So I completely redid my 75g tank and made my 3rd attempt at a planted tank. Pressurized co2. 3.2 wpg. EI ferts. I tried to do everything right this time. Week 1 and 2 went great. Plants really looked good and were growing like crazy. Then week three rolled around. I had a bloom of brown algae and smaller bloom of the green algae that hangs around on any surface. This didn't surprise me. This tank was basically set up from scratch and every tank I've set up from scratch has seen a bloom of brown algae that eventually went away. This week, it is worse. I now have brown brush algae on all my plants. I'm growing green brush algae and green scum algae as well. What am I doing wrong? I've been doing 50% water changes every week. Not enough co2? Too many ferts? Too long a photo period? I've basically blanked the tank out at this point.
Help! I'm growing algae!!
- Thread starter chinnp
- Start date
Algae is a sign that something is out of balanced. You've decided to begin with one of the more difficult setups for a beginner. High light & Pressurized CO2.
Diagnosing what is going on is not always easy and can take some trial and error.
If you want to have some help it would be best to tell us everything you can about your tank. Taking and posting pictures is also very helpful
Diagnosing what is going on is not always easy and can take some trial and error.
If you want to have some help it would be best to tell us everything you can about your tank. Taking and posting pictures is also very helpful
This is the tank as of 4 days ago. I had already cleaned the algae off the glass at this point and was in the middle of my water change. You can kind of see the scum hanging off the hairgrass in the front. The algae on the skull on the right is what was growing on the glass and everything else.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iugmez665plqah/2012-11-03 17.17.32.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iugmez665plqah/2012-11-03 17.17.32.jpg
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You can try a 7 day black out.
Cover the tank's sides with cardboard and make sure the top is covered as well. Open the top only to feed the fish once a day and dose maracyn - this has worked for a couple people I know but for long term test the water and mind the parameters.
Good luck with it!
Cover the tank's sides with cardboard and make sure the top is covered as well. Open the top only to feed the fish once a day and dose maracyn - this has worked for a couple people I know but for long term test the water and mind the parameters.
Good luck with it!
What parameters should I be watching?
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Monitor it for what? I can tell you the ph is around 7.5. I haven't tested it for the usual ammonia, nitrite, nitrate though as I haven't had any fish living in it before yesterday.
Photoperiod has been from about 0530 - 2000 or so. Co2 is a bit sketchy. I am still working the kinks out of the system. Sometimes the regulator delivers a steady stream of co2, other times it doesn't. I'm working out why and working out the kinks of hooking it up to a PH controller for more regularity.
Only fish at the moment is a female betta. My plan was to work out the kinks of the co2 delivery system and grow out the plans. No fish gives me the ability to make massive water changes if I need to, tweak the water chemistry all over the place if necessary and tear the entire tank apart if I really need to. The betta was an impulse buy the other day.
