[houseofcards]

Hi Oleg,

Roots started appearing in about 8 days. Here's a pic of Day 10. Haven't seen any effect on water clarity yet. My water seems to get greener as the day continues.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/480220988yzDKcY

 

[Oleg]

Hi Oleg,

Roots started appearing in about 8 days. Here's a pic of Day 10. Haven't seen any effect on water clarity yet. My water seems to get greener as the day continues.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/480220988yzDKcY

Hi houseofcards,
The branches look exactly as mine.
At this point the excess of nutrients should be removed and the water should be clear already. Something is not right here. Maybe three branches are not enough for your 75G or it'll take longer to clear. Maybe you should stop adding NO3 for few days.
Please don't remove the willow from your tank yet. I am sure it will bit your green water. See the swo21259's post above; it took him 14 days.
Oleg

 

[houseofcards]

Hi Oleg, maybe I spoke to soon. The water is looking clear this morning. The big test will be by days end, because my water has been getting a green haze to it by evening, I even dosed po4 and no3 this morning. Just for the record the branches that are rooting were fresh branches right off the tree and were cut from both ends. The lighting on the tank is a hood light and is below the top of the branches which are sticking out of the top of my tank.

 

[Oleg]

Hi Oleg, maybe I spoke to soon. The water is looking clear this morning. The big test will be by days end, because my water has been getting a green haze to it by evening, I even dosed po4 and no3 this morning. Just for the record the branches that are rooting were fresh branches right off the tree and were cut from both ends. The lighting on the tank is a hood light and is below the top of the branches which are sticking out of the top of my tank.

Glad to hear that! I wouldn't add NO3 yet though.
Keep us updated.

 

[houseofcards]

Well the water got a little hazy toward evening, but not as bed as it has been. What in your opinon is the connection with the no3. I basically subscribe to the EI method and didn't thing the no3 was an issue.

 

[Oleg]

Well the water got a little hazy toward evening, but not as bed as it has been. What in your opinon is the connection with the no3. I basically subscribe to the EI method and didn't thing the no3 was an issue.

Connection with NO3 - just my experience. I think once GW got established it feeds up on NO3. I would stop adding NO3 until GW ALMOST disappear. I am saying ALMOST because if GW is digressing then it has no food and it is time to feed plants.
But this is just my experience. Tom Barr probably would say add a lot of NO3 and CO2.

 

[MatPat]

What in your opinon is the connection with the no3. I basically subscribe to the EI method and didn't thing the no3 was an issue.

The Green Water and other types of algae, will feed off of fertilizers just like the plants. While stopping ferts may stop the gren water, it will probably also stop plant growth and lead to other types of algae growth. GW can be induced by NH4 (ammonium). Once established, it hangs on for a while. To remove it you can:

1) use a diatom filter - Costs $ unless you have a filter
2) blackout the tank for 3 days - do a search on blackouts for specific directions - Blackouts are free!
3) UV filter the tank - $ issue again
4) try the Willow method suggested in this thread- free if you have access to willow branches and if you can get it to work

 

[houseofcards]

Thanks for all the good info. The blackout was my next option. Over the last day my GW has definitely gotten much better and the roots (see pic) have gotten on the willow branches. I've continued to dose no3 and po4 but on the bottom end of the EI scale. I had been using P-Clear (Hagen) to clear GW, but it only lasted a few hours and was cloudy again, so obviously the GW is still being feed.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/481193347WgNNkJ

 

[houseofcards]

Well I finally made it through the day without any haziness and without adding anything to the water. It's tough to completely credit the willow branches, could be that the growth in plants gave the GW a knockout punch, (tank is 3 1/2 weekk old) but I must admit it did coincede with the large root development on the willow branches over the last few days.

BTW - I continued to dose no3 and po4. The water right now is crystal clear.

 

[Oleg]

Well I finally made it through the day without any haziness and without adding anything to the water. It's tough to completely credit the willow branches, could be that the growth in plants gave the GW a knockout punch, (tank is 3 1/2 weekk old) but I must admit it did coincede with the large root development on the willow branches over the last few days.

BTW - I continued to dose no3 and po4. The water right now is crystal clear.

Congrats!

 

[houseofcards]

Oleg, well thanks for starting this thread. I'm afraid to take the branches out. Do you remove branches or have you kept a few in after the GW cleared.

 

[Edward]

Hi

The magic word is NOT Willow for me.
I have 4 identical 10 gallon aquariums in a sunny room with green water. In one as an experiment I placed a bunch of willow branches. They have developed roots and been there for 4 weeks. The green water has NOT changed. Why?

Edward

 

[houseofcards]

Edward,
Well that is interesting. Are there only willow branches in the tank and nothing else? Is it possible that the willow branches land a hand to their aquatic plant cousins by sucking up enough to get rid of the GW, but on their own it's not enough. Maybe the plant mass in my tank was going to clear the GW eventually anyway. I simply don't know and I guess more controlled experiements would be necessary.

 

[Oleg]

Hi

The magic word is NOT Willow for me.
I have 4 identical 10 gallon aquariums in a sunny room with green water. In one as an experiment I placed a bunch of willow branches. They have developed roots and been there for 4 weeks. The green water has NOT changed. Why?

Edward

The magic word is NOT Willow for me. -
Thank you Edward for the experiment!
You probably continued feeding your GW with nitrogen, didn't you?
If you'll give enough food for both GW and willow, they both will be living in your tank.
If you stop adding your ferts the GW will die much faster than willow.
Or maybe it depends HOW MUCH NO3 we are adding. It would be interesting to try two tanks with GW and willow, first - adding NO3 as usual, second - limiting or discontinuing NO3.

 

[Edward]

Hi houseofcards and Oleg
You want me to starve the algae? We can try that, but what about the plants? The aquariums are fully planted and without proper water column fertilization the plants will die. Is this the plan?

Edward

 

[Oleg]

Hi houseofcards and Oleg
You want me to starve the algae? We can try that, but what about the plants? The aquariums are fully planted and without proper water column fertilization the plants will die. Is this the plan?
Edward

Hi Edward,
I hope your GW will die much faster than plants and you then happily continue your proper water column fertilization
Best wishes,
Oleg

 

[Edward]

Hi Oleg
My 13 aquariums run 4 UV sterilizers over here so it’s not a problem getting rid of the green water in few hours. I perform experiments on purpose so we can help members who do not have access to the UV sterilizers.

Edward

 

[Oleg]

Hi Oleg
My 13 aquariums run 4 UV sterilizers over here so it's not a problem getting rid of the green water in few hours. I perform experiments on purpose so we can help members who do not have access to the UV sterilizers.

Edward

I know, Edward, you are doing a very good thing. I just answered you the same way as you ask the question.
If you truly want to understand why willow didn't work in your specific case then please describe your 10G tank in details and we will think together. But be open to learn not only teach.
Regards,
Oleg

 

[Edward]

Hi Oleg
It’s quite interesting. We have in this direct sunlight room four 10 gallon aquariums and one 50 gallon. The 50 gallon aquarium doesn’t get green water, but the other aquariums do. This goes on for years. I was hoping the willow does the trick because it is so simple. I even tried the Aspirin as mentioned above, one tablet a day – didn’t kill the green water.

I will keep the willow there so we can see how it goes.

Thank you
Edward

 

[houseofcards]

Edward

I don't thing you read my replys.

BTW - I continued to dose no3 and po4. The water right now is crystal clear.

I never stopped dosing no3 and po4. I believe the branches assist with "sucking up" enough nutrients to tip the scales in favor of the plants.