Natural Light and Green Water

[Anon]

I have a few aquariums that receive a direct sunlight during the day. One of them has started to develop green water. It actually receives the least amount of sunlight and has the most water, but it doesn't have as many plants as the other tanks. 

Does being heavily planted prevent a tank from developing green water? What are some ways to manage green water in general? I know I can use a UV sterilizer or cut all light to the tank to kill the floating algae... but what can I do to slow down growth in the future? I'm considering taking the "unnatural" lights off the tank and seeing how the plants grow without them. 

I'll attach a pic of the tank developing the green water. It's a 55 with potted plants; a dwarf aquarium lily, an amazon sword and its baby, and a madagascar lace plant. There's also duckweed and guppy grass floating around. 

[Scapexghost]

Green water happens when their is a great excess of light and/or neutrients. The more heavily planted the tank is, the less likely you'll have an excess in these areas. So yes, a heavier planted tank is less likely ti get green water. The way to prevent green water would be to eliminate the excess light and neutrients. This may mean decreasing the light intensity, duration, increasing water changes, or increasing the plant mass in the tank.