[nfored]

My water is a yellowish color, almost like from driftwood. The driftwood has been in the tank for months without staining the water, so I don't think this is the problem.

I think this is an algae problem or a DOC problem. I am using dry fertz and the EI dosing, Does anyone see a problem with me running carbon on my reset day? This will tell me if its a DOC problem.

 

[nfored]

Here is a great picture of the water color. Pretty sure its algae, but want to run carbon to test for DOC. I know carbon can remove my nutrients that's why I wanted to run it on the reset day.

 

[lauraleellbp]

My water looks like that out of the tap. I'm on a well and it's the sulphur content. Purigen takes care of it, though.

 

[epicfish]

Mine comes out a little darker brown than that...extra iron. =/

Do you run the water a little extra and see if it clears up the color issue? It takes about a full minute of running my water before it clears up for me.

 

[Wö£fëñxXx]

Add a little carbon to the filter, that should fix you right up.

 

[nfored]

Tap water is crystal.

This is the tank water, same color even after 50 - 60% water change. Thought about carbon just didnt want to mess up all my fertz

 

[CL]

Tap water is crystal.

This is the tank water, same color even after 50 - 60% water change. Thought about carbon just didnt want to mess up all my fertz

It won't mess them all up, it just might absorb some. It wouldn't hurt running some carbon for a week or so

 

[AML225]

If after a large water change it came back after not too long my first guess would be algae. Are your plants growing well? My water looked like that when I would get algae blooms and a water change would make it look better for maybe 12-24 hours. I wasn't dosing EI though. I was just using flourish excel so it was expected.

My suggestion would be to take some water out in a large bucket and buy some algaecide, I prefer Tetra AlgaeControl (I think that's what it's called). Stir it up lightly every so often or add a powerhead and see if that does it. If you've got algae the water will be crystal clear after the treatment.

 

[nfored]

I think its algae as well, I have reduced the light to 11 hours a day and dose with Excel and EI. The plants seem to be standing up taller but I don't notice any rapid growth, the algae has gotten better than it was but its still there.

Maybe I need to do a 3 day blackout to kill all the algea and give the plants a chance.

 

[AML225]

I think its algae as well, I have reduced the light to 11 hours a day and dose with Excel and EI. The plants seem to be standing up taller but I don't notice any rapid growth, the algae has gotten better than it was but its still there.

Maybe I need to do a 3 day blackout to kill all the algea and give the plants a chance.

Personally I think blackouts will help but it will be back. You need to treat the cause not the symptom. It's, as usual, easier said than done. What kind of nitrate numbers do you have? I know you use EI but do you still do any testing? It's possible that you may not need to dose nitrates if there are fish in the tank or maybe you just don't need to dose as much. As long as your plants are growing OK then you know you're doing everything right but in the end you have an excess of nutrients which the algae is consuming. Cut your dosing down to and see what happens. Experiment and be systematic.

 

[nfored]

I bough a bunch of plants, pruned the heck out of the existing plants; and scrubbed everything. Scrubbed rocks, driftwood, tank, and gravel vacced my sand.

Increased plant load by 400%, Upped my EI dosing from 20-40 gallon rang to the 40-60 gallon range, and added root tabs.

The water is the clearest I have ever seen it, and there is no algea to speak of.