source of algea problem

E

ersteb

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Mar 10, 2008
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while i am in a posting mood...

my 55g has reoccuring bouts of algea to the point the ornaments and some of the leaves get the infamous green/brown fuzz all over them

i have co2 injection 130w pc which are on 10-12 hours a day nitrate is 20 and phospate is 2....

do 30% water changes biweekly and feed 2x a day

any suggestions??
 
There are several ways you could contain it and/or get rid of it. You could first get some SAE, CAE, or otos. I would recommend the SAE the most, they are peaceful and eat all kinds of algae. You could try dosing excel to help plants take in the nutrients so the algae doesn't have a source of food. And you could also feed only once a day so there isnt any excess food that the algae can feed on. Then theres is the manuel scrubbing of the plants and ornaments, but that is your choice.
 
thanks...i got some flying foxes in the tank and just got a couple of gold algea eaters....i agree with feeding less

i just bleached all the ornaments as well

i think the plants will eventually consume all of the xs nutrients

i was particularily interested to know if the nitrate and phophate levels were too high...
 
jmhart said:
I would reduce your lighting down to 8-10 hours a day. I recently dropped my lighting in one of my tank down from 12 hours a day to 9 hours a day and it was very helpful.
Click to expand...


i think that could also be part of the problem...will do thanks!
 
ersteb said:
while i am in a posting mood...

my 55g has reoccuring bouts of algea to the point the ornaments and some of the leaves get the infamous green/brown fuzz all over them

i have co2 injection 130w pc which are on 10-12 hours a day nitrate is 20 and phospate is 2....

do 30% water changes biweekly and feed 2x a day

any suggestions??
Click to expand...

First need to Identify the type of Algae. Can you tell from these pictures which you might have?

NO3 is good, P04 is a little high. Target for P04 is 0.5-1.0 mg/l
What is your FE and hardness? (DKH is ok)
What type of filtration do have?

You have a high Bio-Load with the amount of feeding.
I would suggest less feeding and more diligent water change regime, possibly 50% every 7 days.
I think that 9-10 hours of lighting would be good with 2.3wpg of PCF.


Algae.jpg
 
its the black brush algea that is causing me grief...

i am using a fluval 300 series filter and i would say the tank is fully stocked...

kh i am thinking is around 3 with ph around 6.4 giving me a high level of co2 (the tank dows have co2 injection)

maybe is should cut off the co2 and let the levels come down a bit??
 
ersteb said:
its the black brush algea that is causing me grief...

i am using a fluval 300 series filter and i would say the tank is fully stocked...

kh i am thinking is around 3 with ph around 6.4 giving me a high level of co2 (the tank dows have co2 injection)

maybe is should cut off the co2 and let the levels come down a bit??
Click to expand...

BBA is tough to eradicate at times. IME bba is onset by N03 bottoming out.
Your N03 levels are good, but plants require an FE level of at least 0.2 mg/l
to uptake Nitrates.
Your C02 levels (approx. 36ppm) are a tad bit high for the amount of light you have. I would shoot for a ph of 6.6. Make sure FE levels are good and maybe even boost GH a point or two. Increase WC schedule, cut back feeding schedule and even stop feeding for a few days to give your algae eaters an appetite for algae. If you still have some living BBA after the bleach dip, you could spot treat with excel or H202.
 
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