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Thread: Greenwater

  1. #1
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    Greenwater

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    Damn those itchy fingers of mine, I removed 1/3 of my plant biomass, and I continued with the same dosage of liquid fert, and gotten a green water issue.

    And then I decided to do a blackout of my tank, enveloped it with black trash bags.

    After a day, I decided to take a peep at the tank, and I was surprised to find the water turned into green pea soup, and I could hardly see through it! Using a PSI analogy, just before blackout, the PSI was around 80, and now 1 day after I started the blackout treatment, it probably hit around 1000.

    I've never done this kind of blackout treatment before, so for those of you who had done it, is it normal to get a sudden bloom during blackout before they die out?

    No wonder people said never to peep. I did and I almost gotten a heart attack...:P

  2. #2
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    Re: Greenwater

    Yeah, a theory is that as green water is a form of algae, like plants they can generate and store energy from photosynthesis, so when you do the blackout initially, its still has enough stored energy to continue growing and multiply rapidly though to the next day... but once it runs out of energy from the lack of light, they will start to die off.

    If you have fishes and shrimps still in the tank, do make sure to aerate the tank and do water changes, as the mass of dying algae and subsequent decomposition by bacteria will take take up more oxygen and create a spike in the cycle.
    :: Urban Aquaria ::
    www.urbanaquaria.com

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    Re: Greenwater

    Quote Originally Posted by Urban Aquaria View Post
    Yeah, a theory is that as green water is a form of algae, like plants they can generate and store energy from photosynthesis, so when you do the blackout initially, its still has enough stored energy to continue growing and multiply rapidly though to the next day... but once it runs out of energy from the lack of light, they will start to die off.

    If you have fishes and shrimps still in the tank, do make sure to aerate the tank and do water changes, as the mass of dying algae and subsequent decomposition by bacteria will take take up more oxygen and create a spike in the cycle.
    Yes UA, I still do have the whole fauna in there.

    I think I'll just have to monitor the situation for the next couple of days. My dilemma now is whether to intervene and do some WC, which may mean risking another bloom, or just wait out for the next 2-3 days and then do a massive WC when the algae die back....

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    Re: Greenwater

    It'll be good to do water changes, that will gradually remove the dead or dying algae and help reduce the effects of spikes in the tank cycle.

    Btw, i was just thinking it could be interesting to put a few small golden clams in the tank (just place them in a container so that they don't move all over the place, and then position them in the path of the filter flow) and see how well they filter and eat up the green water.
    Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 5th Mar 2014 at 00:08.
    :: Urban Aquaria ::
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    Re: Greenwater

    If you want to speed up the process of clearing the green water,you can install UV light sterilizer.

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    Re: Greenwater

    Quote Originally Posted by hobbit6003 View Post
    And then I decided to do a blackout of my tank, enveloped it with black trash bags.
    How think is your trash bags? maybe not think enough and light still go through.
    -Robert
    Aquascaping is a marriage between Art and Farming
    My Blog: http://aquatic-art.blogspot.com/

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    Re: Greenwater

    Quote Originally Posted by zerofighterx101 View Post
    If you want to speed up the process of clearing the green water,you can install UV light sterilizer.
    X2. When I had GW, cleared, returned, cleared, returned cycle .

    Pissed, bought a Eheim reeflex UV500 plus add Purigen. Crystal, no wrong, diamond clear water.

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    Re: Greenwater

    i just recently fought green water as well..

    20%-30% water change every 3-4 days. removed majority of my fishes and no feeding at all during this period, dosed ADA green bacter and biozyme formula 100 daily and within 2 weeks, water cleared. not sure if you want to try.

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    Re: Greenwater

    how big is your tank and how big is your filter?

    i had greenwater in 3 of my tanks. I have tried..
    1. commercial solutions - mixed success
    2. blackout - no joy, because the affected tanks were exposed to sunlight and in cases that i managed to cover it up, my plants died along with the algae..
    3. goldfish - freakish.. today gone, tomorrow comes back. and my shrimps are gone...
    4. daphnia - cheapest.. most effective solution.
    5. UV.. works for me.i kept it on the whole day for a week. BGA, green water.. gone.

    but for daphnia to work, you need to have a medium tank.. 3ft and above. and a filter with very good bio media. or large filter.
    I am balding but i am still young!

  10. #10
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    Re: Greenwater

    Hi all, thanks for all the wonderful advise!

    After 4 days of blackout treatment and with water change in between, I've finally gotten rid of the green water, and the tank has never been clearer.

    However, the plants suffered too. They were all growing upwards in their desperate search for light, and those leaves below the thick undergrowth of the M. Monte Carlo turned brown. Not a spot of algae can seen as of now.

    I knew I'm treading on thin ice when I opted for a high light intensity and fertilisation regime, and the scale finally tipped the other way.

    I've since cut down my light intensity by 15%, as well as a massive cutback on liquid fertilisation. The thick carpet is trimmed. I'll post pics later when I reach home.

    My tank is only 25cmx25cmx30cm, so it is not really practical to connect a UV steriliser when I don't have a canister filter. It is easy for me to just cover it with black trash bag, which I used 5 over it as the bags were rather thin.

  11. #11
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    Re: Greenwater

    i think there are internal uv sterilisers available. they are only suitable for small tank use which is ideal for your 30cm tank.

    I wouldn't leave an internal uv steriliser on 24/7 (my external UV is only on 4.5 hrs a day and it does the job), but for green water emergencies in small tanks its a possible solution.

  12. #12
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    Re: Greenwater

    Ok here are the pics which I have taken:

    It started with a greenish and cloudy tinge in my tank



    It got greener by the next day, which I promptly started the blackout treatment. I took a peep at Day 2, and it was worst, it really look like green pea soup, which unfortunately I didn't take a pic.

    After 4 days of treatment, I removed the trash bags, did a massive water change, and took the pic below:



    As you can see, the plants are growing upwards while the bottom leaves were browning out.

    The next day, I did a massive trim of the carpet:



    Unfortunately, I'll be leaving for Thailand for a week. Perhaps it is a good thing, for the tank will not have itchy fingers to content with. :P

  13. #13
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    Re: Greenwater

    Lower down your dim able light power during your trip...Have a good trip.,

  14. #14
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    Re: Greenwater

    Came back last Sunday from Thailand, and while I was there, my daughter and son reported green dust algae growing on the glass surfaces, while the water remains relatively clear.

    True enough, i was greeted a thin veil of GDA on the glass surfaces, and thicker nearer susbtrate. I let them grew out for another few days, until when I think that some had started to turn brown and the density seemed to have decreased a little, I initiated a scrap-off and massive water change on Thursday.

    So far so good, it's been 3 days and the GDA hasn't been making a come back, the glass still looks clean and the water is clear. Let's hope I didn't scarp them off too early in their life cycle....

    The M. Monte Carlo is due for another trim, as they are once again, more than an inch thick, bouncing back wonderfully from the blackout treatment.

    Will post the pic later.

  15. #15
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    Re: Greenwater

    Ok, here's the pic taken last night:



    How quickly these plants bounce back after a brutal blackout period!

    I've also changed the lens of the light to the 120 degrees lens (original lens was 90 degrees), so it gives a wider coverage and it is supposed to mix the colours a little bit better.

  16. #16
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    Re: Greenwater

    nice growth update

  17. #17
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    Re: Greenwater

    Still looking good after nearly 4 days without water change. The rocks has some algae growing on it, which I think it looks quite nice and I have no intention to remove.

    Will be doing another massive water change tonight, hopefully everything will finally starts to settle down, crossing my fingers....



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