# Green water- welcome home after two week vacation!



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

I came home to green soup. My diy auto doser and feeder worked fine. I checked my 5lb c02 tank and was at 700psi. when I left. But came home to zero c02 and green water. Did two 50% water changes over the weekend. No real help. My plan is to blackout for 2-3 days while still dosing C02 and do another water change. My plants are thriving, and from what I can see all fish are doing OK.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

Any suggestion, should I turn off C02?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

The green water won't hurt the fish as far as water changes go they say it's better to do smaller water changes daily for green water then one large one ice also read dosing phosphate helps get rid of it but the blackout and water changes should also take care of it I see no need to turn off co2 as you want the plants to continue to grow at a fast pace to take up as much of the nutrients as possible

Bump: When all else fails a uv sterilizer does wonders for greenwater


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Kensho,

Green water can be a PITA once it gets started. It doesn't seem to matter is the CO2 is running or not. When I had it I tried cutting my light back to 2 hours a day and that helped but but plants suffered and eventually I had to use a filter (Marineland Magnum 350) with micron filter and added diatomaceous earth to filter out the green.


----------



## Black Pearl (Jul 23, 2013)

Had Green Water in 2 aquariums. 10G & 35G. Bad case in 10G. In 35 G, slight Green Water, as in beginnings of GW. 
Used Algaefix in 10G. Only 3/4 of manufacturer recommended dosage. Repeated after 3 days. Algae gone. No fish death but I can see the fish didn't like it. I did a 50% water change BEFORE I applied Algaefix for the 1st dose. Also made sure that Aquarium was very well aerated.
For the 35G: Instead of buying a Magnum filter with micron filtration, I bought a really fine polishing filter pad (Coralife brand), cut it to fit my Eheim filter, then, dosed Seachem Clarity. Worked well. Not sure though if that will work with a bad case of GW. As mentioned, only had the beginnings of GW in the 35G aquarium. 
Though I have not tried it personally, my understanding is that UV light works well for GW. Takes 5 to 7 days for water to clear though.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I had green water a few weeks ago. I did a total blackout for 3 days, with the tank wrapped with black garbage bags, so every part had a double layer of bags over it. When I removed the bags the green water was gone. It has not returned. This is a low light, no CO2, with Excel, tank, and I did no feeding of either fish or plants during the blackout.


----------



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

Day two of black out - I'll peak tomorrow to see how it looks and report back


----------



## johnpfaff (Oct 18, 2013)

A cheap 9watt uv sterilizer took care of my 80 gallon. Took about two weeks though.


----------



## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

I have green water in my 20 riparium right now. Luckily I purchased a 9W uv sterilizer a few years ago so I put it to use yesterday. We will see how long it takes.


----------



## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Must be going around. I had it show up in a new project (~240g). I tried a 3 day blackout (its in the garage) but it only slightly reduced it. My plants weren't affected, but they did lose some color. Fortunately, my 36w UV sterilizer will be here this afternoon. We'll see how long it takes.

~ Adam


----------



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

After 5 days of black out - it's about 50% better - I can almost see the other side of the tank now. Cleaned out all the dead plant material - mostly vals took it hardest. And did one 25% water change Saturday and Sunday. Will continue fall 8 hours of C02, and only 4 hours of reduced light for the next few days. Will report back on progress


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Kensho said:


> After 5 days of black out - it's about 50% better - I can almost see the other side of the tank now. Cleaned out all the dead plant material - mostly vals took it hardest. And did one 25% water change Saturday and Sunday. Will continue fall 8 hours of C02, and only 4 hours of reduced light for the next few days. Will report back on progress
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


After 3 days, mine was just under half way gone, but I have too many plants in there to leave lights off any longer than that. I'm curious to hear how the reduced lighting period works out over time. IMO it would be a better option for the plants, but may be enough for the algae to continue.


I definitely got the UV sterilizer that day and in 4 days I can once again see everything. Should be completely gone within the next 2-3 day. As a nice bonus, I ran the UV sterilizer using the same pump as the Co2 and as a result got better diffusion of Co2 (barely lol.)


----------



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

My water is still greenish - tomorrow I'll run my lights @ 70% for 6 hours. Did another 50% water change yesterday that helped but I'll cut back to once every 2-3 days and only 20 %. 

Adam which uv unit did you go with?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

I bought the Odyssea 36w and ran it using an AQ70 powerhead.


----------



## Kensho (Oct 24, 2012)

Yeah I give up - UV unit it is!!!


----------



## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

I ran my 9W for 5 days on my 20L and it's crystal clear (forgot to update this)

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


----------

