# GW is coming back.....Help



## dogdoc (Feb 3, 2006)

I'm at a loss, and I'm not sure where to go from here. My problem is Green Water. I've been fighting it for the better part of a year. I've messed with different fert routines, different lighting, seems like I've tried it all. I finally bought a UV sterilizer and made it portable. I put it on for about a week, and things never looked better. Took it off about two weeks ago, and I'm starting to notice some haze to the water again.

So now I'm going throw myself at your mercy and beg for help. I'll list all of my tank specs and see what you think.

Tank: 75 gal
Lighting: Tek 5x54w t-5 HO. 2 bulbs on for 2 hours, then all 4 for three hours, then 2 on for 3 hours. So, 8 hour photoperiod with 3 hours of higher intensity in the middle.
Filtration: 2 Rena XP3's. One is also driving my CO2 reactor.
CO2 : Pressurized 10lb. feeding an AM1000 reactor
CO2 monitor: Drop checker with Billionz 4dKH solution and SMS pH controller.
Substrate: 100% Eco-complete
Hardscape: 2 large pieces of Mopani driftwood, and 4 Small rocks from LFS in Minnesota
Ferts: EI schedule NPK on days 1,3,5. TMG on days 2,4,6. 60% water change weekly. I also add about 2 Tsp of GH booster at water change time.
Tapwater: KH 2-3, GH 3, 0 Ammonia, nitrates, and phos.
Plants: Java fern reg and windelov, Spiral Vals, Bacopa, Cabomba, Dwarf Hairgrass, Microsword, HM (baby tears), Anacharis, Red Crypts, Anubias nana, Wisteria, and Green Hygro.
Livestock: 1 5" bristlenose plec, 1 2" rubbernose plec, 2 adult pear gourami, 3 Penguin tetras, 6 black phantom tetras, 1 adult SAE and 3 juvies (about 1" long) 4 ottos, 1 YoYo loach (his friends went floor surfing), 3 congo tetras.

The tank has been set up and running for 2.5 years. I'm religous about maintenance and ferts, and I have tried to do my best to do everything "right".

What I don't want to do is have to rely on my UV sterilizer to keep my water looking good. I want to find the problem and fix it.

Thanks, 

Mike


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Your going to get many different opinions here on why you have GW, but for me if your plants are growing and you don't have other algae issues than just run your UV 24/7 or run it during the day. It's not a cop-out. I have five tanks. Four of them have no UV and they are all fine. Never had GW. The other one had GW from about the 2nd month of it's existence. I hooked up a UV 24/7 and never looked back. That tank is over two years old as welll and everything is fine. The tank is a 72g with Eco Complete as well. Who knows maybe it's something in your tap, maybe it's something in the Eco, leaching out. Maybe you stirred up the bottom. I personally think an UV is a win-win. The water stays perfectly clear, the fish benefit if the flow is correct and when you play around with the tank you don't have to worry about it as much. If my other tanks give me a problem, I would not hesitate hooking up a UV. It's very hard sometimes to balance the organic load in a relatively small closed space like a tank. A 75g is still a small body of water. The UV helps level the playing field abit. My 2.5 cents.


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## dogdoc (Feb 3, 2006)

I know I could put the UV on there permanently. But I really don't want to for several reasons. 

First being that I don't really want to restrict my filter output. I have the CO2 reactor on one, but I really wanted to keep the other doing it's main job.

The second reason is that I know not everyone has to run one of these on a planted tank. I want to figure out the problem and fix it if possible.


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## dogdoc (Feb 3, 2006)

Alright, I finished testing both tap and tank water. Had a few surprises.

Tapwater was a little softer than last time I tested GH 2 deg, KH 3 deg, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, phos between 0-0.5.

Tank water is where the real surprises lived, KH 3.5-4, GH 5, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, nitrate 20, Phos > 10!!!!!!. The phospate test pegged out as soon as I added the second reagent. I don't understand. I dose just under 1/4 tsp 3 times per week. And my water changes are usually around 60-70% weekly. How is my phosphate so high? Could my Eco be doing this? How would I find out?

And the big question..... is this the source of my problems?


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

How old is your Eco Complete? A couple of years ago CaribSea messed up some of their substrate. In an attempt to cover up the problem (CaCO3 contamination)they added enormous quantities of phosphoric acid to the product. This stuff they shipped out to unsuspecting buyers.

If you do a search for contaminated eco you'll find lots of info. The company is aware of the issue and has been very good about it. I contacted their customer support about a similar problem and they were willing to replace it for free.

I'd recommend taking a sample of the substrate and mixing it in a liter of distilled water. After it's had a chance to mix for a while check the phosphate level. If it's not close to zero you probably have the evil stuff.

The only things that have caused GW for me were huge upsets of the substrate. I've seen one LFS that had GW in every tank. Their phosphate out of the tap was about 20ppm.


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## dogdoc (Feb 3, 2006)

Well, I do remember when the bad batches were out. It was about the same time that I set up this tank.

My bags did not have the "milky" appearance that those bags were reported to have so I thought that I was O.K.

Do you think that putting some in distilled water and then testing would work? Even after it has been sitting in water with lord knows how high a phosphate level?

I did write to Carib-sea's tech services dept. just a minute ago. We'll see how that goes. Don't know if they would be willing to help this far after the fact.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Take some substrate, rinse it off thoroughly and then let it mix for a while in the distilled water. If that causes an increase in phosphate it's pretty clear that the substrate is the problem.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

It isn't at all clear that excess phosphate causes green water. I think it is more likely that green water starts from ammonia in the water. And, once it is growing you have to kill if all off to stop it. Ammonia could be from excess feeding, excessive fish load, too few plants growing too slowly, something dead in the tank, etc. Since yours comes back after you get rid of it I suspect it isn't from something dead.


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## Iceterran (Jun 15, 2007)

I would check out the willow sticky in the algae section, I'm in agreement that ammonia is the initial problem, but even once you rid the ammonia you have to kill the Gw too. Personally I overcame a terrible re-occurring bloom of GW with willow branches. The process can take about two weeks, but it kills the problem at the source. If you decide to try it, reduce your photo period to 4 hours, and try to angle your lights in your room to point towards the leaves of the willow branches. Worked for me!


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## dogdoc (Feb 3, 2006)

I tried the willow. I tried everything I could find before buying the UV. The UV worked well. But there must be some problem allowing it to come back.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

As Guiac_boy stated, it is probably due to substrate disturbance releasing a small amount of ammonium into your tank. This will initially fuel the GW. Once you see GW in your tank, it is too late to test for ammonium...as the plants and GW have already used it as a food source. 

You also have a good amount of light on your tank. A fellow SWOAPE member uses a Tek fixture with only two 54w t-5 in his setup. A small CO2 drop in his tank can give him GW pretty easily. These lights seem to be a little more intense than we give them credit for. 

Try reducing your photoperiod after you get the GW cleared up and see if it helps. Simply dropping your middle photoperiod by an hour may be all that is needed.


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