Experiment: Greenwater - 3 tank compare

Ag nee VIS.

Now look what you have done ... this is going to make me dump the current 3 tank compare and start a lets get green gold going.
Thanks for the link.

Thinking about it - adding fish should up the CO2 in the tank - but before I do that I need to go find my air pump and some stones to see how that helps the current mix. Do you think I can switch the air flow off at night?

Later F

 

Reading through that thread I had an idea come up.
Algae in some way is a plant right?

Growing plants out of clean water is near impossible that is why that guy
added a starter culture.
This might also be why Rudi's friend chicken poop work. Not the
ammonia or wee but that it for some reason contain a green water culture.

So your comparison test is still very relevant, just add a culture and see what happens then.

 

Ok makes sense .. I'll go look for something at the nursery - maybe one of those "organic" ferts ..

---------- Post added at 19:11 ---------- Previous post was at 19:11 ----------

Still think I need to add some water movement?

 

If my memory serves me correct which it could almost definately not do algae is not a plant but bacteria. Cyano bacteria if Im not mistaken that is why it can just appear in your tank with no source in other words no fertilized seeds blowing in or being deposited by other plants.

 

Seems your memory serves well

 

Algea are (generally) unicellular plants(Green water),sometimes known to associate with other algea cells to form structures - eg: hair algea - or in the case of cyanibacteria an algea cell and a bacterium living together in symbiosis....

Here's my take on the events of your tanks.....
- algea,as a lower plant form will only proliferate in a system where higher(Rooted,leafy plants or moss etc.) does not outcompete it for available nutrients...whatever that spesific nutrient may be...
- green water cultures are not just made up of free floating algea cells,but by a whole host of other Zooplankton as well that uses the algea as the basic buiding blocks in the aquatic food chain...
-some of these Zooplankton feed on the algea and can eventualy outcompete the ability of the algea to keep its levels up..population crash follows due to lack of fodsource...

PS: Algea proliferates in basicly 2 ways: By cellular devision or by releasing spores into the atmosphere...yip,EVERY breath you take is filled with algea spores...
So,dont just consider the algea in the green water,but the other micro fauna too - the levels of each will determine the GREEN in your green water....lol.

 

is it at all possible to move one of the tanks to outside for maybe 3 days? that is bound to get the green water going.

 

mydummyname - the tanks are permanently outside - that is how I go the first batch of fish water to turn so quickly on tank 3.
azurekoi - agree what we are seeing in tanks 3 is exactly that crash - good input thanks

Still keeping with the idea to not expose fish to the water - I've found myself with 10kg of chicken poop. Brand is avison product name enhancer ..
Product Analysis (Average) Nitrogen (N) 30g/kg Phosphorous (P) 14g/kg Potassium (K) 32g/kg Calsium (Ca) 29g/kg Magnesium (Mg) 8g/kg Manganese (Mn) 676mg/kg Iron (Fe) 1919mg/kg Copper (Cu) 91mg/kg Zinc (Zn) 562mg/kg Boron (B) 83mg/kg Ash 257g/kg Moisture 30g/kg Sulphur (S) 5g/kg pH 7.02

So I added 1 gram to each of the tanks - lets see if this helps to get things started. - Have not added the airstones yet.

Later Ferdie

 

I use chicken doo doo to start the green water process in my koi growing on dams...(bout half a million liters each) - bout 100kg mixed into the bentonite clay layer,water from the river and BOOM - week later I got pea soup - perfect for growing koi up in.......

 

If you really want green water. . . lose the plants . .

Their demand for nutrients from the plants and the high production of oxygen is killing your green.

I advise you to adjust the ph to around 9 and add a cheapo fert (usually junk that causes algae). Place the tanks where they can get at least 10 hours of light per day . .

Add fish to get rid of the oxygen and produce CO2 . .

TM

 

TM "Their demand for nutrients from the plants and the high production of oxygen is killing your green. " - Yeap I think that is what we have seen in tank 1 consistently no algae bloom.

Recall that I have no plants in Tanks 3 and even here the green passed as time went on - now I am looking at reviving it, but I am adding the same starter to each tank. Adding fish really is the last option.

What next if this does not work?

1) aeration
2) 50% water change (replace with another tanks fish water - unbloomed)
3) add fish

or something like that.

Later Ferdie

 

QED Ferdie....my "secret" green water recipe:

For tanks that size,boil up some banana skins(2 should suffice)in a pot with some lettuce leaves... Let cool... Add to a tank and introduce water from a tank or washings from a filter + a bit of chicken poop...leave in sun and voila!!!

 

Ok done - thanks azurekoi ... should this work I will have a started source to compare the 3 tank experiments with if they all crash.

This is the container that I had my green water in last year - all natural with guppies and no other filtration. I decided to put the stew in a net for easy removal if required.

Later Ferdie

 

I see the problem already . . .

The color of the tank affects the green . .

Clear or white . . or a light color that can REFLECT light . . .

Black is no good. . I tried it already . .

TM

 

Hey Ferdie.... no need to leave the boiled veggies in the system(will rot - you just want the water...).... Banana skins for potasium,letuce for a bit of iron and other trace elements...chicken poop for NPK... = Now you got your nutrients ...

Add a starter culture and soon = green water....(that's if the zooplnkton don't chow it to soon...lol)

PS: Dont think the colour of the container makes much of a differance....if black does not work - koi ponds would never go green and I wouldn't make any money off selling U.V's or algeacide...

 

Well the speed in which the culture blooms is decreased as there is only limited light passing through the water. If it where clear, you would get light coming in from all angles .. . . increased light = increased green .. .

TM

 

Sorry TM....might have a small influence,but then koi ponds wouldnt go green if that where the case... and green they do go...pea soup green....

Light (IMHO) is not the most important factor in the algea cycle.... nutrient load,starter culture and age of culture seems to be more important... have seen indoor aquariums go "green" with very bad lighting...that is one of the fascinating things about algea....millions of species that will adapt to many ecological niches....

 

Thanks guys good input - removed all the stater from the water .. and embarked on the next experiment. took some of the water from the black container and will leave it in the clear container. One thing that could play a role is the water in the black container will be much warmer for longer than the clear - due to colour and container size.

BTW this water was clear so current tone is from mix and 1 day in the sun.



Might just be my imagination but I think the chicken addatives have helped tanks 3 and 2 - not thick peas soup but a darker green.



BTW anybody have any idea how to do good water colour photography? I was thinking of making a contraption with a strip light source below sample bottles and then doing a raw photo with no flash using a while background. Any other ideas? Need to go google chromology ..

Later Ferdie

 

If you want to do that. . .its simple. .

Cover the back of the tanks with white paper . . .then get a study lamp or LED torch and shine light from behind. . .this is called back lighting.

Keep in mind that your exposure will have to be long when using constant lighting rather than flash.

Similar principle with glassware photography . .

See here . .



If you don't have an SLR . . you might have problems. Try a longer exposure mode such as night mode. Tripod is essential . .

Hope this helps

You will have to take these photos in a room at night or in a reasonably dark room during the day. This will prevent your camera taking ambient light readings and messing up your exposure.

TM

 

Nice - thanks TM ...

So the idea is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQBVSGBBiNk

Go to try and build a "box" version with an old olympus I have - busy charging the battery.

Later F