Fresh Start

[750t]

After many long months of reading and water changes,blackouts and trying to balance my 20 gal planted algea producer. I took two steps back hmmm. Now I have 10 gal planted tank also, very little algea problems. I use onyx substrate in this tank. So yesterday I tore down the 20 ( catching all the guppies was well, Im just glad its over) and replaced the gravel with onyx sand. Everybody got a bleech bath. And as of now its a algea free tank how long will this last? The planted tank gods will have to smile now. Wish me luck. Tim

[OrionGirl]

Did you leave the filter media intact? If not, the tank will likely cycle again--just something to watch for.

As for algae. There are several things that can cause algae to take over, and regretfully, substrate is seldom on the list. Bleaching the decorations won't help--the algae likely comes in with the water. Certain types, like black beard and hair algae, are often introduced on plants, but the common, green fuzzy stuff is actually in the water source. An abundance of light, and lots of nutrients in the water are the usual problems.

If this is a planted tank, reducing the watts of light may not be advised, but you can limit the light to 8-9 hours per day. Plants don't need more than that. Nutrients are another story. Most commonly, over feeding or over fertilizing is to blame. Over feeding leaves lots of phosphates in addition to the nitrogen source--doesn't help the plants much, but feeds the algae. Fertilization is something that requires a great deal of attention, not only to what is being used, but also to the dosing schedule. And, of course, plants must have CO2 to use the available nutrients, while algae is more oppurtunistic and can thrive without as much CO2.

Before making any suggestions, please indicate how much light you have (watts and hours), what fertilization happens, if there's supplemental CO2, how often are the fish fed, how many fish are there, and how often do you clean the tank?

[DIYMatt]

Oriongirl siad almost all of it. I would just like to add that if you did leave your filters intact, all the bleaching is for naught. Don't worry about the bleach treatment, I did the same thing on my first tank. Use tons of plain dechlorinator(not a product that does other things too) to be safe. Sometimes it just seems like you can't can't enough algae free time to get the plants established and outcompeting the algae. Now, 4 years later, there is algae in there, but I have to try to make it visible. IME, Oriongirl is also right that it is difficult or impossible to keep algae completely out of the tank. You could try by bleaching everything new you put in the tank and using nothing but purified water with a commercial additive to build up the minerals. Although, algae can be carried by fish and I don't think they would be too happy with a bleach treatment. :(

[750t]

Thanks for the replys. Sorry I wasnt very clear. I have been at this for some time now. djlen has helped a bunch. I changed the substrate because I think the onyx looks better and has a higher exchage rate. Also there was just too much algea from past mistakes. I have learned a great deal from this site and others. I dont post alot but I read this site every day. So I know what to do its just doing right.
I ditched all the media in the filter, because it was full of algea. I used some filter floss and filled the filter with bio balls from one my cannister filters from a non planted tank.
I have 55 watts of light and diy ( jello) co2. Bunches of guppies, you know how guppies are?
I think two of the biggest problems I have had in the past have been too much phosphate and over feeding.
So what Im doing now is starting over. Hopefully I will get it right this time. Thanks Tim

[DIYMatt]

Yeah djlen is always a big help. He's on here quite a bit during the day. Recently, so am I guess. But, I'm at work so I feel like its OK:)

Just two things from my experience, I have never had a problem when just N or PO4 go up. It was always when both of them went up, especially in conjunction with high Fe in the water. My advice to anyone starting a tank using a high Fe substrate is do not dose any extra Fe until the tank is balanced out and you think you need it. Just go with whats in Flourish, if thats what liquids you are using. I think part of my problem was how thw tank started. It was a clouded mess from unrinsed Flourite. Big mistake. I'm sure that silt has to be loaded with Fe. So, then I of course started out dosing full amounts of the full Flourish line to the label directions. Probably way too much Fe, and my Hagen Fe test kit is not accurate, three different tests on the same water brought three different readings. I would even be cautious about bring the Nitrate and PO4 levels up to "optimum" levels at first. Just make sure there is some of each for the plants.

Personally, I run my tanks Nitrate limited. I like the way the plants look and it works for me. Most people run their tanks with ample Nitrate and limit the PO4. But, wait till the tank balances out before trying to experiment with this kind of stuff.

[750t]

Right from the start I dosed the recommended amounts, I use all seachams products. With this and lack of co2 I had a uncontrolable algea out break. Now I have a good stable co2 and better understanding of the nutriets needed. I have never had high N readings and the P has never went below .1 ppm. Im not going to use any P until I see a drop on the test kit. By the way I hate hagen test kits. Iam an ink tech for a printing co and I cant even tell what color these things read esp. the ph kit. Tim