Algae on plants

67chevelle

67chevelle

Basset Hound
Jul 30, 2008
2,286
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I have a lowlight planted tank with java ferns,vals,wisteria,and a few other plants I do not know the names of.It is a 55g with T5 lighting,here is the light http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/209500/product.web
The only fish in the tank is a green terror.The tank has been set up for 4 or 5 weeks now and except for the typical diatoms in new tanks,everything has been going fine except there is hair algae growing on the plants.I have been dosing with Excel and regular Flourish from the time I set the tank up.I did a weekly water change of 30% on Thursday 11/6 and did not add any more excel.Now on Saturday 11/8 it seems like maybe the hair algae is dyeing off a little.Should I just leave well enough alone and not dose the tank with anything?There are also MTS and one mystery snail in the tank.Will the one GT and the snails provide enough waste to feed the plants.My biggest problem is probably that my first planted tank is high tech that I have to dose,so I just assumed I should be dosing this tank as well.Any suggestions on getting rid of the hair algae?Here are a few pics of the tank and the plants with the hair algae.

PB080002.JPG PB080006.JPG PB080009.JPG
 
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Unless I'm reading something wrong..... You don't have a low light tank. If you have 2 of those lights on your tank, which it looks like to me from the pics, then you have over 2 watts per gallon. Plus T5's put out more light, so your probaly at like 2.5 wpg or so. So I would dose excel everyday and use the EI method, plus water changes, just like a highlight tank. Just my advice... I'm not an expert.
 
No,just one light.What you are seeing 2 of on the top of the tank are the filters.The light is very slim,you cannot even see it.
 
Any close ups on the un ID'd plants? I see crypts possibly. It also looks like you also have rotala in there. With just over 1 wpg those aren't going to fair well. Everything else should do okay without the need to dose ferts. Occasional dosing of excel should be enough to provide nutrients for the plants.

How long are the lights on for?
 
jpappy789 said:
Any close ups on the un ID'd plants? I see crypts possibly. It also looks like you also have rotala in there. With just over 1 wpg those aren't going to fair well. Everything else should do okay without the need to dose ferts. Occasional dosing of excel should be enough to provide nutrients for the plants.

How long are the lights on for?
Click to expand...
No crypts,but there is rotala.All the plants are growing nicely.It's just the algae that is giving me problems.Lights are on a digital timer for 10 1/2 hours a day.
 
I'd cut that back to 8 or 9 hours and see what happens with the algae. 10 hours is really the max photoperiod you want.

Any chance you could get a close up of the plants in the middle forground?

I've had rotala survive in lower lighting but it as it grew taller the leaves became more spaced out and eventually dropped off. I have some under 2 wpg now and it's doing much, much better. Just my experience though.
 
Sorry, I thought those were lights, but I can now see what is the light and that those are filters. I would dose excel every day and try to get the algae in check. Dose the regular flourish once a week. And only do water changes once a month of 50%. After things get back in balance, continue doing that or.......... stop dosing excel, still dose the regular flourish once a week and only change the water about 2 or 3 times a year. With a low light, non CO2 tank, you don't need to change the water much. If you do then you will actually create algae problems from fluctuating co2 levels every time you change the water. I just went through the same problem that you are having.... After advice from Tom Barr, I found out that I was changing the water too much.
 
Dosing every day is going to lead to a lot of nutrients that the plants won't use up, which leads to algae.

And water changes should be done at least bi-weekly, with once a week being much better. Low light or not every tank with fish needs regular water changes to remove nitrates and other organics and to replace the water with minerals and electrolytes that the fish need. I don't see how Co2 levels would fluctuate with water changes if there is no Co2 being added...
 
Interesting article,thanks!
Do you not do regular water changes yourself?I think I would have a really hard time not doing that myself.
 
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