What to do after blackout...

[SNPiccolo5]

The title mostly explains it, but first I'll tell you what I am doing....

-changing filter every other day
-dosing NO3 to 5-10 ppm (PO4 is 1 ppm), K to 20 ppm, and micros daily

This is all about my battle with green water. I do have a couple of questions though...

I just did a huge water change, slowly as to not shock the fish, but it basically re-set the whole tank. There will be no CO2 during the blackout as I am getting my tank re-filled on Monday. Should I dose my ferts to the right levels before or after the blackout? I read something somwhere about how plants can absorb nutrients at night???

Also, any tips that I can do to avoid green water returning in the future will be extremely helpful! It is tiring having it come back... but I want to start aquascaping again...

Thanks for all your help!

-Tim

[m.lemay]

Why are you changing your filter every other day. That could be your problem right there. Everytime you put in a new filter, you have to reestablish the biological filter. I rinse and reuse my filter pads till they've got holes in them and only rinse with cold water just enough to clean the pours and no more. I only do that when filter flow has slowed noticeably. The Biological filter is your friend.

Marcel

[corey]

I second that. Every other day is way to much. I do like m.lemay. I rinse and reuse everything. I do change the cotton floss in my Eheim about once a month or so.

[SNPiccolo5]

I forgot to mention I have the bio-wheels running in my emperor 400. That is where most of the bacteria is in my filter (I think- it looks like it is there). Also, I thought filter rinsing was better if it didn't disturb the bacteria, is this true? (Look at this thread http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1690) I don't completely change the material, I just rinse out the sponge and put it back in, otherwise it would be way too expensive. I eventually want to get a canister filter, but that is for another thread.... Thanks for all the replies!

-Tim

[Wasserpest]

I believe green water can be battled with patience :lol:

If you do the opposite of what you are doing now, your tank might go through that stage and is then immune to green water.

Specifically, don't do any water changes. Don't add fertilizer. Don't change light or filtering habits or anything else. You might have to look at a weird psychodelic green landscape for 7 to 10 days, but then it will clear up and stay that way, and you can slowly start water changes and fertilizers again.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Wasserpest's method can definitely work, but the key to preventing green water is establishing a growing plant mass. Keep nutrients balanced (10:1:20) and get the plants growing and robust. Once they are growing strongly for a month straight, the system will be easier to keep in balance.

I don't know if I would constantly clean out the filter, either. Sure, the bio-wheels contain an excellent base of nitrifying bacteria, but there will still be a small ammonia spike (albeit a short-lived one) when the filter re-establishes itself. Although it is a small spike, it could be enough to weaken or kill the microfauna that feeds on green water and thus propagate your problem.

Keep nutrients stable, and leave the filter running for 2-3 weeks and see if the green water stays away this time. Wasserpest is right - patience.

[SNPiccolo5]

Seems pretty simple. So, by "keeping nutrients stable", do you mean fertalizing to and maintaning a 10:1:20 ratio or just keeping it the same? The first seems to make the most sense to me! Thanks for the help... Just got new CO2 today, so all should be well...

-Tim

[anonapersona]

Is there a chance that you have disturbed those Jobes sticks?

[SNPiccolo5]

I have dug some up before and nothing like this has happened... I'll just let the system sit, and maintain the 10:1:20 and see what happens! But, I haven't done much digging in the substrate, so the probability of that is sparse...

-Tim

[Momotaro]

Tim
Will your LFS rent / loan you a diatomic filter? That will really help expedite your whole GW experience. Just ask Buck!

Mike

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Yes, by keeping nutrients stable, it means supplementing to maintain a 10:1:20 level. This could also mean 5:0.5:10 resulting in slightly slower growth, but overall lower nutrient levels. That's the levels I use, just FYI.

I definitely am planning on picking up a Diatom filter sometime. UV works, but not quite to the extent that Diatom filters do.

[digger]

Tim I have a diatom filter you can borrow if you'd like. PM me for info.

[SNPiccolo5]

OK, I finally got time to read some replies... First, thanks for all the help! I don't know what I'd do without the internet! It doesn't look as if the triple NO is going to work (NO changes of any sort). I just think that there is more I can do than do nothing. Anyway here are some thoughts.

First, I am pretty sure my water has 1 ppm PO4 in it, so it hard to fertalize any other way...

The last thing I want to do is diatom it, though it is possible I might have to do it. Thanks for your offer, digger, I might take you up on it (via PM).

I was thinking on my way home from my piano lesson and the fish store (not looking to buy much to put into my green soup!) about ways to kill algae. You know, examining all possible solutions. I eliminated the "week of super water changes", the RO water (for a temporary solution, the worst), and most other primordial solutions.

However, I was highly considering a blackout. It worked once, it failed twice, but was I really careful the second two times? Anyway, this is when I thought about the staggared lighting, you know, when you have an hour of light in the morning, then off for an hour, and then back on? This is pretty successful in fish-only tanks, but as it is bad for algae, it is bad for plants too. But I figured my plants can't be doing well anyway, after all, if they were thriving, I probably wouldn't have green water.

I thought about doing a blackout, but with 1 hour of light each day, in which I can lightly fead the fish (don't have to, but figured I might as well if the lights are on), and the algae can waste its time powering up for photosynthesis. Then the light would turn back off for 23 hours. Would this make the algae die faster and be more efficient?

Just want anyone's reccomendations on whether or not this would work or not... By the way, I am starting the blackout tonight. (7/14)

-Tim