# Greenwater... Maybe



## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

My tank is green. But it gets slightly green and stays that one. The actual water i assure you is green but for 2 weeks now it just stays slightly green and doesn;t go full boar into greenwater or anything. The only way i can explain it is i let the tank run out of nutrients / co2 and then a couple week later pumped it full of everything again. Maybe the greenwater is just barely living and not propagating?

Anyways is there a way to get rid of the green tinge? Blackouts dont work it just comes back but never gets greener beyond a certain point.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I believe that it will eventually go away on its own.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Shane,
I think Sir_BlackhOle is right. I always get a light case of green water when I start a tank. A diatom filter or UV will get rid of it quickly, but if the conditions are not ideal it will return. After a few weeks or even a couple of months it always goes away and then the water is crystal clear.

Be sure to be conscientious about maintenance. Dose correctly and clean the tank well before that weekly 50% water change. I find that if you do as Tom Barr says, it may take some time, but the tank eventually matures and the water is clear and the plants grow nicely.

Steve


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## Fish4brains (May 12, 2004)

spituch said:


> Shane,
> I think Sir_BlackhOle is right. I always get a light case of green water when I start a tank. A diatom filter or UV will get rid of it quickly, but if the conditions are not ideal it will return. After a few weeks or even a couple of months it always goes away and then the water is crystal clear.


Also I think freshwater clams could be a less expensive way- they filter feed, right? I would think they would filter out all the algae if you had enough for enough time.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

GW will hang on forevever, I think you will kill your plants or hurt them pretty good. GW likes CO2 and intense light. Once present, it's tough to get rid of.
Your case sounds typical.

Here's a method that's cheap: use one of those Hagen quick filters and slightly clog it with mulm first, these are 5 micron filters and the GW cells are 2-3 microns so they should all get removed and rinse off the filter and take it out carefully.

Leave this in for a few days after or anytime you see the GW. Add more filtration/established biomedia etc, raise the light up some if possible. 
As the tank matures more, plants grow well, this will not be an issue generally. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## pineapple (May 4, 2004)

The System 1 diatomous earth filter, while about USD80 or so is expensive and a bit clunky in its design, is an excellent method of cleaning out green water. It's portable and if you have other tanks is a great asset over time. You can rent it out to friends... as well.

The S1, while not solving the problem at its source, does allow you to get the tank back to a clear water state and allow plants to get light they need and nutrients too. Using this filter, I was able to clear the tank after several months of messing around with other methods, and then to get nutrient dosing back on track. This particular GW problem has not recurred.

Flourite when disturbed tends to mess with ones filtration especially with bio-media. Having learned some lessons the hard way, I always turn off the main filter before working on the substrate or removing plants (such as tugging up huge sword plants...). I then run the S1 filter and when the tank is clear turn the main filter back on...

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

Ancrew Cribb


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

Interesting turn of events if anyone is till watching this. I dose tons of nutrients change the bulb and add some platies which eat surface scum. Tank clears in two ays plants Sparkle and grow like crazy. I say to myself shane its a good idea to clip your plants so i did. I added back nutrients less than before but still 1/2tsp KNO3 a ppm or so of PO4 and 9/64ths tbsp plantex csm+b. Tank goes to absolute hell. Greenwater comes back with a vengence.

I blame these two things. 1: Nutrients got too low at one point in the two days i was gone, or 2: My tank is cursed and my plants revolted from me cutting them.

So now i have full on greenwater. I am not so sure about this home made filter Tom because to be honest i dont really know the product and dont want to try it. Mainly because it doesn't cost me much to get a UV maybe a hundred or so. I want to expirement. Here is the plan. 14ppm NO3 will be added 3x a week, 1/32 tbsp KH2PO4 will be added 3x a week. 9/64tbsp of plantex csm+b will be added with 10ml of Flourish Iron will be added 3-4x a week. Hair algae is now a problem too but from what i can tell it might be from too dense of planting... says that in Aquarium plants handbook. Now plants have been growing and pearling like nuts the whole time. Is this stupid or is it worth it 2x 90% water changes will be done twice a week and co2 is now off. All this is coming from Aquarium plants handbook.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

If you want to experiment, get a UV, easy to use and works easily. The diatoms are okay but you set them up. UV? Flip a switch, kill green water.
80$ will get you a new UV. 

You will not beat GW with nutrient dosing. It'll still grow and hang on far beyond the limits to the plants. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

Where can i get one for $80?

Thanks for assistance.


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## chrisl (May 24, 2004)

Shane, i've seen alot of tanks using this one:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=22513;category_id=2967

$77

Chris


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