless you want a tank of very full and happy fish...and green water. 

You can do a blackout, get a diatom filter, or use a UV sterilizer. There's other methods of using floating plants to get rid of GW, but I have no experience with those.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I battled with green water for several weeks (months?), and I tried all the "home remedies" people mention all over this forum... like willow branches and blackouts and water changes and the lot....

But when it's all said and done, only ONE caused the problem to instantly go away, in a matter of HOURS!! And that was a UV sterilizer. I also happen to believe the people that say diatom filters work just as well, too. I've just never tried one.

But one thing's for sure: I lost 6 weeks worth of viewing pleasure out of my tank, which I'll never be able to get back, simply due to the fact that I was trying to be cheap and avoid spending money on either a diatom or UV filter, when all along, that's pretty much the consensus from every single "green water" thread that exists on every single aquarium forum.

In other words: go get yourself a UV or diatom filter. I got my UV sterilizer from PetSmart for less than $50.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

I agree with Church....the UV sterilizer will clear it up in a couple of hours. Some people leave them on all the time.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

GW occurs in tanks not using EI as well.
High light+ poor CO2+ new tank etc, or adding ferts that remove that limitation for plants, they use all the CO2 up, then you get algae.

Mostly a new tank issue, once you kill it with a UV, never comes back.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

plantbrain said:


> GW occurs in tanks not using EI as well.
> High light+ poor CO2+ new tank etc, or adding ferts that remove that limitation for plants, they use all the CO2 up, then you get algae.
> 
> Mostly a new tank issue, once you kill it with a UV, never comes back.
> ...


This is definately a true set of statements. The two times I had GW, I was not dosing EI and once was when the tank was first set up. I had GW one other time when I mixed flourish comprehensive with flourish iron. It started out by clouding the water something fierce and then led to GW.

I used a UV sterilizer to kill the GW. Worked great. The other option would be to do a complete blackout following Tom's method. You have to cover the tank with trashbags (3 layers) for 3 days. Make sure no light gets into the tank.

I don't think dosing ferts caused your GW breakout.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Or, in my case, taking out a whole lot of plant mass all at once which screws up the balance. I would consistently get a breakout every time I did a heavy pruning (I wasn't real good about staying on top of things, so about every six weeks or so I'd do a heavy pruning and bang! Green water!)

Got tired of it so I got a UVS. I've got both, UVS and a diatom; they've both got their uses. If you want scintillatingly (hmmm, Firefox thinks "scintillating" is not supposed to be an adverb :hihi crystal clear water, the diatom will do it for you _and_ clear up the GW. But it's a pain to use (at least my Vortex is,) and you have to drag it out and set it up every week or so, then break it down and clean it, etc., etc. If you never want to see GW ever again and don't mind that there's "stuff" floating around in your tank (or your present filter does a good job of polishing,) get a UVS and plumb it inline where you have the option of just turning it on when you need it, putting it on a timer, or leaving it on 24/7 (how I've got mine, I don't want to have to think about it.) I oversized a bit with an 18watt turbotwist on a 55 gallon. I also have an oversized canister so putting stuff inline is not an issue.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Taking out a lot of plant mass does two things, it removes all the NH4 uptake, it's like killing your bio for a fish only tank, and two, it pulls up lots of organic matter, some of which is rapidly converted from Organic N=> NH4 via aerobic bacteria. This drops O2 levels as well, which in turn, affects what little bio bacteria you have and reduced their ability to oxidize the NH4.

It's a double whammy.

However, if you do a large water changes after you do those changes, then you mitigate this problem. Do another 2-3 days later, and you are in good shape, water changes removes the Organic N and NH4, as well as adds lots of O2 from the tap and also CO2.

So, doing water changes offers lots to folks redoing their tanks often.
Also allows you to re set nutrients.
Make sure not to put off the water change after a long prune hack fest.
Do it at all cost that same day, hopefully asap.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

plantbrain said:


> ". . .It's a double whammy."


You're tellin' _me!_ :hihi:

Somebody needs to do an "Almanack" of planted aquarium keeping. Something along the lines of:

_"When it is found needful to trime manye plants so that they return to beauty of the eye, it is helpful as well to convert much olde water to new an thusly avoid the aquaria of too verdant a hue."_


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> when I mixed flourish comprehensive with flourish iron.


This is _exactly _what I did. Same progression from instant white cloud to green water over 3 days. I wonder why this would happen.

My tank is definitely not a new set up, but in a way I guess it is. I added a lot of new plants, stirred up the substrate a lot, added pressurized CO2 only recently and just started any fert dosing (was doing _none _before).

I don't want to spend MORE money:icon_frow . It's one thing after another, and I can't afford all this stuff. This nutrient balance thing is ridiculously tricky:angryfire . I'm not a chemistry major!!!

Is there any point in doing a water change now?


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

loachlady5 said:


> This is _exactly _what I did. Same progression from instant white cloud to green water over 3 days. I wonder why this would happen.
> 
> I don't want to spend MORE money:icon_frow . It's one thing after another, and I can't afford all this stuff. This nutrient balance thing is ridiculously tricky:angryfire . I'm not a chemistry major!!!
> 
> Is there any point in doing a water change now?


Thats why I mentioned the experience that I had. I figured that it might be relevant. If you don't want to spend money, then follow the blackout method. Water changes aren't going to do to much to help without cutting back the light. You'll get rid of it. I have even seen where people don't do anything and just ride it out. It takes a while to get rid of it, but it does eventually go away.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

I am just going to throw this out there. Has anyone experienced a rapid clearing of green water using Seachem Purigen or Carbon in their filters. I came across this interesting link were someone claimed to have cleared green water using Seachem Purigen.

I have never experienced green water in any of my tanks planted/unplanted, heavily stocked, lightly stocked, ones without a UV sterilizer. I use Seachem Purigen in all of those tanks. This may or may not be related to Seachem Purigen.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/15302-purigen-yellow-water.html

I am going to post this question to Seachem on another forum where they are a sponsor to see what they say. 

Loachlady5 Seachem Purigen is not terribly expensive and if it could work based on other peoples' experiences it may be worth a try.


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

Homer, FWIW, I've had green water just burn itself out if left alone (no additional food from ferts, WCs, etc...). 

FWIW IME, water changes just feed the GW (could be because I do have nitrates in my tap).


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

loachlady5 said:


> This is _exactly _what I did. Same progression from instant white cloud to green water over 3 days. I wonder why this would happen.


FYI - The one time I did this, I knew immediately that I had screwed something up. It followed the same progression as yours. I have found that if I add the two ferts even seconds apart that there isn't a problem, but if you mix them it will happen.

Sorry I didn't give you a heads up when I suggested using those two on your tank. :icon_frow


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> Sorry I didn't give you a heads up when I suggested using those two on your tank. :icon_frow


It's certainly not your fault. You've been very helpful. You live - you learn.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

It's a gift from the fish food gods, love it! Go get you some daphnia ephippia from aquaculturestore.com, fill a 5gl bucket with the GW, and start culturing yummy, squirmy food that makes fish go bonkers. 

In the meantime, get you one of those cheapy 9w UV sterilizers from nanotuners.com or petco and watch GW go byby.


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

*Love that picture, jaidexl:hihi:!*


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## mikeb210 (Oct 17, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> It's a gift from the fish food gods, love it! Go get you some daphnia ephippia from aquaculturestore.com, fill a 5gl bucket with the GW, and start culturing yummy, squirmy food that makes fish go bonkers.


Yeah It'll look something like this:



I fixed my GW by doing a 100% water change and by removing all fish plants and substrate and starting over. :icon_smil Granted, I was looking for an excuse to try something different any way. I did a 5 day blackout before tearing it all down and it was _clearer_ but not perfect and nowhere near clear enough. Thats when I decided to push the reset button.


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

Yep, my green water did look like that container. 

Update: my green water cleared up. I'm going to post what happened on a new thread.


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