Grrrr Green Algae Will Not Go

[oneblondebrow]

Hi all,

I have been infested with Green Algae recently and have just completed a 3 day complete blackout with a very large water change either side, The tank stayed nice and clear for a couple of days but pretty quickly started turning Green and now is very green.

Any other idea's on what i should do, I do have a lot of plants and a couple of bits of bogwood, is it worth removing some to see if this works?

Getting to the end of my tether now, I feel like Algae is a major issue, I managed to get the Diatoms under control then to be plagued by Green Algae, The tank is a 180 litre Juwel Rio and does not have direct sunlight, Lighting is on for 10 hours a day on a timer.

Thanks

 

[MHunt]

I feel your pain, my tank is a complete green mess at the moment. I scrape the glass and it's fine for all of about three or four days, by which time it starts to grow over the glass again. I'm currently running with the lights out till my next glass cleaning, (probably tomorrow) then I'll see what happens. Any other suggestions?

BTW - I think mine is blue green algae.

 

[karin]

Check out this link and determine which algae you have. Post that for a better response. Is it green water? Or green slime? I'm pretty much a novice but I think you could decrease the lighting for now. Maybe down to 6-8 but see what others say... oh the algae link:
http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Good luck.

 

[oneblondebrow]

Thanks for the link but thats the one that gave me the 3 day blackout idea.

Any other suggestions as i am really at wits end.

 

[oneblondebrow]

I have been looking into UV sterilizers to go in the tank to fight green water, is this worth it?

 

[the biffster]

what are your nitrate and phosphate reading
it these are high you will also get a lot of
green algae

 

[oneblondebrow]

Nitrate is at around 20ppm and never goes higher than 40ppm, and i have no idea how high the phosphate is, would it be worth getting a phosphate test kit?

 

[the biffster]

Nitrate is at around 20ppm and never goes higher than 40ppm, and i have no idea how high the phosphate is, would it be worth getting a phosphate test kit?

it might be worth looking in to. what type of tube are you using

 

[oneblondebrow]

I assume you mean light tube? it's 2 x T8 high light tubes that come with the Juwel Rio 180, Should i upgrade the tubes? also i am still looking more into an internal Uv Sterilizer which will cost around £50 but might be worth it, Also may take out the 2 bits of bogwood which are heavily planted just to see.

 

[karin]

Hey onebrow.

I had a problem with green water and am pretty happy with my "Green Killing Machine" an internal uv sterilizer. It did the job for me. But the way I understand it is that green water is caused by a bacteria and is not algae. I believe the uv sterilizers do not kill actual algae.

 

[oneblondebrow]

Hey onebrow.

I had a problem with green water and am pretty happy with my "Green Killing Machine" an internal uv sterilizer. It did the job for me. But the way I understand it is that green water is caused by a bacteria and is not algae. I believe the uv sterilizers do not kill actual algae.

I have been looking into these but cannot find a UK seller, Only ebay sell some at £48 but thats with a £22 delivery, Surely they should be cheaper than that?

 

[the biffster]

i think you might have too much light

 

[OldMan47]

Green water is not bacteria. It is tiny one celled plants that are not adhered to the materials in the tank so they float around and give the water a green tint. I have had it so heavy in an outdoors tub that I could not see my hand a mere 6 inches into the water. That was the same water that I put into all of my indoors tanks, the only difference was that it was exposed to some direct sunlight each day and the tanks in my home don't get any direct sunlight. I have tried to grow green water indoors in the past to support a daphnia culture and failed miserably, even with 24 hour a day lighting. The small traces of nutrients that are unavoidable when you have fish in the tank will combine with intense lighting to produce green water every time.

 

[stuuk1]

10 hours seems a long time! I leave mine on a timer for no longer than 6 hours. Comes on at 4pm and goes out at 10pm. I dont get any at all, just a little on the glass which I can wipe off easily

 

[oneblondebrow]

I have been looking at possibly relocating tank but everywhere in the room has some sort of sunlight at one point in the day this is why i am contemplating purchasing one of these.......

http/www.rocketaquatics.co.uk/aquael-unifilter-1000-p-2225.html?language=en#googlebase

first of all though i would like to know if this is definatly green water before proceeding...



Thanks