Is green water a good thing?

**spikeyclipse** · 05-04-2012, 07:05 PM

I would guess this topic can be placed here, if not then i apologize.

In my 15g, i have a wide variety of plants:
L. repens
anubias
dwarf sagittarius
java moss
java fern
and a few unknowns:
short plant with broad leaves
long "stemmed" with a single wavy leaf at the end
and some kind of ludwigia i would guess that i posted about before in the plants section.

I've been using an aqua-glo bulb for awhile and thought maybe my daylight bulb would help to grow my plants a bit more (correct me if im wrong), after switching the lights, i find out my tank water is looking very green.

Im going to assume its pretty normal considering the number of plants i have, but should i worry or do some more frequent water changes?

**Cermet** · 05-04-2012, 07:09 PM

Uh, green water? If so, then no, that is not normal or what most of us like. THe new light has feed the algae and not helped the plants. Maybe you need CO2 and/or ferts. Maybe the light 'color' or temperature is the wrong range and that is the issue. Still, if no algae with the old light, why not clean out the algae and re-use that orginal light?

**spikeyclipse** · 05-04-2012, 07:20 PM

I forgot to mention i also have some giant duckweed floating around, if that changes anything.
I bought the aqua-glo after learning that plants like the reds and blues, its an 18000K T8. The original bulb that came with the tank is labled "daylight bulb" on it. I didnt really use the original bulb with plants, shorting after i planted them, i bought the new bulb. The temperature of the tank is normally around 78F.
and i also dose the tank with Tetra Florapride every 2 weeks or so.
If stock info is needed ill be glad to provide.

**Cermet** · 05-04-2012, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by spikeyclipse

I forgot to mention i also have some giant duckweed floating around, if that changes anything.
I bought the aqua-glo after learning that plants like the reds and blues, its an 18000K T8.

Uh, 18000K!? That belongs on a reef tank (10,000K is what I thought they used, but no saltewater person), not a fresh water planted tank. That doesn't have any red and is terrible for plants but great for algae. Unless that is a typo, wrong bulb. Plants like 6500K; I use a whiter one for better fish colors but I have to be careful for algae ... .

**spikeyclipse** · 05-04-2012, 07:29 PM

so it seems i have been deceived haha. it says, "Aqua-Glo, T8, 18,000K, Fish color enhancing bulb, Ideal For: Freshwater Aquariums, Planted Aquariums."
well ill be making a trip to the lfs in a few minutes to pick up a test kit, i guess a new bulb might have to put on the list too huh?

**Brhino** · 05-04-2012, 07:31 PM

is the tank receiving any direct sunlight? That's the most common cause of green water.

**spikeyclipse** · 05-04-2012, 07:34 PM

nope not at all, my room is in the basement. the tank isnt in direct sunlight.

**escamosa** · 05-05-2012, 12:27 AM

How long do you have the light running per day?
How often do you vacuume your substrate?
How many fish have you got in the tank?
Are the leaves on the plants looking a little dull? Not a nice green colour, but pale looking?

Sometimes, to much light of any kind can cause green algea blooms, and some plants don't like to much light. Also if the tank is heavily planted and there isn't enough food to go around, a few of them will lag behind in growth and appear sickly.

**Cermet** · 05-05-2012, 01:54 AM

Since direct and indirect sunlight isn't the issue, we can safely assume that the bulb change did the trick. OTherwise, I don't see why when you changed bulbs you 'suddenly' got vast amounts of algaeSo, after a water change and some cleaning, the type of bulb that worked would be my first choice but any bulb in the 6500 K tempe range that yield between 1 and 2 watts per gal should work.

This all said - if it comes back, there must be something like escamosa has mentioned

**spikeyclipse** · 05-05-2012, 07:06 AM

It wasnt a sudden change, i had the bulb in for a good month or so and today i thought maybe a change in lighting would do something and turns out my water is green.

Ph - 7.8
amm - 0
trites - 0
trates - 40

7 neons
6 pencilfish
and 3 albino cories

just about all of my plants are a healthy green

i dont really vacuum that often.

But it could be how long my lights stay on. i usually have them on for about 11-12 hours. one time i had them on for nearly 14 hours on accident, so the next day i figured i keep them off all day.
ill try lowering the hours and see what happens.