Green Water Column

[Delphinus]

I'm going to offer a slightly dissenting opinion (but I don't want to touch the "sexual expert" comment though ...)

Macroalgae sporalation ("going sexual") is OBVIOUS. Unless you have a tiny little bit go on you, your tank will look like you've dumped a 2 litre jug of milk in it. And you will notice a white or clear empty shell of the sprigs who went on you. If this is what's happened, nothing more than a cursory look-over should be enough for you to confirm your suspicion.

My water always has a little greenish tint to it. Running carbon does help (but I don't like to run carbon myself, unless it's a band-aid knee-jerk reaction on my part to something that's happened in the tank -- reason being, it's stripping stuff out, right? What if it's some kind of phytoplankton? In that case, I WANT it in my tank!). Running a polyfilter aka "filter floss" also does help (but I don't like running those full-time either, for the same reasons).

Personally, I think as the biodiversity grows, the greenish tint subdues to the point where you don't really notice it anymore. But that's just IMHO.

PS. It could also be a function of what lights you run. Some lights are better (or worse, shall I say) than others for highlighting a greenish tint to the water column. This is, IMO, one of the reasons why I think blue lights such as actinics or the high-K MH bulbs, are quite popular, because they help the colour contrast of other things in the tank, and thus make it easier to not notice a tiny hint of green in the water column. So, really, it all comes down to this: GIT YOUR IWASAKIS ON THAT TANK ALREADY!!!

(PPS. Speaking of which, did you notice the Iwasaki for sale in Calgary, in the buy/sell forum a couple of days ago? That one has your name written all over it dude!)

[ 12 June 2002, 11:02: Message edited by: delphinus ]