UV lights and algae

[Tate Tanks]

We got a bad case if spore algae and the water turned green. Thanks to the helpful videos from Aquarium CO OP we figured out the cause. (Plants and fertilizer came from Aquarium CO OP).   We eliminated the algae spores with a UV light filter. The question is, now that the algae is gone do we need to run the UV light in the filter all the time. It has the ability to operate as a power head with out the light on. My concern is I do not want to impact other aspects of destroying beneficial bacteria etc. I was thinking operating the UV light 24 hours every week if needed. What say you?

[FrozenFins]

No. a U.V Light running 24hrs is not necessary.

When dealing with green water the number one thing you have to do is to fix the problem, otherwise it will just come back. This can be challenging.

For the most part green water is caused by excess lighting, whats your lighting like? Another cause of green water is excess nutrients in the water, in this case your fertilizer. I would suggest to not dose as much, see how little you can do without seeing your plants not thriving. 

When I had green water it was caused due to much lighting. I simply decreased the amount of time that it was on for as well as the brightness of the light. Not all lights come with a "dimming" feature, but you could always do printers paper ontop of the lid (thats what I do), some people also like getting tape and doing that. To decrease the amount of time it was on for, I simply got a WIFI light timer and used that. I use the Teckin ones (from amazon.ca) but the Co-Op has the Kassa ones in stock too.