Green water/algae bloom

[Pareeeee]

I know it's not unheard of when tanks are only a few months old to have an algae bloom. I've been trying to get even a little control of it but to no avail.

Background: It started after I added some osmocote root tabs deep under the sand substrate. I pushed the tabs all the way to the bottom with tweezers so I don't know why it's getting into the water column, unless one of the capsules broke near the surface of the sand as I was pushing it down.

Tried so far: Blackout treatment - 3 days. Tank flush - 90% water change. Today I just added sponges to the intakes of both filters.

Lighting: two 6500k T8 LED bulbs in a converted fluorescent fixture (33Gal/125L) = 22.4 Watts/Litre

Special Concern: I have live plants and don't want to harm them, and most algae treatments that I'm aware of are pretty harsh on plants. I also have snails and shrimp that I don't want to harm with chemicals.

 

[Retired Viking]

The standard treatment is to reduce feeding amount and fertilizer and reduce lighting time or intensity , with your special concerns in mind that is what I would do. Increase you WC to twice a week to flush out the extra nutrients from the water. I do 50% WC weekly. It may take time to correct but you have a imbalance in your tank.

 

[Pareeeee]

Ok so I've been doing this for a couple of weeks and it just seems to be getting worse. I even got some polyfil/filter floss and threw that in my HOB filter, and added sponges on the intake of the HOB and powerhead. It's now almost opaque green. I've never had this happen before...it has to be the osmocote

 

[jonnyc88]

What are your water parameters? What are your stocking like?

UV filters are known to help algae bloom.

 

[itiwhetu]

It will be the osmocote. I would strip the whole tank down and start again.

 

[Pareeeee]

It will be the osmocote. I would strip the whole tank down and start again.

I don't see a point to this. Since I must use root tabs under my sand (it's inert PFS), it's just going to happen again after I re-set up the tank. I can't grow the plants I'm growing without macro ferts. Plus I have nowhere to put my fish if I have to cycle the tank again.

There has to be some other way to rid the tank of this.

I even carefully followed the guidelines for using Osmocote Plus as root tabs. I bought the 00 capsules, and filled them, and pushed them to the bottom of the substrate.

 

[itiwhetu]

If you use a natural base this won't be a problem I have never used ferts in a tank. The only thing I have ever done like that is use peat under the base medium to soften water for Discus. Your plants will grow just fine using the waste from the fish

 

[Byron]

I agree that this is most likely the osmocote. These should never be used in an aquarium. They are high in nitrates and phosphates, and aquatic plants (different from terrestrial) cannot use these to begin with, so that means organics. Green water. Algae problems.

There are some things on which you cannot try to save a few dollars. Substrate tabs by reputable aquarium manufacturers are worth their cost tenfold.