"Craig Brye" wrote in message ...
I'm just wondering what the consensus on what the cause of green water
is now a days?

I've heard everything from too much Fe, too much Nitrates, too much NH4,
etc. I don't have green water currently, but I did get it a lot when I
first got into plants a few years ago. I really struggled back then to
cure it.

Just curious as to what people think the cause is.

NH4+ .......plain and simple when combined with higher light/CO2.

You can induce it and kill it and then repeat this many times if you
wish.
I used both bioload and also NH4 inorganic sources such as NH4Cl,
(NH4)2SO4 to check. A UV was used to kill the blooms and start again.

It's always there, it's just waiting for the right conditions, namely
NH4 and high light.

Blackout will kill mild lower light cases, but at high PC lighting, it
will hang on for months.
Daphnia, Diatom filters, UV's , mechnical methods of removal(micron
filters~5microns) are effective.


FYI: Fe, NO3, PO4 have never been shown to induce GW.
I've added these to rather high levels annd many do today and have no
green water inducement or any algae responses.

If you keep the other variables constant, then you can see what really
cuases GW by trying out each one at a time.


Regards,
Tom Barr