dwalstad

The soil probably contained a starter culture of algae and fertilizers.

If the plants are doing okay, I wouldn't get too concerned. It won't hurt the fish. Water changes at this stage probably aren't going to help. It seems to me like they only stimulate this algae.

I think your idea to add floating plants is a good one. Make sure you have enough lighting for the floating plants. If you have a filter or pump, I would try turning it off.

I know its frustrating to wait it out. My 45 gal had it for a couple months (soil was heavily fertilized). Then the floating plants kicked in and the algae just disappeared overnight-- never to return. The tank did very well for the next 7 years.

davemonkey

dwalstad, you always know exactly what to say to soothe my spirits.

I do in fact have a filter running (no media, just water flow) so I will disconnect, stock up on floaters, and wait it out.

The nice thing is that the plants do look REALLY good in there. My high tech tank is going through some issues right now and those plants look HORRID. Could be the start of a new NPT in my house. Hmmm...maybe not quite yet, but it's certainly on my mind.

-Dave

DataGuru

that's a heavy fish load--plenty of ammonia for the algae to eat.

To clear it fast use a UV.
Daphnia in a breeder net should also work.
Floaters to cut down on the light and help suck up nutrients should also help.

Alex123

Of all the algaes, I will say I am now an expert at dealing with green water and fixing it in matters of hours. You can't water change it away. There is an imbalance somewhere, so water change just have it grow back. You can't black out it away. It killed my shrimps and weakens the plants. It's a lot of trouble and you wait days. So what's the remedy? UV and diatom filter would work but expensive. I created a home made filter that can be made in 5 minutes and clear water in a few hours. No need to wait weeks or months to clear. Basic idea is to run the water through you old worn sock or new sock for that matter. I posted detailed instruction in the algae section of the forum.
Once you cleared the water, adding floater and more plants will change the imbalance and fix the problem you have.

gr8nguyen1

i'm curios...some posts suggests that we turn off the HOB. can anyone tell me why. i thought activated carbon filters would decrease excess nutrients? how can they be responsible for algae outbreaks