How bad is green water in a tank? Do I need to buy a UV filter? What should I do?

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:27 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@nabokovfan87 What is a good source to buy Amano shrimp?

Whatever is cheap.

I've gotten some from aquahuna. From flip. And from the big box store. I just get them wherever makes sense.

Aqua Huna has the ACO discount, I'd start there. Get the biggest you can but whatever works is fine (smaller size you get a few more)

[Comradovich]

On 4/23/2023 at 10:27 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Comradovich I'm a little confused. It is my specialty, My superpower, really at this time of night. 

I have to be vigilant about water parms, but not as vigilant as I would be with fish?

I set up something small and stable to hatch the eggs and them move them to the seasoned jar with the air hose? Or I start them in the jar with the air and move them to something else?

Yeah, sorry about that. I got the impression from your post that you were going to ask if I could go gather some for you, and my answer for most of this year will be: "Not for all the tea in China". But then I got to thinking that maybe this answer would sound a bit mean, so I figured I'd better provide my justification. That also included the Brine Shrimp tangent and by the time I was done I'd run out of steam to answer about the jar.

What I meant was that the parameters in a new jar can fluctuate rapidly. Less water means less space for bad things to start concentrating in. So you have to keep a closer eye on it than you would a 20 G. If there's a PH drop or spike, for instance, you would need to recognize that and deal with it early. Using test strips in brand new jars can lead to a lot of "oh my god" moments. Once you get that jar dialed in and the biological filter built up, it's not so bad.

The second part of the jar answer about the daphnia being hardier than fish was to tell you not to go into blind panic mode if the test parameters of the jar are radically different than last time you tested. They'll live in conditions that would kill fish. You don't want to do a series of panic water changes because what you've got is fish killing water, the daphnia may be just fine in there for awhile. Overreacting can be worse for daphnia than the changes in the jar. You want to notice that something is changing, and then take a measured response to heading off that change. Huh, that reading is different than it was 6 hours ago, let's add a little of this and test again in 6 more hours.

As for your first question about the black liquid... I mean it does have plenty of bio-film in it. On the other hand it also would have plenty of detritus. Maybe waiting for the 2nd or third filter squeezing is better for the jar. Kind of a "just how much snail poop are we talking about here" decision. If you wouldn't start a fish tank with the liquid, don't pop it into the jar. Again, smaller amount of water, so smaller amount of buffer room.

[KittenFishMom]

@Comradovich I wouldn't ask you or anyone to gather from the wild for me. I am on the shore of a freshwater lake, next to a swamp. I enjoy puttering around in the creeks and gorges.  I currently have a dish full of leeches to photograph.  I catch my own scuds when I want them. I tried to get daphnia last fall, but my eyesight caused me to get water mites.  I think If I go after them again I will bring a magnifying glass.  Since I have the eggs here, I might try hatching them.  I'm guessing the green water will begone about the time I really need it for the daphnia, so it is not an urgent project really. It might be better to wait until the tubs and totes outside a full of green water. I'm rooting forsythia and such outside.

Thanks for the detail about the jars. If I don't start the eggs now, I will save the info for later.

[KittenFishMom]

@Comradovich I have a crazy idea, what do you think of it?

I remove all the fish from the tank with the green water, then turn off or way down the HOB, remove the airstone from the sponge filter and empty a packet of eggs in the tank. There is a lot of water lettuce and java moss and snails in the tank, that I would leave in place.

Do you think it might work?

 

[Comradovich]

On 4/26/2023 at 2:38 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Comradovich I have a crazy idea, what do you think of it?

I remove all the fish from the tank with the green water, then turn off or way down the HOB, remove the airstone from the sponge filter and empty a packet of eggs in the tank. There is a lot of water lettuce and java moss and snails in the tank, that I would leave in place.

Do you think it might work?

 

I honestly think that might work our perfectly for you. Let me know how it goes.

[KittenFishMom]

I put the eggs in May 1st. I forgot about turning off the HOB. I'm hoping it all works out well. There are cory fry in the tank, but they don't tend to notice or eat thing that are not on the bottom of the tank. Maybe the HOB will work to keep them up and in open water, away from the fry. I'll let you know.