I have a ten gallon tank that got green water after a battle with ick. I lived with it for a few weeks, trying water changes and willow substitutes. After a three day blackout, followed by a week with real willow stems and big water changes, it cleared beautifully. About three weeks later, I added CO2 (I was using Excel only before). A week ago I resumed ferts (adding anything except Excel seemed to make the previous green water worse) using Kent Fresh plant 2 mil twice a week, and 1 mil of Flourish iron every other day. It was also a warmer week than usual, the house was between 80 and 84 degrees. I keep the kitchen blinds closed around the summer solstice because the sun sneaks in and hits the tank, but it is past it now so I left them open this last week. (No sun anyway because of all this #@$& smoke.) Light remained 2x24 T5 suspended above. Oh, and I changed the filter last week (every four weeks). So two days ago it doesn't look sparkling, yesterday was definitely not clear, and today is a little worse, even after a 50% water change this morning. I have had willow in for two days. Nitrate is zero as always. (Is that OK?)
What happened? And what can I do? If I do a blackout, can it be shorter since the problem is not as bad, or must it be three days? Will this tank always be prone to this? Ideas? Guesses?
What happened? And what can I do? If I do a blackout, can it be shorter since the problem is not as bad, or must it be three days? Will this tank always be prone to this? Ideas? Guesses?