Algea Problem

[peteypob]

Hi everyone,

I am not a pro at taking pictures nor can I afford a digital camera right now, so I resorted to my phone! I tried to take some pictures of the different algea growing on my plants.PROBLEM 1: On the chain swords its on the leaves and every since I have put them in the tank they started thining out. By this I mean a few leaves turn brown then slowly fall off. A few manage to survive but they are not too bushes and dont see any new growth. Although they have sent out runners.
PROBLEM 2: On my java laces I am in a constant battle with the brown brush algea and some thick green algea on some leaves( mainly those closest to the light). I siphon it of verry easily.

I have a 55gal, Co2 injection, eco-complete gravel, Coral life freshwater light 130wtts(2-65wtts compact bulbs)6700.
I add fourish & flourish iron every water change, also Pottassium from greg watson
Water changes have been bumped up to every other day @ 50%

Water parameters: pH 7.3-7.5, nitrate 0, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, havent checked my kh yet.

Thanks for the help!!!

Pete

[peteypob]

chain swords

[peteypob]

SO SORRY THESE PIC ARE REALLY SMALL!cant figure out how to make them bigger.

[Howie_W]

Hi Pete,

With a healthy substrate, I don't think it's necessary to be adding that much flourish to your water column...you're actually encouraging algae growth.

I've always kept a mix of ancistrus and otocinclus in my planted tanks, and as a result never have a problem with algae.


HTH


Howie

[peteypob]

Hi Howie,

Advice taken! Ill put a stop to the flourish and see what happens. Thnaks!
Pete

[Rhinoboy38]

ok try this too. get a SMALL pleco. people may say it will work and it wont but the small ones are more active, have bigger appitites and cause of there size can feed off the algea on plants without much harm to the plant. about a month ago i had the same problem and with that little pleco alot has changed. plus there cheap too. oh ya keep your eye on the filter parts. sometimes they get clogged with the stuff and the filtration is slowed. ( that leads to ammonia and nitrites not being removed which feel the algea.)

i know what your going through i had the same problem a month ago. algea can be @$&#@. but once i got rid of it my plants really started to florish and became a nice dark green. but becare full cause some of the plecos can bother the discus esp when they get older.

[peteypob]

Hi rhinoboy,

I have a bristlenose in there right now and he does a somewhat ok job but mainly sticks to the driftwood. I have added more ottos to my tank but have to keep an eye out becuase I have noticed that they get confussed on what to eat and they try to grab my discus. Are you suggesting just the regular plecos?

[Rhinoboy38]

ok the driftwood may be a problem too. i had 2 pieces during my algea problem and i noticed that one of them would have algea growing from it and the other one was plain. why dont you try pulling them out and letting them dry and stuff while you figure out the algea problem

[Mordrake]

from your ph readings, i'm pretty sure your co2 level is inadequate.
how are you injecting your co2 into the water? diffusor, reactor?

see here for the importance of co2 level in a planted tank
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

also go through the other articles in that site for more useful info.

cheers

[peteypob]

I have my co2 through a diffusor. My pH readings during the day when co2 is on is 7.0 with KH at 9 drops. At night with everything turned off pH 7.3-7.4 and KH at 8 drops.

[Stephish]

There's an interesting idea in another new thread here - see "siesta method".

[Ax]

The light wattage is good, what I am concern is the spectrum, most of them are made for coral reef, but before going shopping for a new bulb, try to tint (tinted plexiglass or film) on one half of the tank within the week compare the opposite ends of the tank for algae grows and type of algae, also you don’t have much competition for the algae right now as your plants just developing. Stay with bristlenose pleco. And don’t turn of your CO2 at night.

This is one of my two 18” Amazon swords in one of my tanks just to show that you don’t need many plants, just good competition for algae:D .

[Ax]

Pic of moderate grow tank with enough competition for algae. 110gl

[peteypob]

Thanks for your replies everyone!
Very nice plants!
So just leaving the co2 running at night without an airpump or with an airpump be best? Currently my tank isnt covered, my light sits on braces that hold it up over the tank about 2-3". Thanks!

Pete

[Ax]

If you don’t have air pump now, I would not add it, pay close attention to your fish, they are best at telling you if you need extra air. I don’t use air pump but I have filters going and it’s plenty. For few days check your pH and KH in the morning and evening. Do not use any water stabilizers or pH balancers. It’s like asking for pH crush. Just some things I can think off right now. Don't skeep on WC.
Alex (Ax)

[Mordrake]

Thanks for your replies everyone!
Very nice plants!
So just leaving the co2 running at night without an airpump or with an airpump be best? Currently my tank isnt covered, my light sits on braces that hold it up over the tank about 2-3". Thanks!

Pete


if your co2 set comes with a solenoid, set it to off when lights go off or slightly earlier. also set your co2 to on about 30mins to 1hr before lights on so that the water will be co2 saturated when the lights come on. this way, the plants can get into the photosynthesis process straightaway.
if you have a manual regulator, i'd recommend you to get a solenoid. with a solenoid, the bubble per second is always consistant whereas with a manual regulator, you will have to turn on/off all the time.

no point keeping the co2 on at night as the plants are not taking it in, in fact they are releasing co2. you will be wasting your co2 as well as risking the well being of your fishes.

your lights at 6700k should be alright for planted tanks, no need to change.

from your ph/kh readings, you may want to increase your co2 injection to drop your ph to 6.8-6.9. your co2 levels would then be ard 42ppm. the recommended level is 30ppm but it is better to err on the high side (provided your fish is not affected) then to have low levels.
maintain this throughout your entire lighting period (acheived by efficient co2 diffusion) and you should see your plants growing better.
in the meantime, try to remove manually as much algae as you can.
your new plant growth should be algae free.

another thing. you can reduce your dosing to half dose and adjust upwards when your tank becomes established and plants growing like weeds.

[peteypob]

Hi everyone,

I have followed many of the great tips everyone supplied to me. I have increased my co2 input and reads around 25ppm, added a few new plants, cut my flourish dosage in half. My ph as os right now reads 7.2 with kh @ 9 drops, phosphate is .2, and my light is on for 9 hours. I preformed a water change last night at 50% and tried to manually remove as much algea as I could from my laces and chain swords. this afternoon I noticed new black hair algea growing where I had taken it off yesterday and also on some spots on the gravel :( Is this normal or is there something else in the tank contributing to helping this algea continuing to grow? Thanks for the help!


Pete

[Ax]

I have posted before – tint part of the tank, 6700K is OK but spectrum could be suited for marine tank. This will tell you the story.

[john480]

ax how about 6500k

[peteypob]

Hi Ax,

I forgot to ask you about that, if my tank does not have a lid how would I tint it? Should I attatch it to my light? Also if this works do I stick with the tint or is there another way to block some light? Thanks!


Pete

[Ax]

If you have peace of glass, just put car tint film (or chunk of tinted plexiglass) and if it’s working, you need to get the right spectrum bulbs or live with the glass as the lid. I use 50/50 Plant Gro at 6700K.

[peteypob]

Is there a bulb sold at the same wattage but lower spectrum?

[Ax]

Yes, they do have, but when for florescent light bulbs you can fined them in 5 to 12 spectrums in any LFS, I am not so sure on power compact, I had to get my of e-bay, and I am looking for 10000K Full Sun spectrum yet. (You can get Riff Gro Full sp. any ware but not Sun )