Algae Bloom

cdawson

cdawson

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Jan 6, 2003
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I'm trying to find out what's causing my algae bloom. I've tried 50 percent water changes for the last two days and still the same cloudiness. I've got 120 watts of light on my 45g, flourite substrate, 1 Hagen "CO2" generator (I know I should have one more), tropica master grow fert. and I just added a piece of driftwood that's not completely sunk yet about 3 days ago. My lights are also on for about 11-12 hours a day. What should I do to get rid of this algae?! It's driving me nuts here!
 
TMG doesn't contain the macros the plants will need. N, P, and K.. Are you adding them in some other form? Also, what is your pH and kH so we can see how your CO2 level is doing.
 
my ph is around 6.5 - 7.0 area, but I can't give my Kh or Gh until hagen sends me the leaflet for them (my mom chucked em out by accident).
I'm not adding any extra additives so then I guess I should eh? I was told TMG had the additives I needed. hmmm... that would explain why the algae is blooming, the plants don't have sufficient potassium or iron to take the nutrients away from the algae.
 
TMG does supply K, but no N or P. Your plants need Nitrate and Phosphate as well as traces to do well enough to out-compete algae.
I think you'll find the Hagen system lacking for a 45 gal. tank. You need to up the CO2 to as close to 25ppm as possible. I don't think what you're using is capable of that.
Len
 
no, I know it's not I plan on getting another one to supplement enough CO2. what should I add in order to make up for the nutrients the plants aren't getting? I can fix that problem right away the next CO2 generator needs to wait till next friday. The nitrates from my fish should be enough (7 neons, 5 blue tetras, 5 red eye tetras, 5 rasboras, 1 farlowella, 1 SA puffer, 8 corys, 1 pleco that's soon to be removed) or is it? The idiot at big al's said TMG would be enough...I looked to that guy for GOOD info and not just a sale...so much for that idea. I always went to him for advice. All I need to know is what plant supplement I need here and what fish you suggest I remove from the tank (it's my girlfriends mainly, mine is a 135g brackish that is in pristine condition....this planted stuff is all new to me). The tank was running fine till about 3 days ago and Blam! algae bloom up the arse.
 
TMG is an excellent fert. He gave you pretty good advice, but the other two elements are also necessary. IMO, the amount of fish will not give you all the N and P you need. Of course this also depends on the amount of plants you have in the tank. So, how many plants and what kinds are you keeping?

Check this thread for details on ferts:
http://aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12585
If you have any questions any of us will be happy to try to help.
Len
 
to be quite honest I don't really know too many of the types of plants I've got. I've got anubias (on driftwood), java moss, amazon swords, 1 pygmy sword, a long thin plant that looks kind of like hornwort and grows like mad, actual hornwort, hygros, a modified java fern(can't remember real name), and two other plants I don't know much about. One is tall and red and the other is short and kind of looks like a smaller anubias.
 
Sounds like a good variety of plants. I'm guessing that this tank has not been up and running too long. Maybe some floating plants like Salvinia or Water Sprite(both inexpensive) to suck up some of the excess nutrients and shade the tank for a bit until it can establish itself. Some of the plants you mention will also help in this regard.
Did you read the thread I mentioned? It will tell you what to get and where to get it for N and P. Also how much to dose. IMO you will need to dose both, based on what you've told me. If you don't already have them, get N and P test kits. N needs to be between 5-10ppm(closer to 10 is better), P needs to be between .5 and 1ppm(closer to 1ppm is better). This is not rocket science. Once you get to know your tank's balance it becomes easy to keep it straight.
Two important things......get a system that will provide you with between 22-28ppm CO2, and do a 50% water change weekly.
Actually three things.....read everything written by Tom Barr on this forum. He knows his stuff, and you will find it gets pretty repetitive because it's simple, basic stuff.
Len
 
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