Green Water and P?

[krisw]

Hmm... Well... I guess I'll just stick it out with the HOT, P, and black out. Thanks for everyone's help!

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Actually, in an aquarium, the desired effect of the flocculant would
be to clump the algae together into particles that would then be large enough
to be caught in the filter. It should not settle onto the gravel unless you have
very poor circulation. I agree, however, there is a chance it'll come back since this
'solution' doesn't eliminate the reason the issue exists. It's a quick fix - you
should see results within a couple of hours. A combination of this + black out
may work well. Be sure to remove / clean the HOT Magnum after it gets gunked
up with GW clumps.

BTW I've used this method successfully in the past.

[Cristy Keister]

I haven't tried this myself, but would it make sense to add Seachem Nitrogen? I've read that green water algae thrives in 0 Nitrate conditions because it can utilize Nitrogen from the air more readily than the aquarium plants. So if you add Seachem Nitrogen would that give your plants an edge?

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Thats blue-green algae you're talking about Cristy.

[John G]

There is a discussion of green water at http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/ . I don't know if its discussion of the causes is correct, but I think the cures it lists are correct.

The two or three times I have had it I cured it quickly with a UV sterilizer.

[DelawareJim]

I've often thought about getting one. Right now though it would look a little strange hooking up a pump and sterilizer to a 2.5 gal tank. Heck, I'd need to add another 5 gallons to get the pump to run!

Cheers.
Jim

[krisw]

Yeah, I've been thinking of getting a Turbo-Twist, and plumbing it with PVC and a powerhead, so that it's easily moveable from tank to tank when needed. (Saw a picture of someone doing this on APC awhile back.)

[Jeff120]

I think a good diatom is a better alternative, UV will kill only green water algae and some parasites, for this you really have to slow the flow. Diatom gets rid of green water, most parasites and leaves the water crystal clear, and you can easily move it from tank to tank. A UV is also said to have a negative effect on iron levels of our planted tanks, IE breaks iron down very quickly. Just my 2 cents

[krisw]

Well... This morning, the tank's starting to look a lot better after adding some flocculants yesterday and running the HOT with micron. Hopefully I won't get home from work to more pea soup.