Phosphate and Bleaching

B

bongkoy

AC Members
Aug 3, 2006
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Los Angeles, California
My 20G planted tank had been battling with Hair Algae on my Java Moss and Green Cabomba. My Java Moss color had turned into dark green to almost black with sludge all over it. It started when detritus was trapped and never cleaned. My Cabomba, with hair algae all over it, looks like it was full of "dust".

Iam ready to try these methods- Phosphate control and bleaching but I have full of questions:

Can anyone help me how bleach work and method for this particular plants? Where can I get this liquid? Does Phosphate chemical control really helps? Can you recommend how to control phosphate?

I will appreciate all your replies. Thank you!
 
Phosphate control will not do much for you, High phosphates get blamed for a lot of things that they don't do, and Algae is one of them. IF you set up a tank with high phosphates and keep everything else in perfect balance you'll not see algae. I typically dose to about 4-5 ppm phosphates every week.

Bleach dips are generally done with a 1-19 bleach to water solution. For fragile or thin plants 10-15 seconds is about all they can stand. For hardier plants up to one minute is usually O.K. Anachris will not suvive a bleach dip, and there are a few other stems that don't fare well either. so be cautious with which pants you dip for how long.

In general, algae is a result of imbalances. Low Co2 is most often the culprit, but not always.
Plants need:
Nitrogen
Phosphate
Pottasium
Trace elements
A decent GH level
Light
A carbon source (Co2 or Excel)

NPK is generally reccomended at a 10:1:10 ratio, GH (Calcium magnesium) is generally set at roughly 10 ppm MG, and 40-60 ppm Ca minimum
traces should be dosed according to label directions, and you may need to up them slightlyas time goes.
 
bigscout said:
Bleach dips are generally done with a 1-19 bleach to water solution. For fragile or thin plants 10-15 seconds is about all they can stand. For hardier plants up to one minute is usually O.K. Anachris will not suvive a bleach dip, and there are a few other stems that don't fare well either. so be cautious with which pants you dip for how long.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply.

Is the Bleach Solution refers to the Laundry bleach?

I also heard a lot about Algone algae treatment. Do you have an experience with this chemical treatment?

Thanks again.
 
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