# Cheap Definitive Method for Green Water



## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

I thought I provide planted community the definitive method to solve your
green water problem. There are several thread on this topic but all have drawbacks. The blackout method may or may not work plus who wants to not see their tank for 5 days? Takes too long for a possible solution. The UV filter method is expensive and uv may also destroy some good things in the water. Diatom filter is also expensive and seems like too dedicated an equipment just for green water. The willow method, not definitive and where the heck you go find it? Too much trouble. I have came up with a solution that all can benefit from and works in matter of a few hours your water will be clear. 
I had to figure out a cheap material that can filter out 1 micron small green water algae. Most conventional filters do not do that. So once I figure out the material all I needed to do was let the water go through this material. Guess what, I had a few worn out with holes cotton socks lying around. The cotton fiber is just perfect for this! So what I did was get a 12-16 oz empty Gatorade bottle. Cut the bottom off. Stuff the sock into the bottle from the large end so that the socks seals the lip end of the bottle. Don't make it too tight just one sock will do. You can test that by running the faucet water over the socks(in the bottle) at a rate that your pump is running. If the water is slow enough than it will not over flow or else you would have to seal the container. I don't seal my because that would be too much trouble and I like simple lazy but effective methods. The flow rate is like a constant slow trickle about a gallon every 5-10 minutes? Yeah very slow rate but the sock is so efficient just a few pass of the tank size will clear out most green water. I add a little bit of substrate in the bottle to weigh the sock down a little. I hang this at the open end of the hood at the back of the tank so that the lip end of the bottle face down towards the top of the aquarium water and used the aquarium light as the stabilizer to keep the bottle upright. I don't have any filters in my tank as my setup is el-natural but I do have a water pump for circulation, I slow the nozzle to a trickle rate and put the nozzle into the bottle with substrate and sock. Make sure it doesn't overflow or you need to readjust the trickle rate or how compact your sock is to the lip end of the Gatorade bottle. I monitor every hour as the water will start to rise with time. After 8 hours the tank will be fairly clear if not crystal clear. If you have a really bad green water, rinse the sock after a few hours. Guarantee to work! I've tried twice already. 

Equipment:
1. Empty 12-16 oz gatorade bottle with bottom cut off
2. One worn cotton socks(or new if you don't care for the socks)
3. Handful of substrate to weigh the sock down a little
4. Water pump or whatever to move the water from the tank into the filter bottle.

Alex


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## fishyface (Feb 7, 2005)

hahahhahaa...very innovative, nicely done!


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

how did you come to think that regular cotton socks would filter 1 micron?


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

Lildark I didn't know. However, fibrous material like cotton have very fine pores that when compressed can be very absorbent and dense. It allows very little water to flow through unlike the common aquarium filters. I made an assumption tested it out and it worked like a charm. So let the result speak for itself.


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## galettojm (Oct 4, 2007)

Hi alex,

Nice thread !

Do you have photos ?
Does the GW appear again after you turn off your "special" filter ?

I ask you because I tried once using cotton sock full with activated coal inside, but it didn´t work out.

Bye,

Juan


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

But won't this make the fish smell funny?


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

or...
"Honey, why do those ugly green socks of yours smell like fish?"
:faint:


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## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Very nice and innovative. I have to try this with my NPT. It gets green in a week after water change.

Thank you Alex.


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

gravy sure thing, happy to help. 

galetto the green water might come back because you don't eradicate the algae using this method so if you don't fix the cause of green water, you might get green water again. This is true for any method. The only sure thing is to clean the tank and start from scratch again and even that if you have plants you might get it again.
My tank is looking slightly hazy after a month so I am going to use this method for a few hours. I should be good for another month or more. This is a photo of my setup as described above.
All you need is to have a layer of sock at the lip of the container.
It should work. You probably didn't do it my way. The photo shows the beginning stage of my water trickle method. So after a few hours, the water level will rise and the sock will not be all white


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