last resort for green water

[Jaster]

Ok I'm having serious green water issues with both my 55 and 80 gallon tanks.

I've cut back on food, blacked out the tanks, dropped and raised temps, shortened light time, micro filter media, and water changes. Tried everything I could think of short of "green be gone" chemicals or a UV.

I know part of the issue is that all my tanks get a bit of direct light through the day. Actually I'm assuming that is the sole reason. Well I can't black out the windows or board them up (as much as I would like to) so I was curious if anyone had any other ideas to try before I go put money into UV lights.
I don't want to do chemicals and I don't want to keep my fish in the dark 24/7. I want to be able to see my fish...

Funny thing is that both my 10 gallon tanks that are right below the 55 and get more daytime light then any of my tanks and are way over stocked are crystal clear.

Thanks all!

[KingFisher]

Try dosing flourish excel. Also you can try putting Boyd's chemi-pure in the filter. It sucks up all the extra nutrients and a bunch of other stuff out of the water.

[smaug]

My tanks receive a bit of natural light as well.I have not had green water issues.A bit isnt a problem,alot is.Such as sitting in the direct path of a window.It could be you have phosphates,have you ever tested for them?Higher ph is also a help to increase gw.You are dead set against chems?Thats a shame because sometimes they are just the ticket and if used correctly gw is a thing of the past.

[Jaster]

Actually no I haven't tested for phosphates.. I could swing by petsmart tomorrow and grab a test... see where that goes. My ph is 7.6-7.8 and my gh is pretty much not there and the kh is between 3-4.

I'm not dead set against chemicals per say, it's just prefered. I just get nervious about adding chems to the tanks... But if there is something out there that works very well and is trusted I might consider giving it a shot. I'll at the very least listen to suggestions and opinons on them.

Thanks!! thumbs2:

[Jaster]

sorry for the double post... missed the edit.

So looking a bit more at phosphates now I wonder if thats my issue. I know the city water here has a ton of stuff in it, which is also why my waters ph is now 7.6, so thats a good possibility. So maybe I didn't get a fine enough filter (or the right one) and maybe adding someing like the bio-zorb might help? I'll laugh if it's thats simple...

Thing that gets me though, why just the 2 big tanks and not the 2 10 gallon tanks that get direct light for a good 3 hours AND I leave the lights on a solid 14 hours with 80* water?? Line both tanks up and I can clearly through the length of both tanks.

[Wild Turkey]

If its not the light, vacuum/water change. Do that 100 thousand times. Good luck:hmm3grin2orange:

Seriously though, a very common cause of green water is overfeeding/dead plants etc in the gravel. I had a problem with it due to dead plants and that fixed it eventually. It just took a while of doing wc's every other day.

Edit: all of my tanks get " a little " sunlight as well

[Jaster]

Well I grabbed a phosphate test kit and the results for my tank were 0.5 ppm.
So what is considered high?


I picked up fluval clearmax and a couple polyester pads for giggles... see what happens..

Thanks all!

[Northernguy]

Jaster check out this link.
http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

[Jaster]

Great read! Thanks NG thumbs2:

[Northernguy]

Hope it helps!

[DrNic]

I had this problem in one of the tanks that I have near a window as well. For me the fix was REALLY simple. I took black construction paper and blocked out the sides, but not the front, which kept the sun from coming. Next I set my lights on a daily double 3 hour cycle separated by an hour off. Lastly was a peroxide treatment (2ml/gallon for 1 hour with the filter on but media removed) followed by a 50% water changes, repeated every 4-5 days. My algae was gone in under 3 weeks.

If the sun is coming in the front of the tank where you can't black it out, try going to your hardware store and getting window dimmers. They are tinted plastic that sticks to the glass that gives some shade but, if you buy the right ones, blocks all UV, which not all windows do.

[smaug]

.5 isnt bad,but any at all contributes greatly to gw.

[Jaster]

So I'm in the not hurting but not really helping either zone... lol

Well not seeing much difference with the new stuff... water went pretty green pretty quick after the water change yesterday... :spam: