How to get rid of cloudy water due to algae???
- Thread starter Kelly_Aquatics
- Start date
That light period is a perfect photoperiod/length for growing algae, because its very long.
Algae has the ability use unlimited photoperiods, higher plants can not.
If there are live plants, "half" that photoperiod might be sufficient.
If those plants aren't real, I would have the lights on a timer, to come on a short time before you view, and then times off while at work, or......
Lets say you feed in the morning before work, or school, have the lights come on a half hour before feeding , and go off when you leave.
If you watch them later in the day after work or school, have the lights come back on again just before, and off at the expected down time.
When in the states, in my tanks without plants, I didn't use lights at all, only ambient light.
Beyond light, 20 ppm nitrate is a great food source to grow algae, the lower the nitrate, the less chance of algae.
So if that tank was mine, beside the timers, I'd double up on frequency and volume of water changes, to dilute that rather sizable 20ppm algal food source.
Where I live now, I don't use any artificial lights, indirect eastern sun hits the tank in the early morning hits for a couple hours, it is then under the shade of a patio roof until about 3pm, when indirect light then enters from the opposite direction.
As you can see, even with plants, that 5 or 6 hours of light is plenty.
To begin to make a dent on the green water, i'd do some rather large (minimum 50%) water changes daily until it clears up, along with cutting back on light duration.
Algae has the ability use unlimited photoperiods, higher plants can not.
If there are live plants, "half" that photoperiod might be sufficient.
If those plants aren't real, I would have the lights on a timer, to come on a short time before you view, and then times off while at work, or......
Lets say you feed in the morning before work, or school, have the lights come on a half hour before feeding , and go off when you leave.
If you watch them later in the day after work or school, have the lights come back on again just before, and off at the expected down time.
When in the states, in my tanks without plants, I didn't use lights at all, only ambient light.
Beyond light, 20 ppm nitrate is a great food source to grow algae, the lower the nitrate, the less chance of algae.
So if that tank was mine, beside the timers, I'd double up on frequency and volume of water changes, to dilute that rather sizable 20ppm algal food source.
Where I live now, I don't use any artificial lights, indirect eastern sun hits the tank in the early morning hits for a couple hours, it is then under the shade of a patio roof until about 3pm, when indirect light then enters from the opposite direction.
As you can see, even with plants, that 5 or 6 hours of light is plenty.
To begin to make a dent on the green water, i'd do some rather large (minimum 50%) water changes daily until it clears up, along with cutting back on light duration.
duanes
Right now my nitrites are 5ppm and they rarely go over 10 ppm I did not mean my nitrates were 20ppm I just meant they never go over 20 the stocking is very minimal its a divided 75g with two 3-4 inch delhezi bichirs on one side and a 3 inch JD on the other I do weekly 50% water changes and more frequent smaller ones as I see fit
One thing to check, as I found out first hand.... make sure your filtration is actually functioning as it should.
