Hi, this is an interesting topic to me as I currently have the same
problem with my 38 gallon tank - set up last summer. The green water
problem was intermittent until recently when I added another 55 watts
of light. Now the tank is constantly "greening" up on me. I have
planted a ton of stem plants... but until they grow up I think the
problem will persist. I "diatom" the tank when it gets really bad.

I seem to get an algae bloom whenever I mess with the tank by planting
new plants. Last weekend I moved some plants around and planted some
more stem plants and BOOM ...algae bloom. I attribute it (may not be
correct) to uprooting some Jobe plant spikes I initially put in the
tank. Also I get a bloom whenever I add plant food to the water
column.

What is the connection between an overstocked tank and green water?
(Leigh's post earlier in thread). My tank is overstocked, I think. I
am hoping the additional fish will increase my nitrates, which are
very low (but ammonia and nitrites are zero, so I think the tank is
fully cycled). I think the reason the nitrates are so low is that I
have been doing frequent water changes (about 1/3 of the tank) every
week. This is because the tank is a tall..and I can't reach the
bottom of it unless I dump 1/3 of the water out...and I have been
putting in a lot of plants the last few months. Now the tank is
pretty fully planted - just waiting for the stem plants to grow and
the green to clear.

If anyone from the Bay Area (Calif) is interested in going in on some
Daphnia together please e-mail me.

Cindy