ex-green water report

[TZ]

I just removed the green water from my 75 gallon, within 2 hours!
I got a Vortex D-1 Diatom Filter! I lived with this green water for
4+ weeks, each week going to the LFS's, and asking for advise,
only to have them each suggest and sell me something different.
Anything from Algae Destroyer, to Phosguard (without first
measuring my water to see if I have phosphates), hornswort,
daily-20% water changes (which I think only further fed the algae
with more phosphates), and possibly a reverse-osmosis water filter.

The tank only kept getting more and more green every week,
starting 2 weeks into it when I couldn't see down the length of it.
Then a week later, I could barely see thru the width of it. 2 weeks
later I couldn't see half way thru it. All the time, going to the LFS's
and telling them about it, only to get the lame suggestions above.

Then I decided to review the RAFM google archives on green
water, and every one of the threads which had a happy ending
also seemed to include a diatom filter.

So I then ordered one, from bigalonline, and received in within
4 days. Hooked it up that evening, and had sparking water in
2 hours.

To summarize what I think my problem was/is, I have well water,
which is fairly hard, ~10dH GH/KH, which zero nitrates out of the
tap, yet probably is high in phosphates (I didn't buy the $19 test
kit my LFS was trying to sell me). I did't have any live plants during
the first month when the tank was set-up 6 weeks ago (July 2003).
I also "seeded" the tank from another established tank, and I can only
imagine I also seeded the water-borne green algae.

TZ

[Graham Broadbridge]

"TZ" > wrote in message ...
> I just removed the green water from my 75 gallon, within 2 hours!
> I got a Vortex D-1 Diatom Filter! I lived with this green water for
> 4+ weeks, each week going to the LFS's, and asking for advise,
> only to have them each suggest and sell me something different.
> Anything from Algae Destroyer, to Phosguard (without first
> measuring my water to see if I have phosphates), hornswort,
> daily-20% water changes (which I think only further fed the algae
> with more phosphates), and possibly a reverse-osmosis water filter.

Well, you're cleaning up the symptom rather than curing the problem, but
I'll admit that
getting rid of suspended algae using diatom filtration helps keep the tank
looking
good while finding the root cause of the algal bloom.


Graham.

[NetMax]

"Graham Broadbridge" > wrote in message
...
> "TZ" > wrote in message
...
> > I just removed the green water from my 75 gallon, within 2 hours!
> > I got a Vortex D-1 Diatom Filter! I lived with this green water for
> > 4+ weeks, each week going to the LFS's, and asking for advise,
> > only to have them each suggest and sell me something different.
> > Anything from Algae Destroyer, to Phosguard (without first
> > measuring my water to see if I have phosphates), hornswort,
> > daily-20% water changes (which I think only further fed the algae
> > with more phosphates), and possibly a reverse-osmosis water filter.
>
> Well, you're cleaning up the symptom rather than curing the problem,
but
> I'll admit that
> getting rid of suspended algae using diatom filtration helps keep the
tank
> looking
> good while finding the root cause of the algal bloom.
>
>
> Graham.

While I agree 100% with what Graham is saying in principle (treating
symptoms instead of root cause), in the case of algae blooms, sometimes
the cause has long come & gone, and the bloom is self-perpetuating until
it can be eradicated once. If the root cause is still there, they will
be filtering again in a few weeks, but as often as not, the diatomite is
so efficient that one or two treatments cures the problem for a long time
(just my limited observations).

NetMax (who is on day 2 of an imposed black-out to combat an algae bloom)

[Graham Broadbridge]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Graham Broadbridge" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "TZ" > wrote in message
> ...
> > > I just removed the green water from my 75 gallon, within 2 hours!
> > > I got a Vortex D-1 Diatom Filter! I lived with this green water for
> > > 4+ weeks, each week going to the LFS's, and asking for advise,
> > > only to have them each suggest and sell me something different.
> > > Anything from Algae Destroyer, to Phosguard (without first
> > > measuring my water to see if I have phosphates), hornswort,
> > > daily-20% water changes (which I think only further fed the algae
> > > with more phosphates), and possibly a reverse-osmosis water filter.
> >
> > Well, you're cleaning up the symptom rather than curing the problem,
> but
> > I'll admit that
> > getting rid of suspended algae using diatom filtration helps keep the
> tank
> > looking
> > good while finding the root cause of the algal bloom.
> >
> >
> > Graham.
>
> While I agree 100% with what Graham is saying in principle (treating
> symptoms instead of root cause), in the case of algae blooms, sometimes
> the cause has long come & gone, and the bloom is self-perpetuating until
> it can be eradicated once. If the root cause is still there, they will
> be filtering again in a few weeks, but as often as not, the diatomite is
> so efficient that one or two treatments cures the problem for a long time
> (just my limited observations).
>
> NetMax (who is on day 2 of an imposed black-out to combat an algae bloom)
>
>

[TZ]

I'm hypothising that the problem is too many phosphates in my
source water, and by doing a diatom filtration after the initial
algae bloom, that the algae's have absorbed the most of the excess
phosphates, which is what caused them to bloom in the first place.

TZ


> > Well, you're cleaning up the symptom rather than curing the problem,
> but
> > I'll admit that
> > getting rid of suspended algae using diatom filtration helps keep the
> tank
> > looking
> > good while finding the root cause of the algal bloom.
> >
> >
> > Graham.
>
> While I agree 100% with what Graham is saying in principle (treating
> symptoms instead of root cause), in the case of algae blooms, sometimes
> the cause has long come & gone, and the bloom is self-perpetuating until
> it can be eradicated once. If the root cause is still there, they will
> be filtering again in a few weeks, but as often as not, the diatomite is
> so efficient that one or two treatments cures the problem for a long time
> (just my limited observations).
>
> NetMax (who is on day 2 of an imposed black-out to combat an algae bloom)
>
>