# [Wet Thumb Forum]-green water algae bloom.



## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

I recently removed my chemi-pure from my filter due to my plants showing nutritional deficiency, now I have a major gw algae bloom. My plants since removing the chemi-pure have started growing and getting better,but the gw appeared. 
My tank is a 75 gal, it is moderatly planted with amozon swords, wisterias, hygros,pygmy chain swords, anubias nana, corkscrew val, dwarf hairgrass, and bacopa. 
The water is 80 degrees, 4.5 dkh, soft 50-60 ppm gh, 6.8 ph, amonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20 ppm, phosphate 1 ppm. I use a diy yeast co2 with 22 ppm co2 according to ph-kh and 3 watts per gallon of 6500k.
I have been doseing with flourish twice a week at recomended doseage, as well as iron once a week. I also have flourish tabs in the substrate with some latterite mixed in the gravel. 
I would hate to blackout the tank since the plants are just recovering. Is there any other things that I could do to rid the gw? I also just purchaced some flourish excel and dosed that as per instructions today.


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

btw heres some pics.


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

btw heres some pics


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## kam (Nov 23, 2005)

How often do you do water change and amount of water? 

I have tried numerous Algae cures, but JBL's Algol and Azoo's GW remover works quite well along with frequent water changes until problem is rectified. As for long term, health of the plants to absorb excess nutrients and phosphate is essential. Maybe adding more fast growing plants or floating plants. Also adding K regularily should help improve things. Good Luck


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## kam (Nov 23, 2005)

> Originally posted by nicks75:
> btw heres some pics


unable to see you pics


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

I do a 25% change weekly.
Is the 1 ppm phosphate too little? How much should I have? I know plants need some phosphates but I thought only a small amount or algae blooms occur. (I feel kind of ironic typing that)
Would using chemicals really be a good idea? If the problem is not fixed wouldn't the algea just come back? Would not doing anything and just hope the water chemistry balances out work?
Is their anything that looks wrong from the info I gave. Thanks.

Pics have been fixed.


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## kam (Nov 23, 2005)

from your pics it seems that your tank is cloudy and not as green as usual green water where you are not able to see the back of tank.

I would suggest that you add a double dose of beneficial bacteria.

What I have done in the past with intense GW is more frequent water changes along with Algol to stop further algae growth and Phosphate resins in the filter to keep the Phosphate in check. Should be gone in a few days. 

As for Phosphate levels, I keep it at the same rate but my tank has much more plants than you do. Your level of P might be a bit high considering your plants are not doing well enough to absorb the excess P. When your plants are doing well, you can consider increasing your P level. 

Check your fish food if it contains high levels of Nitrate and P, if so change it.

Whenever you use new fertilizers, use only 1/2 dosage initially and increase from there on according to the growth of your plants. I used to get algae problems after I changed brands except for TMG with an extra splash of K and Micro.

I hope this will help.


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

I usually ignore it. It often goes away by itself. 

Give it a week. If it doesn't change at all, then consider reducing or altering ferts.

The chemi-pure was removing stuff that feeds plants and algae. Now that the chemi-pure is gone, there is an abundance of those nutrients. Algae reacts faster than plants, but often the plants catch up and balance is restored. Refrain from making lots of changes, as you tank will be peretually unbalanced.

There's a pond next my house that gets an algal bloom after every major storm and during every heat wave. It always goes away after a few days.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

if i were you, and you may not agree, i would up your po4 to 2ppm. then i would start doing 50% water changes each week. i would also try to get my co2 up to 30ppm eather by more yeast/sugar or by upgrading to pressurized co2.

also, how much flurish are you dosing each week?


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## novitt (Nov 6, 2005)

I have often found that giving up on a green water problem is the only cure. Often times changing a lot of stuff just adds to it. When I get to busy to try "cures" it just goes away. 

That said a UV sterilzer will fix it. It's the only magic bullet there is. 

Adam


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

> Originally posted by russell:
> if i were you, and you may not agree, i would up your po4 to 2ppm. then i would start doing 50% water changes each week. i would also try to get my co2 up to 30ppm eather by more yeast/sugar or by upgrading to pressurized co2.
> 
> also, how much flurish are you dosing each week?


I was doseing twice a week as per instructions, that was during the time I had the chemi-pure in the filter. I dosed once right after taking the chemi-pure out,but not since the bloom. I have been doseing with excel everyday though. My plants are fortunatly doing very good, I have noticed alot of growth since the bloom but the bloom has not gotten any better as of yet.


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

well I gave in and bought a turbow-twist 6x 18 watt sterilizer.my water started to look like pea soup. Im gonna hate to see my micron filter in a few days.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

have you been doing water changes? when i see algae, i do a large water change, then i add fertilizers. i know a lot of people say to quit dosing when you see algae, but that is wrong a lot of the time. i have read, and i agree that a lot of algae blooms can be prevented if you keep your no3 over 7ppm, and do a 50% water change every week.


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## nicks75 (Nov 13, 2005)

I did do a few large water changes but the water got green again in a few hours. I have been using flourish excel and potassium daily which shouldnt have any effect on helping algae but I have not used any flourish or trace for the fact that my plants have been growing really good during the bloom so I dont think they needed any other doses. I do agree though that using ferts can help rid an algae problem but I dont think a lack of nutrients was what was causing my problem.
I would have bet in a few weeks the water would have cleared up on its own but I am too impatient to wait that long. Thanks for oppinions.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

are you adding any nitrate? if not, you probably should.


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## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

Nick,

My tank is starting to look like your original photos. I just finished treating ick in my 90 gallon and the water started to turn greenish during that time period. Did the UV sterilizer do the job? What are the down sides of using a UV sterilizer? Hope it is working out for you. Darrell


> Originally posted by nicks75:
> I did do a few large water changes but the water got green again in a few hours. I have been using flourish excel and potassium daily which shouldnt have any effect on helping algae but I have not used any flourish or trace for the fact that my plants have been growing really good during the bloom so I dont think they needed any other doses. I do agree though that using ferts can help rid an algae problem but I dont think a lack of nutrients was what was causing my problem.
> I would have bet in a few weeks the water would have cleared up on its own but I am too impatient to wait that long. Thanks for oppinions.


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