A Little Bit Of A Problem....

razer121

THE Triop Man XD
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so ive been fighting this for ages!! im not sure how to stop this, gravel vacs dont work and no matter what i try i cannot stop this stuff...

heres some pictures to show how big a problem i have...

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now as you can tell its a big problem lol but, i do water changes every 2 days...roughly anyway as this is my cichlid fry tank...and also!

this is my other tank...

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which is also having problems that i cannot seem to get rid of.....any help advice would be great!
 
hmm i had this.. tho i can`t remember what i did about it.. its nasty looking eh!
PM nick16.. hes clever on most stuff and algae is one of them...could be due to lots of factors and if you dont get the right one you`ll start pulling your hair out with frustration
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good luck hope you get it sorted :)
shelagh xxx

ps i like that pot.. did you make it yourself ( the one covered in wee stones)
 
I've got the same sorta stuff growing all over my glosso and its killing it and I don't know what it is :(
 
Half lighting, increase circulation and stop doing the water changes every 2 days, as this causes fluctuating levels of CO2, which triggers this type of algae.
 
too much light and nutrients, not enough co2 or plants to utilize the excess nutrients/light.


its all balance...


lol what trackasaurus said is correct too.

increase the circulation
 
Half lighting, increase circulation and stop doing the water changes every 2 days, as this causes fluctuating levels of CO2, which triggers this type of algae.

nice one Truck.. i was going to tell him/her to PM you, but the last time i did that i had a pm to say that the member couldnt find you as i had spelt your user name wrong
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very good advise as always
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wow much more help then i expected! few things i just need to clear up first,

how do i half the light? do you mean to not leave the light on for as long?
how can i get more co2 into the tank?
whats the best way to increase circulation
is it safe to do 1 water change a week? this is my cichlid fry tank......

@ shelaghfishface : yes i made it myself, i used some black gravel and just stuck it onto the pot with aquamate, worked a treat! but did take a fair few hours to do...thanks though!! :)

thanks for the help so far guys
 
by halfing the light, just half the photo period, so run for approximately 4 hours a day.
theres no need to increase CO2, It will be unstable which Is why you should stop the water changes so levels don't fluctuate.
Best way of increasing circulation is to add a powerhead, In a 10 gallon a koralia nano will be fine.
1 water change a week is fine, 50% would be good as it will remove algal spores.
 
Aaah to much nutrients that could be my problem when I fertilize my plants I sometimes add abit to much since its only a tiny 5 gallon i've gotta measure like 1ml and sometimes get 2 or even 3 of the stuff.

I'll try halfing the lighting and more circulation aswell if I can find a small enough power head.
 
Black out the tank for a few days to kill most of it. Then do all the other stuff posted above.
 
Aaah to much nutrients that could be my problem when I fertilize my plants I sometimes add abit to much since its only a tiny 5 gallon i've gotta measure like 1ml and sometimes get 2 or even 3 of the stuff.

You need to get out of this mindset. Having the excess fertilisers around is not causing your algae. If this were true, then planted tanks simply wouldn`t work, especially those that use methods such as Estimative Index or PPS Pro. Taking a look at the recent results of the IAPLC and AGA aquascaping competitions, and how these tanks are dosed, there is overwhelming evidence that having excess nutrients in the water column is not causing algae.

Going back to your tank, you have added light to water. Light is the single most important driver of green life in aquaria. The bigger the light, the more fuel required in the way of ferts are needed in the tank. Obviously, the light levels are above the lower threshhold values to trigger life, so something is going to grow in your water. It is now up to you define what it is that is going to grow. The evidence shows that your plants are covered in algae, which equates to them being unhappy. The lack of plant health could well be what has triggered your algae problems in the first place. Unhealthy plants will leach ammonia across their cell walls, which is thought to be a possible ammonia trigger.

What you need to do is to decide whether you are going to invest more time in the planted side of this tank, which means providing more carbon and ferts to suit your light levels, plus more plant mass, or reduce either the photoperiod and/or the intensity of the light to reduce fert demands from your plants.


It also appears that you could be getting BGA in your substrate. This is quite common in sand, and I have found that it tends to originate in the substrate where day light is hitting it, often at the front. One simple solution is to run some balck tape across the front of the tank to block off light to the substrate. Another trigger for BGA is lower nitrate levels, something that could also be affecting your plant health too. I suspect that what you are dosing is just trace elements, and not any of the higher demand nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. A carbon deficiency could also be a major problem in this tank too. Carbon comes second to light in how fast growth is driven in your tank and, hence, the demand for other nutrients by your plants.

Either way, something needs to change for your existing plants to thrive. A carbon supplement such as Flourish Excel could be of great help. If I were you, and had decided to just go along with just the current planting, I would look to manually remove as much algae as possible, change as much water as is practicable, give your tank a 100% black out for three or four days, followed by another huge water change and start to dose Flourish Excel straight away. The BGA could be down to a flow problem, possibly rectified by experimenting with its direction, ensuring that the affected areas are getting a good stream of water directed at them. If the algae is well established and persists, try another clean up, water change and black out three or four days after the previous black out.

Once you understand the needs of your plants, and how they are driven by light and carbon, running a planted tank is too easy. It will be your plants defining your tank and how you fertilise it, not algae.

Dave.
 
Thanks for that great post Dave, with my post I was going by what bigfairy said and ment to much light aswell as to much nutrients are left in the water compared to Co2 levels which re reading my post thought I ment just nutrients so thats my mistake i'll try word stuff better.

So just to get things right to much light+nutrients compared to Co2 will feed the algae, whereas if it was only to much light and not as much nutrients it wouldn't grow as rapidly right? So basically what I need to do is cut the lighting period down as high light plus to much nutrients is the killer.

Also i'm dosing with dry ferts using KN03, KH2P04 and a trace mix.
 
i dont does with any ferts! i never have done...and my main tank in the front room thrives....and to be honest my community tanks plants do aswell, if i have a dying plant i put it there and it just grows :hyper: im going to try the black out, will this be stressfull at all for the fish? also, some plants have brown bits on them (you can see this in the 4th picture, i cliped the plants leaf of and the stem died!! is that normal? i dont get it :(
 
So just to get things right to much light+nutrients compared to Co2 will feed the algae,

Yes, but it is the limiting factor of the CO2 as a source of carbon that will cause the algae. Reduce the light and you reduce the need for a carbon source, so it is no longer a limitation to your plants. The other solution is to increase the CO2, but that is another path you may not wish to go down.

So basically what I need to do is cut the lighting period down as high light plus to much nutrients is the killer.

High light and “too much nutrients” results in super fast growth. With sufficient healthy plant mass and nutrient distribution, daily pruning will be the only killer.

Also i'm dosing with dry ferts using KN03, KH2P04 and a trace mix.

My guess is that you have read up on EI, judging by your using dry salts. Without a picture of your algae, I am going to put £50 on your Glosso being covered in staghorn or BBA, which are CO2 related.




im going to try the black out, will this be stressful at all for the fish?

Sorry, I didn`t realise I wasn`t answering the OP. No, your fish will just have a nice, serene three days or so.

also, some plants have brown bits on them (you can see this in the 4th picture, i cliped the plants leaf of and the stem died!! is that normal? i dont get it

I am not sure what specific plant this is, but rosette type plants need the stem removing as close to the base as possible, because without the leaf, dying of the stem part is normal. Stem plants react differently.

You may not dose your struggling tank, but the principles for combatting algae remain the same for you. You may have too much light, outstripping the carbon demand of your plants. Flourish excel could be part of the answer, but look to control the situation using light.

Dave.
 
Looking at pics of staghorn it looks pretty mush the same so nice guess :)

I'll cut my lighting down to 4 hours a day and see how things go from there thanks for that mate.
 

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