Algae Bloom -- 21 day FINAL UPDATE

[Dakota]

check this crap out:











This happened while I was away, OVER NIGHT. . . This picture is after a single, 50% water change. . . I have NO idea where this bloom came from.. I have a small 3 gal tank with fry in it that share the same water. . . and it's clear as day.....

[Haeun]

Decrease or cut out the light period. That's #1. When I had a tank with green water, I cut out the light for a few days, and then stuck with a 4-5 hour light period. Other people wrap their tank in a black garage bag to cut out all light.

Also, not sure what you have in your tank, but you might want to get some fast growing plants in there to try to absorb any excess nutrients. It's either an excess of nutrients or an imbalance.

Also, keep up the water changes. I left a few tanks at school for the holidays, and when I visited it for New years, it had green water. It was only 5 gallon, but after two or three 50% water change, it started looking better. I think the victim was the timer: I had it on "on" instead of "timer".

[Dakota]

I have a bunch of plants right now, and my lighting period is 8 hours... I"m cutting it back to 6 for now..... and doing some more water changes over the next few days.. I just have no idea where this came from... and so FAST....

[iVgOnMaD]

this can definitely happen overnight. I have had this happen before when I toped off w/tap water.

[unix858]

got a uv sterilizer? use it if you do. Thats the only thing i did to clear my out. 240G worth of green water haha

[Dakota]

Well, I use RO/DI, and I tested it to make sure the membrane is still working.... and it is.. so I don't think it's that.... As for UV, I DO have one, and I'm currently waiting to get some tubing that will fit to hook it up.... in the meantime..... it's the green abyss....

[DaveMorris]

I better go get more plants for my 75g planted tank. That is some crazy crap!!

[Dakota]

well, so far so good. the UV has been up for 24 hours, and I did a second water change yesterday (20%). It's clearer.. I can see the outlines of some of the plants... I plan for another water change this weekend, but in any case, it's NOT getting worse!!

[iVgOnMaD]

does your tank get any direct sunlight.

[victortrav]

wow you are scaring me with that. If my 240 goes green like that i dont know what i would do

[Dakota]

does your tank get any direct sunlight.

none. And the annoying part is that although it's a newer tank, the lighting has been setup for over 8 weeks, and I've been doing nothing but adding more plants... so I don't know WHY this happened. Since no one in the tank is dying, I'm not worried about being patient with the process of clearing it up. I'm worried that if I don't find the cause, it will happen again.

I'll post a pic of the progress when the lights come on (after 12:00).

~Eric

[Fine Fins]

I'd run carbon in it and check out the nirates. I think duck weed would help you. Maybe start a fuge and grow daffnia they clean your water and provide fish food. My Daffnia can clean grren water fast

[Dakota]

no nitrates or phosphates or anything algae love.. but probalby because it sucked it all up.... And I have no idea what duck weed and daffnia are. I mean, it's already a planted tank, and so I assume the plants are the algae competition... which only furthers my dilemma on WHERE this came from.

UPDATE PICS:







As you can see, there is definitely a cloudy white something or other, now that the green has lightened up.... any ideas?

[Delphin22]

WOW
Noob says:
Not sure but I started using a few drops of Tetra algae control stuff with my fresh water changes to control green hair algae and my water has never looked so clear. Supposedly it just stops the growth of green hair algae doesnt kill it, main thing I like is it keeps the floating green stuff out of the water. My few other plants and moss seem fine with it. Fish are fine too including corydoris es ss ses. Just an idea, not sure if this would fit into your plans. I dont like using additives if I can avoid it but sometimes I have to. Bet your filters will fill up with green stuff quick.

[unix858]

You just have a bunch of diatoms floating around. Just do your regular water changes and it will clear it soon enough.