Crazy algae problem! (please help ASAP)
- Thread starter cgcaver
- Start date
You can't say the biofilter is being damaged without positive tests for ammonia or nitrite.
Have you checked for ammonia/nitrite?
What are the nitrate levels in the tank prior to a change, what % of the substrate is covered with plants, what is the tap water nitrate level if any, and how deep is the sand?
It is every bit as likely to be excess nutrient or imbalance of nutrients than insufficient nutrients for the plants, considering the fish maybe more likely.
Have you checked for ammonia/nitrite?
What are the nitrate levels in the tank prior to a change, what % of the substrate is covered with plants, what is the tap water nitrate level if any, and how deep is the sand?
It is every bit as likely to be excess nutrient or imbalance of nutrients than insufficient nutrients for the plants, considering the fish maybe more likely.
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Why are you stopping dosing nutrients? The objective is to get your plants healthy...stopping nutirients will further starve your plants and allow algae to gain an even greater foothold. The fact of the matter is that getting a planted tank in balance can be tricky business and you can never be sure of what your doing without testing everything....however that being said......in my opinion and from my experiences I have had more luck with overdosing than under dosing....if your plants are showing signs of deficiency (yellow and brown leaves...spindly stems etc..) then they need to be fed. I am not an expert at this by any means, but I have been through a lot of algae stages and I can tell you one thing for sure that when my plants are healthy..like they are now, then algae is scarce......test as much as you can and post the results...Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, KH, PH if you can.....but I dont think stopping the fertilizer is your answer.
Also in response to RTRs comment.........even though we are not positive he is messing up his bio filter without testing....the fact is that no one should do an 80% water change and replace all their filter media at once.....I have done that many times when I first got into the hobby and wondered why my water was cloudy after all that as well.
Also in response to RTRs comment.........even though we are not positive he is messing up his bio filter without testing....the fact is that no one should do an 80% water change and replace all their filter media at once.....I have done that many times when I first got into the hobby and wondered why my water was cloudy after all that as well.
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RTR said:
So it may be a good idea to stop dosing stuff for a while. Wait for the sciencetest to step in.
I do large scale partials and rinse mechanical media simultaneously on a rouitine basis without any issues at all. That is not a cause of a bloom.
I can understand that, but 75 to 80% on a fairly new tank once a week followed by something that looks white and then turns into green water sure sounds to me like an ammonia problem, especially if the nitrates after 6 days are only 20ppm. You know much better than I do, I am sure.
My thinking was to do a smaller water change, not mess with the floss and the filter medium at all and test the water and see what was happening.
Just remember that on 1/02 this tank was a wall mart special, on 1/04 it had a four inch Oscar and a four inch pictus cat. On 1/16 it had what sure looked like fish poop to me. And now it has a 7 inch rope fish. Meanwhile he wants to know if he should add excel or potassium. Much of which just does not add up to me in the first place. But if I accept it than I assume this tank has never actually cycled. Or is just doing a kind of cycle every week.
My thinking was to do a smaller water change, not mess with the floss and the filter medium at all and test the water and see what was happening.
Just remember that on 1/02 this tank was a wall mart special, on 1/04 it had a four inch Oscar and a four inch pictus cat. On 1/16 it had what sure looked like fish poop to me. And now it has a 7 inch rope fish. Meanwhile he wants to know if he should add excel or potassium. Much of which just does not add up to me in the first place. But if I accept it than I assume this tank has never actually cycled. Or is just doing a kind of cycle every week.
It sounds like you may be having issues with 'green water' - unicellular floating algae. It often looks white at first, then as it increases the water takes on a greenish haze.
My best advice is to read up on fertilization, often algae is the result of an imbalance. Once the plants have everything they need, providing there are quite a few plants in the tank, the problem often goes away on its own. Striking that balance can be really difficult, I'm still learning about ferts and battling algae myself.
Can you split the water changes and fertilizing in two, say 40% on Monday and 40% on Thursday, dosing ferts after each? This way nutrient levels should stay more even throughout the week. I'm not sure if this will help, but it's worth a try.
If you're only dosing Excel once a week, I'd try upping it to daily or every other day (follow the instructions on the bottle so you don't overdose). I have no idea how effective it is controlling algae in general, but it's brilliant at keeping hair algae in check - I find if I stop dosing with Excel, the hair algae begins to regrow. I'm working on trying to find out exactly where the imbalance lies, but in the meantime I'm very thankful Excel works!
Best of luck. Algae's no fun, but IME if you're persistent you can get rid of it or at least lower it to an acceptable level
My best advice is to read up on fertilization, often algae is the result of an imbalance. Once the plants have everything they need, providing there are quite a few plants in the tank, the problem often goes away on its own. Striking that balance can be really difficult, I'm still learning about ferts and battling algae myself.
Can you split the water changes and fertilizing in two, say 40% on Monday and 40% on Thursday, dosing ferts after each? This way nutrient levels should stay more even throughout the week. I'm not sure if this will help, but it's worth a try.
If you're only dosing Excel once a week, I'd try upping it to daily or every other day (follow the instructions on the bottle so you don't overdose). I have no idea how effective it is controlling algae in general, but it's brilliant at keeping hair algae in check - I find if I stop dosing with Excel, the hair algae begins to regrow. I'm working on trying to find out exactly where the imbalance lies, but in the meantime I'm very thankful Excel works!
Best of luck. Algae's no fun, but IME if you're persistent you can get rid of it or at least lower it to an acceptable level
ergo, man, stop breaking my balls here LOL my tank has been fully cycled since Nov. '04. I used bio-spira.
Yeh, Im not close to a pro at this, but Im not a total newb either. Why are my questions about potassium and excel so mind-boggling? I was simply asking if you guys thought potassium was a limiting nutrient so I should add more, or if I should stop dosing nutrients at all so I wouldnt feed the algae...
I was concerned about my seemingly high bioload as well, so like I said, I tested my water religiously. My tank was able to handle the load fine for almost 4 months straight. However, about 2-3 weeks ago, my plants started looking puny and this algae thing started.
So far, I would tend to agree with those of you who have said that I basically sent my tank into a mini-cycle by cleaning too much at once. It looks just like the ammo OD Ive seen before.
Yeh, Im not close to a pro at this, but Im not a total newb either. Why are my questions about potassium and excel so mind-boggling? I was simply asking if you guys thought potassium was a limiting nutrient so I should add more, or if I should stop dosing nutrients at all so I wouldnt feed the algae...
I was concerned about my seemingly high bioload as well, so like I said, I tested my water religiously. My tank was able to handle the load fine for almost 4 months straight. However, about 2-3 weeks ago, my plants started looking puny and this algae thing started.
So far, I would tend to agree with those of you who have said that I basically sent my tank into a mini-cycle by cleaning too much at once. It looks just like the ammo OD Ive seen before.
