I am FRUSTRATED!! Planted Tank/Algae Bloom!

H

Homebrewhead

AC Members
Jan 19, 2005
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I recently planted a tank on the 7th.

It looked good for a few days and slowly turned green.

I guess I have green water from an algae bloom.

I wanted a low tech tank, no ferts or CO2. I guess that is not happening.

I have FLourish & Flourish Excel that I will start adding.

I added potting soil along with some of my old gravel that was in the tank prior.

I added flourite on top of this.

I planted:

2 sa068 Sag, Dwarf Subulata
(Sagittaria subulata) 10
plants per order

2 bp022 Moneywort (Bacopa
Monnieri)(LARGE size 9"-10",
6-8 stems)

2 bp028 Rotala Indica (Rotala
roundifolia)(LARGE size
6"-10", 6-8 stems)

2 bp020 Ludwigia Peruensis (Ludwigia
peruensis)(LARGE size 9"-10",
6-8 stems)

2 bp019 Ludwigia, Needle Leaf
(Ludwigia arcuata)(LARGE size
9"-10", 6-8 stems)

2 bp010 Diandra (Didiplis
diandra)(LARGE size 9"-10",
6-8 stems)

3 hf542 Nana (Anubias barteri v.
‘Nana’)(size: 3-4")

1 begin04 Java Fern, Lace (Microsorium
pteropus v. ‘'Windelov')

3 begin03 Java Fern (Microsorium
pteropus

I have 2-CF55 Watt & 1-20watt T-8 tube light on 13 hours a day or so.

I run an air pump at night for the fish and plants.

I added DIY CO2 this AM.


My big question is I read to get rid of this algae I need to cover the tank for 3-5 days to kill the algae.

Do I still feed the fish?

What will happen to my plants? Although they have new growth on the tops, they are small and the base or old growth is turning brown or dying.

I'm at my wits end with this.

Help please.
 
I had a small bout with slight green water and used Algone and it worked.I wasn't to sure about it in the beginning,figure it was just anther gimmick but it worked,just give it time to work.Took me 3 weeks.
 
You have a 50g tank with 130 watts or about 2.6w/g is that right? Do you know any of the chemistry? Ph? Kh? Gh? Ammonia etc? What are the nitrates?
Oh wait here is some chemistry.
"Here is my current chart:

PH 7.4-7.6

Nitrite 0

Ammonia 0-.25

KH 3 drops got me to 53.7 whis is low

GH 13 Drops-off the chart high 232.7

Nitrate 40-80 PPM I swear I can't tell what color red it is!!!

My KH was low so I added 2 tablespoons of Baking soda dissolved in tap water to get that up to 60DH"

You have 3 Marbled AngelFish, 5 Xray Tetras, 6 neon Tetras, 3 Otos catfish, and 4 guppies. Is that right?

Does the tank get any sunlight?
Are you doing water changes?
 
Nitrates

Based on the research I did when I got an algae bloom, Nitrates are probably your main culprit. Though test kits say that 40 ppm is "safe" my research indicated that anything over 20 will stress the fish, and anything over 10 will lead to algae.

The Algone product that was mentioned lowers nitrates gradually. I have also found some Water lettuce to be helpful. It is a floating plant that sucks nitrates and phosphates out of the water.
 
I'll get some water lettuce and I read somewhere that a powerhead with a filter cartridge will remove the green algae as well.

I read one guy turned it into a diatomaceous filter by running it in a bucket with about a half a cup of DE.

I just bought a Rio 600 power head to hook up to a DIY CO2 set up.

I need to see if it has a Filter cartridge that attaches so I can do this.

Anyone have a RIO 600 Powerehead with a filter attachment?

Thanks.

Ergo,

The back which is covered by a mural and a HOB filter gets a little morning sun. Not to much IMO. But what do I know.


I ust don't want to lose my $70 worth of plants!
 
Last edited:
In all the years I have kept fish the only time I have ever had green water, once, was because of sunlight. So I really don't have much experience with it.

What you have right now is a highly nutrient rich environment. You probably don't need to add any more nutrients at this point. CO2 would help as would some other forms of carbon like excel.

You might want to do daily water changes. That will lower the nitrates quickly. Also put something like hornwart in there along with the water lettuce. Things that will grow really fast. You can take them out later.

I have never messed around with soil. I know it can be done but it is very difficult to my way of thinking. Most of the plants you listed are not heavy root feeders.
 
You have algae probably becuase your nitrates have reached zero. You REALY need to do a water test and post the results. Algae comes from too much of a nutrient or not enough. The only way to tell what is in your water is if you test it.

There is an article about algae and what causes it at plantgeek.net. You might look there.
 
I had an issue with green water in my 29 after I put in a different bulb and did a major gravel vac...taking everything out and really going through it good. I think disturbing all that crud from the gravel probably had more to do with the bloom than the added light...only changed a 17watt "don't have a clue what it was" bulb that came with the light strip, to a 20watt sunglow.

Anyway, there was no extra algea growth on anything in the tank, just this green cloudy water....so I just turned the lights off and did regular maintenance on the tank for a few weeks and it has been clearing itself up. I did another good gravel vac last week and started to leave the light on a bit and it seems to be doing fine.

I don't know what will happen when I start leaving the light on for 12 hours a day, just have to wait and see I guess. But the plants don't seem to be suffering much for the lack of light...they are all low light varieties...water sprite, anubia, amazon sword....I didn't cover the tank however, so they have been getting some daylight, but not direct light.
 
A lot of the plants you list need both co2 and a good broad dosing regimin. That mean more than the NPK in Flourish- trace elements for sure. I find I can get better dosing control by adding NPK separately and trace elements as well. I find in my co2 added tank I often have to add nitrate as well.

It takes a while to find the proper balance in a planted tank and this is especially true in the high end. It often helps to start the tank with more fast growing plants and then begin to replace them with other things once the tank has established and you have found the right balance of ferts, light and co2.

Also, you normally do not need to add much in the way of ferts when you first set up the tank. The plants need to establish/root some before they begin to grow. So holding off or adding only minmal ferts is helpful.

Green water is often caused by excess phosphates, one of the ingredients in Flourish. Fastest way to get rid of green water I know is hang hot magnum w/ micron cart in it and add 2 tablespoon of DE. At the same time, blackout tank for about 3 days and do not feed. Before this, do a large water change, and rinse out media. If you have not hot magnum and can add floss to filter(s), do so. Check the floss daily and change it when it gets real green. Turn off your co2 during the blackout and you can also do a smaller water change on day 2 of blackout if its still showing little sign of clearing. Do not add any ferts or excel during the blackout.

Be sure nothing else you are adding to your water contains phosphates.
 
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