[tom855]

So I'm a bit stumped. I have a 58G tank that's been running for about 6 weeks. AS2 substrate, low/med light (PAR=35) 8 hours/day, nitrates 22 (from the tap, no extra added), Ammonia of 0, and low PO4 (just because I forgot to add some from my last H20 change.

The tank has gone from white cloudy to a nice tint of green, and I have no ideas why.

I should add that about a week ago I had a nice white protein scum on the top.

To make me more confused, about 48 hours ago I put my 9W Turbotwist UV on the tank, and see no change, but rather it appears to be getting worse. I'm wondering if the bulb is weak, or if the 9W is just too small for the 58G. Coralife specs it for 125G, but the Green Killing Machine specs 9W at 50G.

Any ideas what might be causing the green tint on the water? It could well be it just needs to run it's course, but I hate the way it looks.

Ideas?

Thanks!

Tom

 

[theemptythrone]

doe it have direct sunlight?
how long do you run the uv?
i would try a blackout with only the uv running

 

[Higher Thinking]

The green water is actually tiny little organisms but what their cause is for your tank I don't know. It has been attributed to ammonia or direct sunlight. I had it really bad in my 75 gallon and ran a little 9 watt internal uv sterilizer and it cleared it up in one week.

 

[tom855]

Sunlight = no
UV has been 24/7 for 48 hours

Blackout is a last resort for me. I just invested a small fortune in plants, and really don't want to put them through it. I'd much rather find the source.

Suspect the UV may be weak, or otherwise would have seen some results. From the boards it appears it would dented it by now.

Thanks for the ideas!

Tom

 

[theemptythrone]

it can take a week for a uv to really make a noticble affect

 

[Geminiluna]

Well, I've got to edit what I just wrote. I found my original post from February 2008. It was a JBJ Submariner UV and it took only a few days to clear my "pea soup" in my 50-gallon tank. However, I did not like the in-tank design of the unit and switched later to a turbo twist in-line unit and never had another issue with pea soup water again.

Shoot - sorry - if you read my response already - I was telling you to give it a few days more. My memory really was fault - I hadn't started out with the same model/wattage you used at all.

 

[Jeff5614]

FWIW, I cleared my one and only GW outbreak using a DE filter every other day for a week coupled with a 50% water change on those days.

If your AS is new I would think you still have a pretty high level of nutrients in the water. I'd not add more, even if it is just PO4, for now and stick with 2 or 3 of 50% water changes per week. I think I would also add activated carbon to the filter and change it every couple of weeks or go with Purigen. This is basically what ADA recommends for the first two or 3 months of new tank setup except for the water changes. Those are weekly after ammonia from the new AS subsides which I think is supposed to take around 4 weeks but it makes me wonder if you still have some NH3 even though you're measuring 0. If you're sure it's 0 then I would just go with weekly changes. The carbon or purigen is to help remove the organics that AS adds to the water when it's new. As for the film on the surface I'll just repeat what ADA says about it which is the biofilter is not yet established. You might try directing your filter to that it breaks it up and better yet, forces it down into the water column so the filter can pick it up.

 

[JRMott]

I hear purigen can help GW.

Even still, your take has only been set up 6 weeks, so I think algae is normal at this point.

Whatever you do, don't get discouraged. I did when this first happened to me and quickly let the tank fall into a downward spiral. Ended up trashing all the plants, cleaning the gravel several times, and finally rebooting the tank with a fresh plant load and more fish (slowly of course). My tank has been running again for about 3 months and I'm still fighting algae, but I'm being more diligent about feeding, dosing, and water changes that I was last time.

 

[herns]

So I'm a bit stumped. I have a 58G tank that's been running for about 6 weeks. AS2 substrate, low/med light (PAR=35) 8 hours/day, nitrates 22 (from the tap, no extra added), Ammonia of 0, and low PO4 (just because I forgot to add some from my last H20 change.

The tank has gone from white cloudy to a nice tint of green, and I have no ideas why.

I should add that about a week ago I had a nice white protein scum on the top.

To make me more confused, about 48 hours ago I put my 9W Turbotwist UV on the tank, and see no change, but rather it appears to be getting worse. I'm wondering if the bulb is weak, or if the 9W is just too small for the 58G. Coralife specs it for 125G, but the Green Killing Machine specs 9W at 50G.

Any ideas what might be causing the green tint on the water? It could well be it just needs to run it's course, but I hate the way it looks.

Ideas?

Thanks!

Tom

I have the same problem presently in my 5.5g. But, I tried to be patient with it. It happen in my larger tank and learned from it. I tried cutting back light period yesterday. When I get my pressurized running this weekend, I would try cranking up CO2 and adjust light period again and check ferts dosing.

It just need fine tuning until I get what causes nuisance algae.