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Green water algae won't go away

eminor

Member
Joined
5 Feb 2021
Messages
784
Location
France
Hello, a month ago, I started to see a white veil, as time went by, a green tint was added, after a while I couldn't see anything anymore. I had a very strong light >50 lumens per liter, I finally reduced the light by more than half, I reduced the fertilization (tnc complete), the co2 is still around 25-30 ppm. I reduced the lighting time from 8 to 5 hours, change 90% of the water, nothing to do, the algae are still present. So I have in mind to make a blackout but I don't know if it's efficient on this algae, I'm afraid to lose my plants, how to proceed to avoid too much damage? thx
 

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Wow, I'd either run a tmc aquarium UV unit till it clears or possibly a restart,
If your still feeding the plants either with tap water or from ferts, then they will continue to reproduce.

Only had a tank do this once and I went with UV. Funnily enough people often struggle to grow green water, just look at the hair pullinh posts by people culturing daphnia.
 
Blackout may be a temporary fix you need to force the bacteria bloom that is the nucleation point for algae growth to grow elsewhere other than in the water column. Long term remedial and preventative treatment without altering the water chemistry via shoving in additives would be done the quick way or the slow way, quick way is UV, slowish way Culture Daphnia (or it’s a No way option if there’s fish in the tank), a healthy supply of micro fauna can eat its way through an algae bloom quite quickly though.

Blackout is the cheapest option, it’s worth a try first at least, not sure it’ll deal with the overabundant bacteria in the water column though so you may be back to square one quite quickly. Price goes up depending on how satisfied with the results of the remediation therapy you want to be.

Obviously getting to the bottom of why you have an excess bacteria bloom is key, something is feeding it, constant levels of Ammonia? Have you tested for Ammonia?
 
Blackout may be a temporary fix you need to force the bacteria bloom that is the nucleation point for algae growth to grow elsewhere other than in the water column. Long term remedial and preventative treatment without altering the water chemistry via shoving in additives would be done the quick way or the slow way, quick way is UV, slowish way Culture Daphnia (or it’s a No way option if there’s fish in the tank), a healthy supply of micro fauna can eat its way through an algae bloom quite quickly though.

Blackout is the cheapest option, it’s worth a try first at least, not sure it’ll deal with the overabundant bacteria in the water column though so you may be back to square one quite quickly. Price goes up depending on how satisfied with the results of the remediation therapy you want to be.

Obviously getting to the bottom of why you have an excess bacteria bloom is key, something is feeding it, constant levels of Ammonia? Have you tested for Ammonia?
thx, i don't have ammonia test :/

I think my filter is way to small and slow, 200liters/hours for a 54 liters/15 gallons aquarium, but i used the same filter in the same tank just before without any algae issue and way less maintenance, I thought too much ferts was the cause of it but I read that it's not true. The only thing that i haven't tried is to stop the CO2. It also can't be overpopulation because i only have 2 small fish and some red cherry shrimps, neither overfeeding, because i use tweezers to feed and i only feed once every 3 days :/

when I want to plant I use tweezers and push it to the bottom of the tank where the aquabasis plus soil is located, is it possible that fertilizer is released and that is the cause?

Fertilizer : tnc complete

Water parameter :

Ph : 7
NO2 : 0
NO3 : 19 mg/l
GH : 17
KH : 12
 
Hi
You could try a blackout!
What plants do you have in the aquarium?
hi, i changed 50% at least of the water and i just started a blackout, will try 4-5 days, is it ok ? thx

-pogostenon erectus
-rotala rotundifolia
-rotala walichii
-heteranthera zosterifolia
-tuberculata myriophyllum
-sagittaria subulata
-ludwiga super red mini
-leucocephala hydrocotyle
-cabomba
-eleocharis sp mini
-umbrosum micranthemoides
 
Wow, I'd either run a tmc aquarium UV unit till it clears or possibly a restart,
If your still feeding the plants either with tap water or from ferts, then they will continue to reproduce.

Only had a tank do this once and I went with UV. Funnily enough people often struggle to grow green water, just look at the hair pullinh posts by people culturing daphnia.
Damn, the funny thing is that it seems that green water make my fish really happy and i don't have to clean the filter often, green water seems to be the filter
 
Water parameter :

Ph : 7
NO2 : 0
NO3 : 19 mg/l
GH : 17
KH : 12
You know those parameters but dont have a test for ammonia? Its nothing to do with the problem you have, and not having a dig, but surprised you don't know what your ammonia levels are.
 
There are quite few Green Water threads on ukaps (though I couldn’t find the one I was looking for of course)


This one because I like Darrel’s picture so much Cloudiness/Green Water

A pond version just because Does green water matter if you don't keep fish?


 
You know those parameters but dont have a test for ammonia? Its nothing to do with the problem you have, and not having a dig, but surprised you don't know what your ammonia levels are.

It's been a week since is know that ammonia is the best food for algae, you learn every day, I tough that nitrates and phosphates was the cause, i was wrong and now i know =)
 
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There are quite few Green Water threads on ukaps (though I couldn’t find the one I was looking for of course)


This one because I like Darrel’s picture so much Cloudiness/Green Water

A pond version just because Does green water matter if you don't keep fish?


thanks, i'm pretty certain that the combo of high light and planting are the cause of it, the ammonia spike come from that, if the blackout doesn't work i'll try daphnia, i only have two fish, does red cherry shrimps eat them ? thx
 
I had a very strong light >50 lumens per liter, I finally reduced the light by more than half, I reduced the fertilization (tnc complete), the co2 is still around 25-30 ppm. I reduced the lighting time from 8 to 5 hours, change 90% of the water, nothing to do, the algae are still present. So I have in mind to make a blackout but I don't know if it's efficient on this algae, I'm afraid to lose my plants, how to proceed to avoid too much damage?
Hello,
The most efficient way to cure green water algae (GWA) is to use UV. I have no idea how to convert your lumens per watt, but lumens don't really tell us a whole lot in terms of PAR (which is what plants see) unless we have access to a conversion chart for that particular lamp. Generally, excessive lighting is responsible for GWA blooms.

When selecting a UV be careful regarding the wattage and flow rate through the lamp as the dwell time vs power of the lamp determines it's effectiveness.

I advise against wasting time and resources with any test kits as they will not tell you anything you do not already know.

Cheers,
 
May I ask what micro fauna above is, is it sarcastic wording for algae or just a smaller type of plant?
 
Hello,
The most efficient way to cure green water algae (GWA) is to use UV. I have no idea how to convert your lumens per watt, but lumens don't really tell us a whole lot in terms of PAR (which is what plants see) unless we have access to a conversion chart for that particular lamp. Generally, excessive lighting is responsible for GWA blooms.

When selecting a UV be careful regarding the wattage and flow rate through the lamp as the dwell time vs power of the lamp determines it's effectiveness.

I advise against wasting time and resources with any test kits as they will not tell you anything you do not already know.

Cheers,
Thx, at this point i doubt there is a way to beat that algae without UV-C, the tank is in blackout since 24 hours, i'll wait 2-3 more days, if nothing change i'll get uv
 
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