"Alex" wrote in message ...
To all of you experts out the

Recently change the light on my 29 G tank from 2x40 wt to 55 wt from Ah
supply
add more plants and fish in about a week water start turning green.
My water have 0 ammonia, nitrates about 15
wary soft and sudden change in Ph from usual 6.5 to 7.3 .Just before lights
change did about 30% water change and add a florapride
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Alex

Well I can give several methods, all have worked for me. I use green
water for a number of culture expreiments therefore I need to induce
it. This is done by adding a small amount of NH4+, ammonium. Small
trace amounts produced by critters/fish etc are typically not enough
to cause a bloom unless you really disturb the tank, shut off the CO2,
anything that slows the normal uptake by the plants or conversion to
NH4+=NO2=NO3,

Most every occurance can be traces to something that added NH4 to the
water column.

Method #1 Blackout, sometimes doesn't work if nutrients/CO2 are not
corrected, light is allowed in during the period.

Method #2 UV sterilizer. Simple effective and always works, down side
is the cost.
Method #3 Diatom or mechanical filtration. A diatom filter can be used
and is always effective. Magnum diatom filter cartiages can be used
also.
Adding "dirt", detritus to the intake and or a flocculant to clog up
the pores
in the filter material will help remove the algae.

The algae are motile, around 2-3 microns in diameter. So the
filtration method needs to be in this size range. Generally as a
filter clogs, it becomes better at removal but you don't want it to
clog completely so make sure to clean it if clogs.
You can do this method with tightly packed filter floss, polyester
batting etc also. It takes awhile for the floss to clog up enough to
become effective.
The flocculant clogs the filter pore sizes allowing the algae to be
filtered out. The flocculant does not cause the algae itself to
coagulate into large particles.

Method # 4 Daphnia These are very effective if given enough time.
Rotifers also will work but Caldocerans(Daphnia) are better. Down side
is that fish like to eat them.

Method #5
Snake oils. Algal cures alls.
Never met one that worked in controlled plant tanks.

Make sure in the future you have enough biological media in the
filter, have a moderate fish load, don't over feed too much, have good
CO2, NO3, PO4, K, trace levels in your tank. When you do a big
trim/hack do a water change within about ~6 hours or right after. This
will remove all the NH4, algae that's been trimmed out and organic
mulm.

You added a great deal more light and pH increase was due in part to
the added plants and the added light. The plants use CO2 and if you
don't add CO2, the pH will go up during the day.

You will want to look into CO2 and DIY is fine for your sized tank.
You can look on a number of sites for dosing routines for your tank.
Adding CO2 will greatly help if you do not add it. The next items are
KNO3, K23SO4 and KH2PO4. The Florapride is the trace, the other three
I mention are the macro nutrients. You can get these from
www.litemanu.com for a few $ and they last for a few years.

Generally, folks have GW issues when they add more lighting, have a
new tank or do a major upheavel of some sort, pull up a jobe's stick
from their gravel.

You can do a number of searches for Green water on the APD, here,
various other forums. Might help you get more of a consensus. It is
particularly stubborn and you cannot water change it away. Once
inoculated, it'll hang on for dear life until removed mechanically or
killed/eaten. It does little harm to the plants though so I like to
use it as a guinea pig and it only takes about a few hours of UV or
diatom/micron filtration to remove it.

Regards,
Tom Barr