Help, algae ?'s with pics

naturegrl

naturegrl

AC Members
Sep 29, 2008
163
0
0
I've been having some algae issues lately and not sure what to do differently or how to make it at least slow down.

It's a 55 gallon, moderately planted, diy co2, hard, hard water, high gh and kh, ph now 7.4(down from 8.4 since adding the co2), amonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5 or less. Tank has been up and running for about 6 months now. Lighting is two Coralife 48" colormax T5 56 watt(each) strips that each have two bulbs in them (full spectrum 6700k). I'm down to about 6 to 7 hours of lights on a day and that is usually broken in half with at least a 3 hour break in the middle.

I've had some brown algae recently but since I added 2 ottos, they are doing a fantastic job of cleaning it up.

I have green dusty type algae on glass surface. I clean it off with a water change and it's back within a couple of days.


100_2727.jpg

Is this hair algae? Is it okay to pull it off?
100_2701.jpg
100_2702.jpg
100_2705.jpg
100_2708.jpg

I realize that some algae is normal but the green dusty stuff is really annoying and generating very quickly.

I feed lightly, do water changes of about 40-50% each week and nitrates are low. Keep light duration short. I don't understand why I have so much algae.

Help, please.

Thanks

100_2727.jpg 100_2701.jpg 100_2702.jpg 100_2705.jpg 100_2708.jpg
 
1st one is fairly common in tanks, green dust, or green spot - a Magfloat can take care of that very easily

2nd is staghorn, you can pull it off if you want, but I'm fairly sure itt'l just come back until you sort out your problem.


http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

The above is a VERY helpful site for algae.
Find staghorn, and green dust.
 
Can you elaborate? How would i know if that is the culprit?
 
this tank is right about 2 wpg so you could leave the light on 7-8 hours a day with no problems i would think.
the diy co2 changing level and not enough co2 is probably the problem as fordtrannyman says above.
you would need 2 diys going at the same time to get decent co2 levels. changing them 1 week apart from each other to try and keep the co2 at a consistant level but still not perfect.
sometimes diatom (brown algae) is caused by low light levels.

do you dose ferts in the tank?
 
my advice is get a pleco and a scrubber, if nothing works put a towel over the tank for 1 day as algae needs light to grow
 
Lack of C02 is the #1 offender for producing algae.
Although it may not be the only contributor it is the first thing one needs to look at when diagnosing. As plants are comprised mostly of Carbon.

Lack of nutrients may be other contributors.

You stated your organic waste are low and you renew 50% of the water each week, so that rules out ammonia contributing to Staghorn. So that leaves C02.
I am guessing that your C02 is probably no more than 10-15ppm given your ph is at 7.4 and you have very hard water.
GSA is said to be lack of or limited P04 + C02.
 
Thanks Red for the link.

Here's what it says about staghorn algae

DescriptionGrows in strands that branches out. Looks a bit like deer antler. Black to grey/green in colour and sometimes has a red tint.CauseLow CO2 and/or poor water circulation. A tank with overfed fish and accumulated mulm. Dirty filter. Also disturbing dirty substrates without doing water change afterwards.RemovalCheck CO2 levels and make sure you have good water circulation. Reduce feeding, vacuum the substrate and remove mulm. Overdosing Flourish Excel usually helps.
I vac, water change, and clean the filter regularly so I don't think that would be the problem. I also feed sparingly and skip feeding 1-2 days a week.

Low or inconsistant co2 and poor water circulation are a couple of things that might be the problem.

I have a magnum 250 hob filter/powerhead. Is this inadequate?

I don't dose ferts at all. I've been afraid to because we have unusually hard water with high kh and gh so I'm afraid to go by a common dosing schedule. I just don't know what I'm doing in fert area, so for now, I'm not using them. I did try small doses of excel, flourish a couple of months ago but that is when I noticed the agae starting to become a problem, so I stopped.
 
naturegrl said:
Thanks Red for the link.

Here's what it says about staghorn algae

DescriptionGrows in strands that branches out. Looks a bit like deer antler. Black to grey/green in colour and sometimes has a red tint.CauseLow CO2 and/or poor water circulation. A tank with overfed fish and accumulated mulm. Dirty filter. Also disturbing dirty substrates without doing water change afterwards.RemovalCheck CO2 levels and make sure you have good water circulation. Reduce feeding, vacuum the substrate and remove mulm. Overdosing Flourish Excel usually helps.
I vac, water change, and clean the filter regularly so I don't think that would be the problem. I also feed sparingly and skip feeding 1-2 days a week.

Low or inconsistant co2 and poor water circulation are a couple of things that might be the problem.

I have a magnum 250 hob filter/powerhead. Is this inadequate?

I don't dose ferts at all. I've been afraid to because we have unusually hard water with high kh and gh so I'm afraid to go by a common dosing schedule. I just don't know what I'm doing in fert area, so for now, I'm not using them. I did try small doses of excel, flourish a couple of months ago but that is when I noticed the agae starting to become a problem, so I stopped.
Click to expand...

You missed a key statement. I highlighted it in red.

Get a tank balanced takes practice and patience. As previously stated, run multiple bottles of C02 to increase saturation levels and consistency.
Ferts. are not that scary. I too have really hard water, but I use that to my advantage because i don't have to use a GH booster, MG and Calcium levels are good right from the source. CSM+B, N03, K2S04, and P04 once or twice a week might be all you need.
 
Thanks guys, I guess I need a way to test my co2 saturation and see where I'm at. I could add another diy co2 for now to see if that helps. I'll probably eventually change over to pressurized. I like "projects" so the diy was kind of fun to experiment with and it has definitely made a difference in my plant growth.

Thanks Ford for the info. When you say lack of nutrients could be part of the problem, what should I try?

I need help with ferts. I have a bunch, but don't know what to use. ???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom