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Over the past few days I have been planting my tank and out of the blue the water is green. Any correlation? Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, PH 7.8. 40 gal. long tank with 2 goldfish.

Hmm....well I do hope you're planning on moving the goldfish ...*gets back on topic*

Any chance you've been adding ferts? How about sunlight hitting the tank? Like all algaes, green water comes from an imbalance. [link=Here]http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/greenwater.html" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] is a link franks' posted before that's likely to be of some assistance.

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Good morning Bablefish. The fish aren't bothering the plants at all, surprisingly. Natural Aquarium Vital is the only thing I'm adding to the tank. It's looking much better today. I think I'm missing a Cory, which could be a source of the trouble. It's so hard to count heads with those little guys! Thanks, Babelfish

How planted is the tank? Sometimes the stuff goes away by itself, and sometimes you need to take more drstic measures. Try to stay away from algicides and turning the light off. Stay away from the ferts until this is completely gone. My tip is to add more plants. If the plants are using all the nutrients, there is not enough for the algae.

That article actually has lots of good info (No surprise it's Babel finding the great articles! ) The floating plant suggestion is probably one of the best. I have not been able to get enough algae for the plecos in my tank with watersprite and duckweed, so they had to be moved to others.

One of my LFS has actually been battling this for about a month, and cannot add more plants since customers won't buy them if they're in green water. So they have a catch 22- dying plants from lack of light creat more nutrients for the algae, no new plants to use the nutrients.

Once you find the right balance, you should be in the clear.

Good luck!

Last edited by harleysiber at 28-May-2005 09:18

There are about 40 plants in the tank. (40L) They are all low-light and I have a twin tube fixture on it with 2 32W bulbs with 9000K each. That's only 1.8W per gallon, isn't it? It's clearing up. I haven't used any ferts as yet. I wanted everything to settle in first.

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, KH 89.5 (5 drops), Phosphate 5. I am ready to pitch all the plants and go back to ceramic and plastic decorations! My shoulders are all out of whack from all the water changes. Today, I pulled all the plants out and cleaned the gravel very well, and put the original single 32W light over the tank. I have all low light plants and they all look healthy, some are showing new shoots. They are back in the tank. I got a Jungle CO2 kit from Big Al's, but it saysdon't use it with soft water. I have well water with a water softener. I don't know much about chemistry but the KH for goldfish should be higher according to the instructions that came with the test kit. How do I raise it? and also lower the phosphate? I'm running a Penguin 330. The plants are crypts, Java fern, anubias, and dwarf sag. Sorry for the long post.

Hi Caviar,
we seem to have discovered your trouble with the green water.
Phosphates!!!
Phosphate could also be called "Algae's Gourmet Meal"
This is why your water is green.
Where are the phosphates coming from? That would be the easiest solution, find out where they are coming from, and you should be able to solve this problem.
My thought on where this could be coming from:
Fertilizer: If you are using any type of fertilizer at all, please post the brand name. I would suggest testing the stuff with your phosphate test to see. Lots of fertilizers contain phosphates. Flourish and Flourish Excell seem particularly good at creating green water problems despite the fact they say "no phosphates".
Test your tap water as well.


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My tap water is .5 for phosphate. I also re-tested the tank after a good cleaning and 50% water change. It is down to 2. I started out using Natural Aquarium Vital but stopped that after someone on here told me to dis-continue it. It's been about two weeks so it's out of the tank. Then I used Jungle Plant Care Fizz Tabs 2 days ago, but I've been doing daily water changes so I doubt there's any of that left. So what's the solution? I have not used any fertilizers as yet. That was my next question. When do you start to fertilize newly planted tanks and what is a good one for low-light tanks without CO2? Thank you, Sneaky-Pete.

Well its a mystery.
Did you have green water before you used those fizz tabs?
I know there is products you can buy to remove phosphates.


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I've been battling green water for about 3 weeks, after I first planted just a few plants. I've been reading the forums and someone said adding potassium might help. I am at a loss. Maybe one of those phosphate removal pads you put in your filter that Cory-Di talked about? Anyone else have an opinion? I can use all the help I can get!

Something going on with your phosphates alright.

If it's coming out of the tap at 0.5 but rising up to 5 (should be around 1 with your current Nitrate level) something is up.

So the question then is where are the phosphates coming from ? Get the answer to this and you should be able to lick the green water problem.

The phosphates can only come from a limited number of sources and need to be introduced to the tank.

Tap water has been eliminated so need to look elsewhere. (but may be wothwhile to double check and test again).

If ferts are not being used that's eliminated.

My own guess would be overfeeding. Some flakes contain quite a bit of phosphate. This would be the most likely source. Can you tell us your feeding regime.

2 other ways phosphates can be introduced may be possible.
One is from the rockwool that plants are wrapped in if they are bought in pots. This "wool" usually contains a lot of hyperponic nutrients and so have quite a bit of phosphate in it. Did you unpot the plants and if so remove all the wool ?
A more remote possibility is if you are running activated carbon.Some of the cheaper lower quality carbons can have phosphate in it which will leech into the water column.

The increasing phosphate level is a mystery. Figure out where it's coming from and you should be able to rectify and get control.

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Good morning! Test results currently are GH 50ppm, PH 7, Nitrite 0, KH 50-100 (5 drops), Nitrate 5, Ammonia 0. As for food, I alternate between flakes, pellets, spurlina and feed green veggies twice a week. I've been feeding them morning and night. I'll cut back to once daily. I also use algea wafers three times a week for the corys. I cleaned all the potted plants and removed the wool. I did use carbon-filled filter pads after an ich outbreak 2 weeks ago to remove the meds. Quilt batting in use now. Thank you for all your help.

Heres a few things that could help:
Add phosphate remover sponge to your filter
Reduce lighting to only 4 hours per day until cleared up.
Reduce feeding to a pinch only once a day until cleared up.
Change all filter media regularly.
Keep doing partial water changes every 2nd day until clear.

This might help.
Another option that might help you, try to find a marimo ball or two. These green plants are essentially macro algae, and will out compete your green water algae for the nutrients rapidly. They average about 5 dollars a ball for a small one, and in your green water should triple their size in a matter of weeks.!


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sneaky_pete, Since I pulled all the plants out and did a 50% water change and good gravel vac yesterday morning, the water is clear! The poor fish just got a small pinch of food today and a little duckweed. They think they are being punished for gooping up their house! I'm trying to keep on top of things. You folks have been great! Thank you.

Update and question. Whooeee!! No diatoms, no green water. Healthy, green algea growing on my driftwood, but not on other decor. The plants are all nice and green and growing! My question is since this is a goldfish tank with no CO2, 64W per gallon, 40L tank, all low-light plants, do I need to add Flourish or Flourish Excel? My thought is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Should I just keep up with regular maintenance and watch the plants for deficiencies? Thank you.

My thought is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

A sound philosophy

I wouldn't add the normal flourish, sounds like you already have enough nutrients. Adding more is tempting algae fate.

Flourish Excel should be fine though as that's carbon source rather then a collection of micro nutrients.

If the plants show any sign of going hungry, yellow or deformed leaves that would be the time to dose some normal Flourish. Until then no need.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.