green algae problems

[willy]

my 75 g tank is finally set up. I set up a pressurized co2 system, adding 2 bubbles/second, and have 240 watts of 6700k light. Like biotypycal warned me in an earlier posting, Im having a lot of problems with algae. Its the hairy type, hangs like curtains and i have to remove as much i can manually, also, doing daily water changes of 15/20%. I had to remove some floating plants i had, since they were totally invaded, tank has been set up for 4 weeks, I have 6 4inch discus , some cardinals and some apparently very lazy ottocinclus, though I know I would need 100 of these guys to remove the stuff in there... Yesterday I removed 110 watts of light, the floating plants, along with some algae, and hope things will get better..what else can I do? I am fertilizing with leaf zone, have some java ferns, some amazons, some watewr sprite, vallisnerias and anubias, and ludwigas, tank is heavily planted and, if it weren't for the algae, it would look like a dreamtank... substrate is flourite red, which really gave me some troubles in regards to cloudiness, had to completelly reassemble, filtration is a fluval 404 canister. Ph 6.8, temp 83

thanks for the help

[Brian-pdx]

I'm in the same boat to a lesser extent at 7 weeks on. Two suggestions that have helped me are to split the light timer during the day, so that the plants get 10-12 hours, but a 2-3 hour siesta in the middle. The algae is more responsive to long periods, and it doesn't hurt the plants. The other is to keep the nitrates below 12. A little difficult to tell, as the lowest mark on my test is 20, but I go for pale pink or do a water change. This is slowing what I have, and the cleanup crew is making some headway.
Keep us posted, as I'm not giving up, I've seen some of the algae-lite tank pictures here (see Chirohorns post!), and I'm determined to get there!

[chirohorn]

... and some apparently very lazy ottocinclus, though I know I would need 100 of these guys to remove the stuff in there...

I recommend some bristlenose plecos. They ate up all the algae (brown & green) off of the glass & plants in my 135 gallon w/in a matter of weeks. Previously tried ottos w/miserable results as they couldn't take the heat. At least yours are alive.

[Harriett]

I ran into the same problems when I set up my planted tank. The recommendations I got from my aquatic plant group that worked for me were NOT to fertilize for a while until things settled down and stabilized. New tanks are likely to cycle through some algae outbreaks and the extra nutrients ayou are adding are just more variables to contend with at this point. New tanks work better with a higher percentage of fast growing stem plants--they are nitrate eaters, leaving less for algae to feed on. They also told me to start out with 8-9 hours of light a day only and gradually increase over a period of months. That heklped--it was probably 4 months before I went to 11 hour light cycles. You can adjust the balance of fast and slow growers after the tank settles in in a few months. It's a trial and error thing--what grows best, where, etc. I tried SAEs, otos, etc. to get a handle on my new tank algae and the only guys that liked the kind you're describing were black balloon mollies, who ate it like spaghetti and cleared the tank of it in a few days. They are compatable with Discus.
HTH
Harriett

[ChloroPhil]

That's some good advice folks. Time for me to move on..my job here is done. :P

I've got a few ideas about what may be going on in there.

1. You need to be adding N,P, and K to your tank. Leafzone is a good Iron suppliment which also contains small amounts of Potassium (K). However it's not enough. Also, with the amount of water changes you're doing I doubt you've got enough Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Try cutting down to only 2 30% WC a week. That will help keep the N and P higher.

10-12ppm NO3 is a good target.


2. Do a blackout. Shut off all your lights and cover the tank for 4 days and see what happens. :) That green stringy stuff can't handle that treatment.

3. Mollies and Flag Fish are a good eater of that stuff. However, once they're done eating the algae they'll start eating your fine leaved plants. Unfortunately, Ottos and SAE aren't. If you can get them I would recommend Amano Shrimp above all else for filamentous green algae.

4. Try increasing your light back to what you had it before and increasing your CO2 output once you've got your Nitrates back up.

Are you using 2x65 and 2x55 fixtures? If you can, try using both of 65 and one 55. That's a good amount of light for starting.

5. What's your KH/pH? It looks as though your CO2 may be a mite low. I'm running 3-4 bubbles per second on a really efficient system on my 90g. Try the same on yours and see what happens. :)

Don't forget to increase your Nitrate and Potassium!

[Debbie]

Don't have anything to add, just all sounds like good advice. Listen to the above and algae should be gone (most of it).

[flogger426]

hi debbie,

if your using tap water it will be very difficult to get rid of all the algae.

most tap water is loaded with silicates and phosphates that are basically food for algae.

however the fact that your water supports green algae indicates your water supply is healthy.

the problem comes in when you're trying to keep an aesthetically pleasing show tank with plants, fish etc.

in my experience, dumping all kinds of stuff into the tank to "control" the algae only made things worse.

if your keeping soft water tropicals you'll need to purify your mains with di, ro or both and never use tap water when doing water changes. you'll also need to reconstitute the "pure water". some people use very small amounts of sea salt. when i kept reef aquaria i used instant ocean or reef crystals. both are now phosphate and silicate free.

i hope this might help.


john