Re: [AGA Member] blue-green water

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

Your filters stopped and then you restarted them? Were they
off a long time -- a day or two -- and then restarted
without cleaning?  It's a question of balance and your
teeter must have tottered ;-)

In any event, it sounds like a good old fashioned algae
bloom. If it was caused by a spike in nitrites or more
likely ammonia/ammonium due to filter failures, then you
must have the cause under control.

So you just want to clean up the soup you have. A UV works
great for this, but if you don't have one; it's a terribly
pricey solution. If you do decide to buy one, don't get one
of the Custom SeaLife models that vendors are trying to
move out the door -- CSL folded and provides no warranty
support and the CSL UVs, imo, need warranty support. Diatom
filter should help speed up the subsidance, although I've
found these a bit less effective.

A 4-day blackout ought to get rid of it. The is very
inexpensive -- you even save on the electric bill ;-)

Whatever method you choose, start with a good healthy water
change and have good filtration to pick up the algae that
is going to die off.

If you have a bacterial bloom mixed in with the algae, that
won't be affected by the blackout, but should be affected
by UV and also by a diatom depending on the diatom filter.
However, even without UV or diatom filters, a bacterial
bloom will subside on its own after water conditions get
back in balance. You might have to wait a few weeks for the
bacteria to clear up. It might clear up very fast if your
new (or renewed) filteration is seeded with some good mulm
or some of the old biomedia from the old filters.

If there is BGA mixed in the algae bloom, you'd probably
see signs of it attaching to stuff, but a blackout should
work wonders on BGA too.

None of the methods work for any length of time if the
water conditions are not in balance.

Let us know what works for you,
sh
--- rspahn@sackets-harbor-high.moric.org wrote:
> Hello and HELP!  I have  a planted tank with a severe
> case of blue-
> green water.  The plants are in fine shape.  How is the
> best way to 
> clear up this tank?  The tank has been running for years
> without any 
> algae problems.  I think the problem was caused by the
> two Fluval 
> canisters slowly dying at the same time. Thank-you,  Ray


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