[Edward]

The aquariums are fully planted and properly fertilized.

Edward

 

[MatPat]

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

Hey Edward,

I noticed you tried the aspirin and it didn't work. I had also tried it in a 10g tank I had on my deck and it was unseccessful. I first used 162.5 mg followed by 325mg the next day. The water seemed better but it was hard to tell without a control tank.

I have been attempting to grow two more cultures of green water outside and have been unsuccessful due to the cold weather (40's at night) and have assumed the cold was keeping the GW from establishing.

I am going to attempt the GW again this weekend. I will probably add more than one 325mg tablet per day since one tablet had no efffect on my tank or yours. If I remember correctly, one 325mg tablet only adds about 8ppm of ASA to the tank (bare bottom 10g). Feel free to check my math on the PPM dosage...

What affect do you think heat would have on your 10g tanks in the sunroom? They would not be as stable temperature wise as the 50g.

 

[Edward]

What affect do you think heat would have on your 10g tanks in the sunroom? They would not be as stable temperature wise as the 50g.

You are right. The smaller 10 gallon aquariums are significantly warmer. Also the sun angle and spectrum plays a role.
I know people trying to get green water without success. It's hard if conditions are not right. Maybe we should try growing algae instead of plants to learn what they like the most and then build our strategy against them. What do you think?

Edward

 

[MatPat]

I know people trying to get green water without success. It's hard if conditions are not right. Maybe we should try growing algae instead of plants to learn what they like the most and then build our strategy against them. What do you think?

I agree whole heartedly

I never have trouble growing green water in my plant tanks. Any major substrate disturbance, such as uprooting a large crypt, and not doing a water change almost always leads to green water in my plant tanks.

 

[Oleg]

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

Hi Edward,

Let us together find the cause of GW in your 10G tank. And if the tree is able to remove the cause.

Problem:
a constant GW for years

What we know:
Volume: 10G
Light: natural sunlight

Some more info required:
fish load and feeding, type of food and amount
plants load
fertilization (yes/no, what exactly)
- CO2 (yes/no, ppm)
water changes (%, how often)
substrate
About substrate. I have a feeling that this might be the most important thing in your case. What do you use? How often do you clean it if ever? How thick is the layer(s)?
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate level - would be nice to know too.

 

[Oleg]

...I noticed you tried the aspirin and it didn't work. I had also tried it in a 10g tank I had on my deck and it was unseccessful...

This is an interesting experiment but... again.. the aspirin will not remove the cause of GW.

 

[Edward]

Hi Edward,

Let us together find the cause of GW in your 10G tank. And if the tree is able to remove the cause.

Problem:
a constant GW for years

What we know:
Volume: 10gall
Light: natural sunlight with 10 hours of 40W PC in reflector

Some more info required:
fish load and feeding, type of food and amount
plants load
no fish
100% planted
fertilization (yes/no, what exactly) all known variations
- CO2 (yes/no, ppm) yes, 20 ppm pressurized
water changes (%, how often) 100%, 50% or no WC made no difference
substrate inert old or inert new or with peat made no difference
About substrate. I have a feeling that this might be the most important thing in your case. What do you use? How often do you clean it if ever? How thick is the layer(s)? two inch total
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate level - would be nice to know too. ammonia and nitrite never seen in planted tank, NO3 from zero to 20 ppm, PO4 from zero to 1.5 ppm made no difference

Too many combinations to list.

Access to sunlight is the most powerful aspect for plants and algae to react. The angle, duration and spectrum with temperature can trigger growth not expected to happen under artificial light fixtures. The GW is mostly visible at seasonal changes.

The answer to this experiment is the lighting period as per the poll.

Thank you
Edward

 

[Oleg]

Too many combinations to list.

Access to sunlight is the most powerful aspect for plants and algae to react. The angle, duration and spectrum with temperature can trigger growth not expected to happen under artificial light fixtures. The GW is mostly visible at seasonal changes.

The answer to this experiment is the lighting period as per the poll.

Thank you
Edward

Edward, with all my respect, we are talking here about why the willow didn't help you in one particular tank. You sure haven't tried all these combinations during the "willow treatment".

 

[tivaj]

Blackout leaves your plants weak and green water may comeback. That is what happened to me. However I dealt with it differently.
I emptied about 80% of the water and than added about only 20% back (you have now about 40%) and created surface agitation using an internal filter. the next day I took out half of the water (50% of the 40%) and I filled the aquarium back to the 40% level. repeat this once/twice and than fill your tank back to full level. you will have a crystal clear water and your plants will not suffer. I have used this method more thank once in different tanks and it worked great

Regds

 

[houseofcards]

I was using the willow method for about a month. It took about 2 weeks to get good root development. My water did clear eventually, but I don't know if it was the willow branches or the fact that my plant mass finally increased enough to eliminate the green water. My tank was only about 20 days old when I got the GW. I removed the willow branches about 3 weeks ago and have not had green water since. My best guess is that the willow branches suck up alot of waste, but I don't know if that's any diffferent than throwing a bunch of weeds in your tank.

 

[jrtiberius]

I was wondering if this method would work with other plants, perhaps interjecting the roots of a water lilly... Hmmm?

 

[fishnutnut]

I was wondering if this method would work with other plants, perhaps interjecting the roots of a water lilly... Hmmm?

I've read through this entire thread and have had the same thought having used devils ivy to soak up nitrates in a fish only tank imo i think using any plant thats capable of devloping large roots in water would do the trick such as bamboo and pussywillows both readily available at local greenhouses and would be a easier to find for those of you that do not have willow trees in your local

I am going to try this as an experiment also in a bit just in the middle of clearing up my tanks with a uv light so i need to intoduce gw to another setup

 

[xinnix]

willow branches and G.W.

Did the willow branches have any bad effect on any of the fish? I have tried diatom filters and have not had god results. I have access to willow trees and was wondering how many branches to put in a 125 gallon tank. It is March here in upstate NY so the trees are dormant. Will they start rooting once they warm up and have thelight from the tank? Is there any special way the branches should be cleaned before adding them to the tank. I have read good and bad results here. Do you feel this is the answer to clearing the Green water? Thanks

 

[Oleg]

Did the willow branches have any bad effect on any of the fish?

I haven't noticed anything bad on any of my fish, shrimps and snails.

I have access to willow trees and was wondering how many branches to put in a 125 gallon tank. It is March here in upstate NY so the trees are dormant. Will they start rooting once they warm up and have thelight from the tank?

I would try 5-10. They will root. Please read what branches should be used.

Is there any special way the branches should be cleaned before adding them to the tank.

I just rinse them.

Do you feel this is the answer to clearing the Green water? Thanks

This is what I did few times and I know it worked for me. I cannot say for other people as I cannot control how they do it. If they don't follow the same scheme as I did I cannot guarantee the result And if you read the thread carefully you will see that some people don't really want to understand why this did not work for them but simply deny the method.

Good luck and please keep us updated. Pictures would especially helpful.

 

[fisherelli]

I tried willow branches, rinsed in old tank water. Tried 4 branches in a 100L tank for 2 weeks, but it did not work for me. They grew roots within 4 days or so. I used weeping willow branches - maybe this is the wrong type? I will be getting a uv filter once I have a canister filter up and running.

 

[JerseyScape]

I stirred up my substrate about two weeks ago and I am unable to shake the green water. There is no other algae in the tank what so ever except the water itself

I went to my local park and ripped off a few branches from a Weeping Willow tree to see what happens. The other day the tank was blacked out and nothing has changed except my plants withered away (it was blacked out for 4 days). Well, today I put in a few branches just to see if this method works and will report back to you. Since I live in a cold climate that might affect the tree somewhat because they are in hybernation mode for the winter right now.

Here are a few pics and I'll update if anything changes.

******** 3/3/06 ********

 

[snoopfish]

Such a great thread, I have spent the last half hour reading through most of the posts. I too stirred up my substrate a couple of weeks ago (by removing a couple of plants) and this last week had an issue with the beginnings of green water. In my tank, it just looked like a white haze. Last night I used my Magnum 250 with some diatom powder in it. I let it run for about 3 or 4 hours. When I opened up the filter to clean it out, it was definately algae inside. I am going to continue to feed my plants and try to replace the ones that were removed. I will keep you posted on my results, as I don't expect that I am free and clear of my GW just yet. It can't be that easy to get rid of !!

 

[taekwondodo]

Good thread!

I have had only minor issues on my 55G - but spring is coming and my 4Kgal koi pond is already a muddy green/brown and I have a willow in my yard (suckers 7 years old and 2' around and 50' high already and starting to wrek my yard).

Every year I go through GW with the pond - have to run UV and AlgaeFix the Cr## out of it.

This could be good - I'll put several branches in the pond and see what happens as spring progresses.

Thanks for the idea.

- Jeff

 

[DelawareJim]

Barley straw works to clear up green water too. The pond crowd has been using it successfully for several years now.

So for those who can't find willow branches, trot on down to your local garden center that also sells pond supplies and they should have barley straw available in a variety of sized containers.

Cheers.
Jim

 

[taekwondodo]

I've used barley straw a couple of times and:

1) It takes a lot of barley straw for a 4.5KG Pond, and
2) I never did get any noticeable results...

- Jeff