# Green Water



## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

Recently my tank has become a little foggy looking, for me this always means greenwater is not far away. I dont understand how to avoid this though it seems to me like i am doing everything right.

When i set up the tank i did half dosing of the barr method and used moderate lighting for 5 hours a day. After two weeks i installed a tek light system and ran that for 6 hours, considerably more light. 2.4wpg for 6 hours and 3.4 wpg for 2 hours in the middle. and at this point i started dosing full EI ferts. Also i added 10 ottos and 15 penguin tetras. Its been about 5 days and all of a sudden fog. What is the DEAL???? where could i have gone wrong? The plants are pearling and growing rapidly and the tank was planted with about 20 stems R nanjenshan, 40 stems R. green, 15 stem Rotala macranda green, 10 stems limnophila aromatica, tons of java fern, 6 anubias nana petitie, moss, and a little HC and Hydrocotyl verticillata. This is in a 65 gallon.

Also HOW AM I GOING TO TREAT THIS????? I dont have a UV light and cannot afford to buy one right now (College budget).


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Blackout, willow branches or let it run its course. You maybe could also borrow a UV from someone.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

dont forget Diatom filter or a filter that runs a micron filter with some DE powder.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You might want to review the amount of food you give the fish. Don't forget, most fish can easily go for a few days without being fed, as a routine. Too much food can end up causing an ammonia buildup beyond what the plants immediately absorb, leading to green water. (In my opinion)


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

You don't want GW. I have used a large bunch of plant material placed directly in front of the filter outflow. Sometimes this works and vice versa. I had this problem for 3 weeks and this remedy seems to have worked. Might consider less hours of light and fewer ferts until water clears up.
Mark


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

I am going around town trying to find a willow tree today. Today i can definantly see a green hue to the tank, i turned off some lights to dim things and i only run them for 6 hours. Hopefully this willow stem thing works out.


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

I see this sometimes; things have gone awry; and the water becomes slightly cloudy, almost yellowish, inflourescent. Time to abruptly change things. 

Mark


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

A 3 day blackout should solve the problem, no need to drive around looking for willow branches or rent/purchase any equipment. Blackout are free and that should be good news to any poor college student 

Did you add any peat or mulm to the substrate when you set up the tank? I've never had GW when using the peat mulm method but had it several times in new setups without the peat and mulm.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

I have found one of the best and cheapest solutions is to keep your lighting to less then 10hrs a day, even if you go as low as 6 or 8 hours total photoperiod your probably better off. I have even noticed that even higher light intensity is ok if the photoperiod is kept between 6-8hrs. You can work the hours back up slowly after it goes away. This combined with fast growing stem plants, good CO2, and a consistant/complete fert regimen should do the trick. Like hoppy said, keep feeding in check, always error on the side of too little food if your feeding everyday. 

I found the willow method could work but it takes lots of time and depending on your fish it might not work at all. my fish ate every root that tried to grow from the branches so it never worked for me.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

MatPat said:


> Did you add any peat or mulm to the substrate when you set up the tank? I've never had GW when using the peat mulm method but had it several times in new setups without the peat and mulm.


interesting observation... I'll have to try that next time.


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

MatPat said:


> A 3 day blackout should solve the problem, no need to drive around looking for willow branches or rent/purchase any equipment. Blackout are free and that should be good news to any poor college student
> 
> Did you add any peat or mulm to the substrate when you set up the tank? I've never had GW when using the peat mulm method but had it several times in new setups without the peat and mulm.


That is interesting, i do everything right BUT use peat/mulm and i always get greenwater. I have never had a tank not get it at one point, but usually i have a UV filter to zap it once and it is gone forever. Maybe my problem is my tank is just not cycled when i add fish? The food explanation makes sense too, my girlfriend loves to feed them and i think she does it when i am not looking.


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