how to get rid of the green?

[schizo_fish]

my water is green, and has been for a long time, i cant seem to get rid of it. my water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 10
PH: 7.2 (But this seems to fluctuate a bit, if anyone has any ideas about this please tell me)
GH: 140
KH: 40
PO4: 4+
Light: 60W over 40 Gallon (UK) for 12 hours a day with an hour break in the middle


I did have a phosphate removing pillow in there, which took the phosphates down to about 3, but i noticed it said it may also remove ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate (which would probably mean it would affect beneficial bacteria??, i think?) so i took it out.

Would it be the phosphates that are the problem?

i do leave the water that i add to the tank during water changes in another empty tank, would it be a good idea to add a phosphate removing product to that tank and a small filter to circulate the water? I assume that this may remove the phosphate without affecting the ather parameters in the main tank, is this right?

any help would be great.
thanks in advance. SF

 

[Nisha]

Green water is caused by algae that is thriving on excess nutrients and light. Your nitrate levels seem to be fine and usually they are the culprit.

Have you tried cutting down your lights? I would suggest you simple reduce your lighting time to 10 hours with a break of 2-3 hours in the middle. A timer works best for this.

I personally don't like to mess with other levels in the tank but hopefully someone here can provide a little more info on that aspect.

HTH
~Nisha

 

[schizo_fish]

thanks Nisha.
anyone else got any suggestions???

 

[gaya]

do you have any live plants in there that could compete for the nutrients?

 

[schizo_fish]

yeh, i have five, cant remember the names though

 

[Colin_BC]

Is your tank sitting anywhere where it is exposed to direct sunlight? I wouldn't worry about a phosphate remover harming the beneficial bacteria. I used PhosGuard by Seachem in the toe of a nylon. I never experienced any mini-cycles afterwards. I've had it recommended to me to put the sack in my cannister filter (which I did, better results) and just leave it there until the phosphates starter to rise again much later and replace it. I eventually opted to toss it and find/eliminate the culprit of the problem. Out of curiousity, does you KH fluctuate with your pH?

Colin

 

[Colin_BC]

Oops , double post. Sorry. I wouldn't be at all upset if a mod deleted this post.

Colin

 

[schizo_fish]

yeh, both my gh and kh fluctuate slightly, not sure if they correspond with the ph though?

 

[Colin_BC]

The GH, KH and pH are related. Check out this link from "Chuck's Planted Aquarium Pages for a good explanation." If you scroll down the page I linked to, you'll find an article called "The pH-KH-CO2 Relationship." Have a browse through his page. He has lots of great info there, as well as a Windows (PC) Nutrient Calculator that can come in handy.

Colin