# Green water & lighting



## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

So, I've been battling the algae green water for the last 2 weeks. I've tried:

cutting back lighting, both amount of lighting and how long it's on, 
cut back feeding, 
tried adding clear fast(?), 
did 3 x 50% water changes in a 6 day period...and the water is still green. 

last water test two days ago, Nitrates read 8ppm. The tank does not get any direct sunlight. I do not run CO2 currently

Since throwing the tank out of the window is not really an option...is there something I'm missing? I've added some Clear Max filter media to my canister filter.

Is a UV sterilizer the next option? I was holding out, not wanting to spend the cash, as I've still got my big 110 sitting empty...

Last question - how much can I cut back the lighting before the plants start to suffer?

HELP!!! I've never liked pea soup!!!!!


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Over time, many large frequent wcs will probably help, with a reduction of the lighting period, along with some Excel dosing ; or a complete black out of the tank for several days may do the job - but the latter is not an option if you're keeping plants & want to keep them.
The sure answer is a UV Sterilizer - 48 hours of running UV & you're completely free of green water !
Borrow one for a couple of days if you have a friend who has one.


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

Gave in and purchased a UV sterilizer. Tank is pretty again. <relieved sigh>

Took the UV off now just to monitor it so see if it comes back.


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Unless you have identified and remedied the root cause, it will likely return at some point. (Maybe sooner than you think)
I run a UV Sterilizer, on & off, but at times continously for weeks on end - and that, along with large,frequent wcs, the use of prefilters, filter floss, and Purigen - keeps my tank crystal clear 95% of the time. When I rinse out the prefilters with each WC - mainly just every 3 days apart - I'm constantly amazed at how much green/beigy brown crap I need to rinse out of each prefilter for several long minutes to completely clean them up.


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## hdrob (Dec 6, 2010)

I was in the same boat as you about 2 months ago on my 90g. Nothing I could do would get rid of the pea soup. It was horrible. I bought a UV sterilizer and within 5 days the water was crystal clear. Its been off the 90g for about 2 weeks and the water is still clear. I have a 180g that I keep the sterilizer on just for preventative measures.

I'm waiting for pea soup to start showing signs again before I switch it back to the 90g. 

just my 2 cents!


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