# Green water won't go away!



## dspadafore (Mar 29, 2005)

Tried a 5 day blackout and the green water is as thick as ever. I changed about 30% of the water before covering the aquarium and on the fifth day I changed about 40-45% of the water when I removed the covering. No effect.

1. Has anyone ever introduced Daphnia spp. as a predator to control Euglena?
2. I've heard of people filtering their aquarium with diatomaceous earth. Where do get the filter and how does it work?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Cheers,
Dave


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## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

Really. I used the 5 day black out worked like a charm. Are you sure you blocked out all the light I used garbage bags and blankets. 

Daphnia will eat the green water but your fish will probably eat them first.

I never used a filter with diatomacious(sp?) earth so I cant help you there. All I know is it is very effective at removing small particles from the water.

Have you read the willow branch technique I never used it but I know a few who have.

UV sterilizers will kill it but many believe that they remove the fertilizers from the water. But for temporary use this would be fine as well. 

Its really up to you which solution you use.


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## dspadafore (Mar 29, 2005)

The cover I placed on the aquarium wasn't as "tight" as fixing bags around the aquarium but I had two thick blankets over it.

I don't have any fish in it other than a couple of oto's, so i guess the Daphnia would be around for a while.

Exactly what is the UV sterilizer? Is it an apparatus that is readily available in the LFS?


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## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

UV sterilizers are more common in the reefing community so your lfs could have it. Your better off getting it online if your interested in this.

The key to keeping the green watter from coming back you have to get your water parameters in order. Green water usually is caused by amonia in your water. The green water will only go away if the source of amonia is gone. But it will stick around feeding off everything in the water until you kill it. 

I have never used daphnia to eliminate greenwater but I would be interested in how that works out for you.


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## dspadafore (Mar 29, 2005)

SWS;
I suspect I disrupted the balance of my aquarium when I cleaned out my Ehiem. I noticed the volume of water it was pushing was reduced so I decided to clean out a couple of the filtering pads. I thought I was careful not to disrupt the the solid clay/plastic pieces in the bottom of the filter, but evidently I overloaded the system. Ammonia might have spiked. I think I might experiment with the Daphnia for fun. It's a lot cheaper than a UV sterilizer, $10 vs. $100. I am little concerned that I might be introducing another set of problems by dumping in some invertebrates and their water. I'll have to look into this further.
DS


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## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

Daphnia are common fish food so if you add fish they would be eliminated rather quickly so I wouldnt worry about them being bad. 

Yah quality uv sterilizers arent cheap. 

I too would try the Daphnia for fun.


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## aquaboy (May 26, 2005)

dspadafore said:


> 1. Has anyone ever introduced Daphnia spp. as a predator to control Euglena?


Yes, it is very effective IMO. I have tried it a couple of times & it works like a charm. I have greenwater everytime I do a major rescape & on new set-up tanks but like they said your fish will eat it before they do a dent on your water. Try to put it in a fish net or those fry net saver thing.

-Brian


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## Mellonman (Nov 2, 2005)

Hi Aquaboy,

I have the same problem as you (due to the same cause) and the blackout didn't work for me either...

I put willow branches in the tank yesterday and I'm gonna add daphnies on saturday. To prevent the fish from eating them, just put them in a bottle with a piece of stocking on the opening...

Good luck


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## aquaboy (May 26, 2005)

Mellonman said:


> Hi Aquaboy,
> 
> I have the same problem as you (due to the same cause) and the blackout didn't work for me either...
> 
> ...


That's a great "IDEA"! why didn't i think of that?

Thanks!

-Brian


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## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

I have a 90 gallon planted that went through a terrible bout with green water. I put on a corlaife UV sterilizer, the 3 watt, and I have never had an issue since then, nor have I had issues with dosing fertilizers, additives, etc. Darrell


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## aquabob (Mar 1, 2006)

I am glad to know I'm not the only one with this
problem. I have a 20 gal. that also has green water
that went from slight to soup. I tried the black-out
without success, yesterday I introduced daphnia.
Does anyone know how long it may take for them to
do the clean-up? 
Bob


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## aquaboy (May 26, 2005)

aquabob said:


> I am glad to know I'm not the only one with this
> problem. I have a 20 gal. that also has green water
> that went from slight to soup. I tried the black-out
> without success, yesterday I introduced daphnia.
> ...


Mine only takes 3 days after introducing this wonders, but maybe it all depends on how much daphnia you have & how worse your greenwater is.

-Brian


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## aquabob (Mar 1, 2006)

Aquaboy

Thanks for the info. Did you leave the lights out?
I could not find any information as to the procedure.

Bob


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## goldielovr (Apr 12, 2006)

Please elaborate on the 'Willow Branch Technique'. Is it
Get willow
Toss in
wait...?
And then what happens? Anybody know why it works? 
Or if it does?


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## aquaboy (May 26, 2005)

I have put the daphnia at night before going to sleep & set/lowered my light to just 5 hours instead of my regular 10 hours/day. BTW while I do this I try to not dose those days. Don't know if that makes a diff.

Hope this helps!

-Brian


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## kimo (Apr 21, 2006)

Diatom filters have been around for a long time. Get a D-70 for around $80.00.
I have one which would completely clean up a green algae bloom (so thick you couldn't see the fish) in a 150g tank in less than 2 hours. They are great for cleaning out any free swimming parasites too.


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## Mellonman (Nov 2, 2005)

goldielovr said:


> Please elaborate on the 'Willow Branch Technique'. Is it
> Get willow
> Toss in
> wait...?
> ...


Take a look here...
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae-specific-problems/7212-fighting-green-water-simple-cheap-method.html?highlight=willow


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