Green water help.

[Chris333]

I recently moved everything from a 15g tank to a 40g tank including about 1/3 the water. I never had problems with the 15g. A week after the 40g was running I got green water. The 15g had Eco C. and the 40g uses MTS with a Eco C./sand cap so I'm pretty sure the MTS is causing the green water.

I did a 3 day black out with card board tapped up over the tank. The tank is not in the sun. After the black out I did a 50% water change. For the last 2 weeks a was also running a Magnum 350 with the micron filter.All of this had no effect at all.

How can I get rid of the green water?

[rlswaney73]

I had good luck using Green killing machine UV 24W but they make a 9W also... can find them online at the chain pet stores. I did try a blackout before the UV...

[Chris333]

Well $50 later I have a 9W version. How long should it take to clear up and will I then have to keep running it?

[rlswaney73]

mine was completely clear in 3 days, doesnt need to run all the time... good to have in case it ever happens again.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk

[diyer3984]

I would have gone with an in tank Daphnia refugium. You can get the Daphnia from Wards or from [Ebay Link Removed] Might have taken 2 weeks to clear but would be more natural and extra food for your fish not to mention it would have cost around $20 tops.

[JasonG75]

What is your lighting? With everything I read about your setup there is not 1 mention of your lighting setup. Uv are just BANDAIDS..

[rlswaney73]

+1 for lighting, the root of my problem... I had lots of watts (216) that amounted to little PAR (50 or <) from a crappy fixture.

[Chris333]

In the 15g I had a Current T5 nova extreme 4x 24W, but I only ran 2 bulbs. When I got the 40g I re-fitted those same 4 bulbs out out that hood. So now I run 2 24" long 24W bulbs on each side of my tank. This tank is deeper so really now I have less light. I had 3.2 WPG now I have 2.4 WPG. The lights are on the same exact timer for around 8 hours a day.

I'm pretty sure that mineralized top soil causes the algea. I just need to get rid of it.

[JasonG75]

So check out this pic.

You have a 40B which is 16in in height. With 2 bulbs running which are HO I am assuming.

On top of the Tank = TO HIGH of light
4in above the tank = High light
12" above the tank = Medium

Is your light raised ANY?

[150EH]

I think it would be fairly common for a bloom of green water in a new set up until you build enough nitrifying bacteria to carry the new and bigger load, UV can take up to a week but the green water won't hurt anything so don't start cleaning this will only make matters worse.

[Chris333]

According to the chart my 15g was "too high" light and this tank is just "high" light. Just saying I don't think it is the light as I never had green water in the 15g.

All plants, wood, fish, shrimp, and Eco C are from the old green water free tank. Only difference now is the top soil under the Eco and a bigger tank. I have read that MTS will give you a algea bloom, but then again I read a 3 day black out would clear all of it. Also read a micro filter would clear it. Both together didn't do a thing.

[ykh]

I agree with the suggestion of using daphnia to clean up your green water. Your fish will be big and fat after the green water cleared up too

[Chris333]

Just bought 500 daphnia to add to the mix.

[DarkCobra]

Sounds like you've got some other treatments going.

But I wanted to mention something. You're correct that the Magnum's micron filter will not efficiently remove green water, though it should have removed at least some. However, if you "charge" it with diatomaceous earth, it will quickly remove 100% of green water.

Diatom powder is available at pool supply and hardware stores. I think I paid $8 for 20lbs. of it. Install the micron filter, add 1/2 cup of diatoms between the filter and the outer housing, add water, and give it a good shake just before turning it on. The diatoms will be sucked against the micron filter, coating it. Some will escape and produce a white cloud in the tank, but they'll soon be filtered out.

The diatom coating allows it to remove particles down to about 0.1 micron, instead of the 2-3 microns possible with the micron filter alone. The downside is that it'll clog faster, about 2-3 days is typical. But while it's operating, you will have the clearest water you've ever seen. I use it for green water, new installs with dusty substrate, or to rapidly clear detritus kicked up during heavy rescapes. Will clear virtually anything within an hour or two.

[discuspaul]

Very interesting Cobra - sounds good.
I've never heard of using that approach in all my years of fish-keeping!