Seriouse Of Algae Issues

[Zikofski]

My Algae has now i would say out of controll in the two weeks my Gf was away it has gone from manageable to curry hell haha,

i have lots of pictures, i think i been having my lighting on to much, possible over dosing of fert's and to little co2? hat you guys think?

my new crypt leaves are not growing algae but where algae was its just gone BOOOOM


here are pics a 100% id would be nice as well for the algae still unsure is it BBA or staghorn or other i know i have green algae on the front but its the stuff on the wood plants and rocks im concerned about

my light is on for 10 hours this is way i think i have to much light, will reduce this to 6 today,
my co2 was lime green or so i think so i shall get a pic later to check but i still think i need to dose more co2 into the tank
ferts im dosing what it says on the bottle im using neutro + this is 25ml for a 330L tank, this i think is to much considering my tank is not really heavy planted yet, but im trying to go down this rought i have LOADS of plants turning up today i really want to get this algae cracked

i have a theory to killing the algae on my wood and rocks, its freezing here going below 0 if i leave these outside to freeze/frost over will this kill the algae and i can then scrude it off easier, or boiling water? what can i do to QUICKLY get rid of this before i put the wood and rocks back into the tank i am going to cut all the leafs of my plants if i can maybe leave one leaf that has the most less algae and as soon as i see new leafs come through i shall cut that off

please all help is required (poke steveo ) haha anyone please

and if anyone can please id the reason to why this amazon sword is growing like this

if you need better pics of anything let me know im going to clean as much as i can today for my new plants to go in and new layout

please i cry for anyone who may know to help me.

thank you in advance

 

[Zikofski]

okay apparently from researching freezing wont work algae has its own anti freeze , but boiling will work along with scrubbing,

also from what im researching everything i do is aiding both my plants and algae but my plants should be starving the algae obviously its not, so make me believe, i may have the right light co2 but my ferts am i overdosing my ferts, and i don't have enough plants to soak up all that ferts and then leaving the algae to get the rest, only thing i have changed in the last month to cause my algae to go from slow growing to VERY rapid growing is add co2 and add ferts

please correct me if i am wrong i want to learn what i can

 

[SO19Firearms]

You can't overdose ferts. There is a chance you're underdosing them I guess, but I don't know what's in the Neutro + to advise you. I know Steveo knows about that fert so he might be able to tell you if you need to add more.

Follow these instructions for BBA.
You already assume you're lights are on too long which would certainly point to your CO2 being low. Does it it come on before lights on (a stability issue)? - If you're not getting new algae but seeing an increase in the old you may just have not got rid of it effectivaly in the first place. These methods tend to be preventative or diagnostic rather than a cure - so you need to get rid of it first and use the knowledge to not have it re-appear....


IMO

 

[Zikofski]

okay under-dosing that is interesting but i shall take into account thank you for the reply, i am stripping everything out except fish and sand and i am doing another deep clean like i did about 8 months ago, i am going to poor boiling water over the wood, and the rocks i want to keep same as what i did when i cleaned them i guess i herd someone using Hydrogen poroxide 3% solution is this an option for me bathing rock in that? for a few mins then rinsing them and washing them for a few days? i can go out and get some of that stuff i am sure

is it same and worht me getting one of these Siamese Algae Eaters to help me get rid of the BBA i have 2 bn plecs who are doing there best and one is looking abit fat haha never seen my pleco's eat my wafers either

 

[SO19Firearms]

Yeah hydrogen peroxide works and makes a reassuring fizz as it does. If you cant get hold of any look for liquid oxygen in the hydroponics world, but you'll pay over the odds.
If you have any you could use a liquid carbon to do similar stuff.

Have a good think about CO2 in your tank - including lights, turnover and distribution (dead spots, power heads working against each other etc) - That BBA on the leading edge of the leaf tells me it's breaking down there, causing ammonia, causing the algae...so it's probably growing faster than the CO2 can support it.....

Or i could be wrong

 

[Zikofski]

i have what i thought was liquid carbon but it did not work "flora Grow Carbo", says liquid co2 fertiliser bought it from maiden head aquatics as thats the only shop that sells it near me

i did what steve said about dosing on some anubus and it didnt work, i then dunked the bloody anubus into the stuff and that still didnt work haha

as im taking the rocks out of the tank now, i am observing that the algae is only growing where the light is directly contacting the item, like there is a patern under my log where the log shadow is if this makes sense?

 

[SO19Firearms]

as im taking the rocks out of the tank now, i am observing that the algae is only growing where the light is directly contacting the item, like there is a patern under my log where the log shadow is if this makes sense?

I'll gloss over that as I don't have an answer TBH. Somewhere it comes down to ammonia, CO2/light tho.... maybe poor flow over these objects?

 

[Zikofski]

hmm coiuld be but i have over 20x the tank volume in flow so i wouldn't have thought it was that,

either way i have cut of 90% of the leaves from my amazon swords and going to liquid carbon dose the ones that are left that have algae on them see if it works again, if i dose 100% carbon or 20:1 dose it really matter?

trying to clear out all the crud that has been left from dead plants and i think 2 dead fish last i counted i had 8 corys now i have 6 no idea where 2 have gone

 

[SO19Firearms]

if i dose 100% carbon or 20:1 dose it really matter?

The old way was to spot dose 100% using a pipette with the flow turned off (providing you don't dose more than the tank can manage)
If it's not working as you expect try upping it - but use common sense re. overall concentration etc.

20x seems alot - make sure it's quality flow - nothing working against each other. Maybe even try the old cotton on a stick trick and check around the tank, wind tunnel style.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Just reading up some more. As well as what you're doing you might want to really take a look at that flow. By having to much you may be impeding the plants ability to use the available CO2.....

 

[Zikofski]

really hmm okay that is interesting

i can angle the power head towards the front of the glass so there for is reducing the flow i guess

but thank you so much so far

 

[Zikofski]

okay i just dpot dosed should i say bathed my amazon swords in that liquid carbo that i have hope it works 100% solution no water used used a pipet to spray over it and dipped it in the solution using a tupawear going to leave it out for an hour then was and put back in the tank

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If you know why the issue started mate, generally CO2 or lack of for that algae, I'd get your excel or which ever carbon your using, drop the water level to expose all algae to air. Then mix the carbon with water to about 1:20 ratio in a spray bottle, spray all the algae and leave for a minute then refill the tank. It will turn red then vanish over a few days.

 

[Zikofski]

okay i did that but didnt, i took the plants out used a pipet with pure carbon solution no water, pipeted them for 10 mins as well as dunking the leafs into a tub of carbon stuff, then after an hour left with that stuff on washed and put into the tank

so far today nothing has changed, but today is first day with new light and co2 regime

will check up on it as im down for 2 and a bit weeks now so i can monitor it

 

[Ps3Steveo]

With regards to your flow as discussed in chat mate, you really want the flow to circulate the tank, so it comes in from the filters on the same side, moves along the top of the tank creating a slight ripple all the way to the other end of the tank, you can put a powerhead next to the outlets to give more push if its a long tank. Then it will hit the opposite end and naturally move downwards and come back on itself, this again you can aid with a powerhead if needs be. Then it will dose the carpet plants and move along the bottom to the out take filter pipes which you position below the inlets creating a circular flow round the whole tank. At the moment you have flows fighting each other.