Help - Green water in Quarantine Tank

[Jeff]

I started cycling my 55g quarantine tank 3/7/24. It finished cycling 5/22/24, with about 25 Nitrates. Shortly after this, I had a good amount of hair algae growing.

I wanted to season it - and get some plants growing (no substrate). So, first week of May, I added an Amazon Sword in an Easy Planter. 

At the end of May, I added a Crinium Calamistratum in an Easy Planter.  About a week after both those plants were in, I added some Easy Root Tabs, and some Easy Green. Shortly after that....green water started. And it's been a struggle to get rid of it consistently.

Lights are on from 12P - 6P. I'm definitely seeing some growth in both plants. I haven't added any fish yet; because it would be hard to see them.

Tank is powered by 2 medium Aquarium Co-Op sponge filters, with the dual output Co-Op pump.

Water parameters are consistently now: 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate, 150 GH, Ph 7, 0 Chlorine

How do I get rid of this?

Edited July 1 by Jeff

[HelplessNewbie]

On 7/1/2024 at 6:44 PM, Jeff said:

I added some Easy Root Tabs,

Wait, did you eventually add substrate at this point? If so, what kind and how deep did you bury the root tabs? Or, did you place the root tab in the Easy Planter?

[Jeff]

No substrate in the tank. Just root tabs and Easy Planters @HelplessNewbie

[HelplessNewbie]

On 7/1/2024 at 7:07 PM, Jeff said:

No substrate in the tank. Just root tabs and Easy Planters @HelplessNewbie

Oh, in that case, I think just Easy Green would be enough in a bare bottom tank since all nutrients will be from the water column. However, I thought those two plants you have still require substrate, since they are root feeders.

You can put substrate in a pot, if you want to keep the bare bottom. See Teen 10g tank in my signature below. We put the substrate in plastic beverage bottle bottoms, then placed in a colored house plant pot. Makes it easier to switch out colors.

[lefty o]

green water..............how much natural sunlight coming through windows is the tank getting?? sunlight hitting a tank is usually the thing that gets green water going.

[Rube_Goldfish]

I wonder if the rock wool (I'm assuming it's still rock wool in the pots in the Easy Planters) isn't enough to slow the leaching* of nutrients from the root tabs into the water column.

You could try blacking out the tank; likely the greenwater algae would die before the plants took too much of a hit.

The semi-flippant answer is to add a bunch of daphnia or moina and just let them eat your way out of the greenwater, then be food in turn for the fish when you eventually put them in.

But the easiest way may just be to install a UV sterilizer and maybe try to forgo the root tavs. Well that, and probably a 95% water change, too.

* Is leaching the right word? Diffusion, maybe?

[Jeff]

@lefty o zero. The tank is in my storage area of my basement. 

[lefty o]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:03 PM, Jeff said:

@lefty o zero. The tank is in my storage area of my basement. 

that is unusual, but id still cut back on the light.

[Jeff]

On 7/1/2024 at 7:19 PM, HelplessNewbie said:

Oh, in that case, I think just Easy Green would be enough in a bare bottom tank since all nutrients will be from the water column. However, I thought those two plants you have still require substrate, since they are root feeders.

You can put substrate in a pot, if you want to keep the bare bottom. See Teen 10g tank in my signature below. We put the substrate in plastic beverage bottle bottoms, then placed in a colored house plant pot. Makes it easier to switch out colors.

I think I'm going to cut back on the light time from 6 > 4 hours. And I won't continue to add Root Tabs; just Easy Green....hopefully....maybe? Amazon Swords are root feeders, no?

[lefty o]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:56 PM, Jeff said:

I think I'm going to cut back on the light time from 6 > 4 hours. And I won't continue to add Root Tabs; just Easy Green....hopefully....maybe? Amazon Swords are root feeders, no?

probably a good plan. once you beat the green water, then you can slowly sneak back up on light, and fertilizer to find where things are happy.

[doktor zhivago]

Worst case you can always get a cheap UV sterilizer and it will kill off the green water. I tend to not like killing the microbiome of my tank but it certainly has a place in emergencies

[Jeff]

Would a UV Sterilizer be a band-aid? After it kills it, and I remove the UV, does the green water come back? Or would I have to keep the UV in the tank?

[gardenman]

Green water typically resolves on its own given time. Some lifeform that likes free-floating algae (daphnia or the like) will find the tank and start to party like there's no tomorrow. They'll eat, reproduce, eat even more and before long the algae will be gone and the party will be over. A few will hang around and munch any new algae that shows up, but given time, it'll typically take care of itself. People who try to grow green water to feed their live food cultures will tell you how hard it is to keep a green water culture going.

A UV sterilizer will zap the algae and slow it down and a diatom filter can filter it out, but the easiest solution is to do nothing and let nature run its course. Something that eats algae will find it and think it's found heaven and feast on the algae.