Algae Problem

J

jonathan03

AC Members
Feb 12, 2005
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I have 4 types of hair algae in my tank that are all over my sword plant. Its on the driftwood as well, but mainly the sword. I never had 4 types of algae on one plant before.

I have 5 otos, snails, and 7 zebra danios.

Here's the test data

ph: 8.2
nitirite: 0
ammonia: 0
nitrate: 0
phosphate: 1.7

I have done the nitrate test twice and it was 0 both times. Its hard to believe since many people have problems with too much nitrate.

I have 96 W of light in a 38 gallon tank and DIY Co2.

http://enginecontrol.dyn.ee/Images/Algae/Algae0001.jpg
http://enginecontrol.dyn.ee/Images/Algae/Algae0002.jpg
http://enginecontrol.dyn.ee/Images/Canopy/Canopy0001.jpg

What can I do to get the hair algae off the sword? Do I need to add fertilizers? The fertilizers I have on hand are KH2PO4, Plantex CSM +B, and KNO3. Which should I add if any?

I have used the fertilizer calculator by Chuck and it says to add the KNO3 with water. Why does it need to be diluted with water? And how can I measure out about 50 mL of water? I would like to use as little water as possible so I can add less KNO3 - I only ordered 1 kg. Is 50 mL too little water? 500 mL seems like an awful lot of water.

Thanks for the help.
 
CO2 is the main issue.
DIY CO2 is tough to get right, but that is what you need to work on, shoot for 30ppm.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
You need to raise your NO3 to get it in line with your PO4. Dissolve a half teaspoon (2.78 grams) KNO3 in some water and it will raise 30 gallons by 15ppm. I wouldn't add that amount in one go but stagger it over a day or so.
 
So I made a big mistkae. I used a calculator online before reading your post. I told it I was using 1 tablespoon KNO3, 50 mL of water, and I have a 38 gallon tank. It said that will raise the nitrates by 1.43 ppm. However, that is per mL of solution. I added all 50mL. So according to the calculator, I added 71 ppm of nitrates.

However, I did a nitrate test and it said the nitrates were from 40-50 ppm. I do have fast growing plants like rotalla and riccia that will use the nitrates. I'm wondering how long it will take them to use the excess nitrates? Will the much extra nitrates amek the algae worse? I scrubbed off a lot of it today. I'm trying to decide if I should do a water change or let the plants use the nitrates.
 
Water change will reduce that.
You still need to deal with CO2, the KNO3 etc is easy to work on and add.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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