[satchmania]

Hello,

I've read a lot on the internet that willow branches can eliminate the problem of green water in aquariums, so I placed some willow branches more than a week ago, the branches have some kind of spikes coming out I don't know if it's the roots or just the wood that is rotting, but the water is still as green, I don't know if it's an internet myth but for the moment no change, I'm afraid to make a blackout because I have sensitive plants like rotala walichii or myriophylum trubucalata, is it risky for these plants? thx

I think that the imbalance is clearly due to the lighting, 40w led for 50 liters, I divided by two the intensity.

 

[MissCris]

I think if those plants can survive a week in a box being shipped across the country, they should be ok with a week blackout as long as the lights come back on afterwards.

I've never heard of willow branches for green water. If they are freshly cut though I suppose they could actually root in a tank since you can start cuttings in a glass of water. You might wind up with a free willow tree.

What I have used is pothos cuttings held with the tops out of the water and the bottom tip submerged because the plants will consume excess nutrients from the water column; this can also work with other common houseplants that grow well from cuttings. Most people do this only in low-tech tanks, but it might help you during the beginning with a high-tech tank since new plants that are small use up less nutrients that would feed an algae bloom.

The tank looks rather sparsely planted from the picture. You should probably do a big water change and cut back on any fertilizer you use for a couple weeks until there is more plant mass to outcompete the algae. You'll want to cut fertilizer anyway if you do a blackout since the plants won't be using much if any without light.

 

[satchmania]

I think if those plants can survive a week in a box being shipped across the country, they should be ok with a week blackout as long as the lights come back on afterwards.

I've never heard of willow branches for green water. If they are freshly cut though I suppose they could actually root in a tank since you can start cuttings in a glass of water. You might wind up with a free willow tree.

What I have used is pothos cuttings held with the tops out of the water and the bottom tip submerged because the plants will consume excess nutrients from the water column; this can also work with other common houseplants that grow well from cuttings. Most people do this only in low-tech tanks, but it might help you during the beginning with a high-tech tank since new plants that are small use up less nutrients that would feed an algae bloom.

The tank looks rather sparsely planted from the picture. You should probably do a big water change and cut back on any fertilizer you use for a couple weeks until there is more plant mass to outcompete the algae. You'll want to cut fertilizer anyway if you do a blackout since the plants won't be using much if any without light.

thanks actually there is almost 60-70% plant occupation, i still dose fertilizer and put co2 should i stop water changes and fertilizer ? thx

 

[MissCris]

I definitely wouldn't stop water changes, as the accumulating nutrients will make things worse.

Stop ferts if you do a blackout, but if not doing a blackout you should probably do a decent size water change still to both remove some of the algae in the water and to help reset the fertilizer ratios.

If possible, you should probably try using remineralized RO water so you know what is in it (if you don't already do that). Otherwise you will probably want a comprehensive test kit to see what your tap water already has so you aren't adding more of something you don't need.

 

[Asteroid]

There was sort of a craze like 10 years ago about using willow branches to clear up algae issues including green water, in fact I tried it. At the end of the day, there's nothing magical about the willow branches only in that they develop roots very quickly once submersed. These roots like other plants will increase uptake of nutrients.

The easiest way to rid a tank of green water is with a UV. Green water starts many times by a sudden burse of ammonia being released. For example if the gravel was disturbed or even doing new plantings and not changing water after. Basically the bio-filter (media/plants) isn't strong enough to quickly consumer the ammonia.

The stronger the light the worse it will be. One of the important things is to understand how much light you have. Are you injecting co2?

 

[satchmania]

There was sort of a craze like 10 years ago about using willow branches to clear up algae issues including green water, in fact I tried it. At the end of the day, there's nothing magical about the willow branches only in that they develop roots very quickly once submersed. These roots like other plants will increase uptake of nutrients.

The easiest way to rid a tank of green water is with a UV. Green water starts many times by a sudden burse of ammonia being released. For example if the gravel was disturbed or even doing new plantings and not changing water after. Basically the bio-filter (media/plants) isn't strong enough to quickly consumer the ammonia.

The stronger the light the worse it will be. One of the important things is to understand how much light you have. Are you injecting co2?

Yes i inject co2 about 20-30 ppm, i was a little crazy on light power, i had about more than 40 lumens/liters, i reduced to about 25lumens/liters, but green water is really hard to get ride of, my filter is weak (200l/h, 60 gallons/hour) and my tank is 54liters/ 15 gallons

Maybe i should buy a filter <with uv filter in

 

[Anon]

Hi @satchmania

My guess is that the use of willow branches for eliminating/controlling green algae/water came about because willow contains something called salicylic acid. This is used in at least one commercial preparation for combatting BGA (actually cyanobacteria). And I can vouch for its effectiveness. For 'green water', a UV-C sterilizer should do the job nicely. Have you considered a Mini Green Killing Machine (MGKM)? Note that the '-C' bit on the end of the 'UV' is important. UV-C ensures that algae spores, bacteria and fungal spores are literally damaged beyond repair.

NOTE: The MGKM is not a bad product but replacing the UV-C lamp itself is not possible. Instead, the whole lamp assembly needs to be replaced. That's certainly the case with the one that I have.

Anon

 

[satchmania]

Hi @satchmania

My guess is that the use of willow branches for eliminating/controlling green algae/water came about because willow contains something called salicylic acid. This is used in at least one commercial preparation for combatting BGA (actually cyanobacteria). And I can vouch for its effectiveness. For 'green water', a UV-C sterilizer should do the job nicely. Have you considered a Mini Green Killing Machine (MGKM)? Note that the '-C' bit on the end of the 'UV' is important. UV-C ensures that algae spores, bacteria and fungal spores are literally damaged beyond repair.

NOTE: The MGKM is not a bad product but replacing the UV-C lamp itself is not possible. Instead, the whole lamp assembly needs to be replaced. That's certainly the case with the one that I have.

Anon

Well i think that i have 3 solutions :

first : i try a blackout but i'm afraid that blackout will open a big door to algae because the plant will be in a bad condition after the blackout and will need to recover, not the algae

second : I'll wait the willow branches to develop some roots

third : easiest, use a uv-c sterilizer like you say, easiest but not cheapest

is there really a way to win against green algae that is free ? i was also thinking about completely stop the fertilizers, maybe boost the co2, algae will starve, plants have roots and a rich soil to feed, that could work ?

 

[AceFish]

Dropping in some hornwort or other fast growing plants may help.