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Is Green water harmful to fish? I know it's unsightly to us people, but do fish really mind it? I know it can lead to deoxygenation of the water, but I have venturi aeration going on in my filter, and all of my live plants are thriving and pearling, so I'm not currently too worried about that.
I've been trying different things to get rid of it, but I am apparently losing the battle. Flourish Excel doesn't get rid of green water like it does strand algaes, I've got nitrate-sucking plants like anachris and hornwort, and they are definitely thriving and doing their job, but it's apparently not enough. I've also reduced the hours my lighting is on (I've got 3+ wpg with DIY CO2) and added floating plants which are slowly multiplying, but some of my plants like stargrass and rotala don't appreciate that very much.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

illustrae,

The latest edition of the Tropical Fish Hobbyist actually talks in its Planted Tank section about your question. It mentions that “Green Water doesn’t hurt anything” and that “plants usually do quite well in it”.

Although, it certainly is not a pretty sight if you can’t see your fish anymore.

Ingo

PS: They suggest to perform more water changes and cleaning of the gravel, and to stop feeding Nutrients for a while.

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 18-Aug-2005 10:31

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You must also leave the lights on, less hours & if possible, switch the tank off for 4/5 days & do not feed your fish. After you must do a 25% water change.


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I've been doing weekly water changes (about 30%) and gravel vacs, and the water clears up a bit for a day or two, but eventually goes green again. The lights are on for 3 hours in the morning, then a 3 hour break, and then another 5 hours. I realize that this is nothing like a natural daylight cycle, but I found that it helps inhibit the dreaded hair algae that took over my tank a few months ago. I've limited feedings to just once a day, but I think I have an overfeeding problem due to a piggy gourami. I plan on getting some corys that will help clean up all the food that falls to the bottom.

At least it's good to know that the fish aren't being hurt, even if I can't see them very well...

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Adding fish won't help. The food they eat will just turn into waste which will still add nitrates and nutrients. The only cure for that is to stop feeding as much. If the gourami isn't eating it all then it doesn't need to be added.

illustrae, this might help you...if you can find daphnia/water flea in your place buy some, just make sure you are getting from a good source or to someone that cultures it, to ensure no parasite. Then move out all of your fish to another tank, and put all daphnia in there and let them do their job. You will see how green water turns clear in a day or two(depends on daphnia population you got). Then after clearing the water you can now add your fish and eat all the daphnia that is very fat with green algae. Hitting two birds in a stone.


ronn

Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be breeding small fishes such as Pygmy Rasboras that have tiny fry, green water is an excellent live food for such tiny fry. So when it appears, don't knock it, because if you harness it correctly, it can become a valuable resource! Plus, as cited above, it's prime Daphnia food. So if you fancy cultivating your own Daphnia on a regular basis, generating green water in pickle jars is a good way of keeping your Daphnia cultures fed!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hi,
Green Water is either a plague or a boon... It depends
upon what the tank the green water is in is used for.
If you are rearing fry, then the green water is an excellent
first food for the baby fish.

If its a community, or planted tank that you want to look
at and have as a focal point in the room, then it is
unsightly and ugly.

Here is a site that specifically addresses green water,
its cause, and cures:
[link=http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/greenwater.html]http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/greenwater.html" style="COLOR: #FF00FF[/link]

Frank


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