Advice Neede Please!

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

mattwhite

New Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Location
County Durham UK
Hi All

I have a Jewel Rekord 80 Aquarium which has been up and running for narly 2 1/2 years. It contains community fish and I have it planted it with crypts and valis. I have a nutrafin C02 unit and my lighting is a single jewel tube which is on for approx 8 hrs aday.

My problem is that I have black hair algae growing om most of my plants, decorations and glass. It is even starting to grow on my gravel substrate. It has been like this for while now and is getting worse.

It is getting to the point where I look at my tank and all I see is the algae and not mu fish or plants any more, know what I mean?

What should I do to get rid of the algae?

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

Do you have your nitrate reading at hand? Since plans (which includes algae as well) use nitrate as well, excess nitrate could cause algae blooms - too much nutrients for the other plants to consume and thus causing a breeding ground for algae.

You can try adding Marimo Moss Balls which should outcomptete the algae for the nutrients in the water.

You can also use something like Nutrafin Waste Control added with your weekly water change to help with the breakdown of organic matter in the tank.

As a matter of interest, do you keep your CO2 unit running all day? If so, turn it off at night as your plants only require CO2 during the day.
 
HI Johan

My last nitrate reading was 40ppm. My co2 is constantly on, with the nutrafin system you have no way of turning it off or on.

matt
 
what wattage is your light?
I admit I am no plant expert, but I thought CO2 was only really needed with high light.
do you add any ferts?

You might want to post this in the planted section of the forum btw. There's plenty of experts lurking around there.
 
what wattage is your light?
I admit I am no plant expert, but I thought CO2 was only really needed with high light.
do you add any ferts?

You might want to post this in the planted section of the forum btw. There's plenty of experts lurking around there.

CO2 is in addition to lighting, the light assisting with photosynthesis and the CO2 acting as nutrient to the plants (along with other ferteliser containing chelated iron).

Matt, since plants consume oxygen during the night and give off CO2, you will find that additional CO2 being generated giving the algae the added nutrients to flourish.

How often and how much do you feed your fish on a daily basis? Decaying food could contribute in too much nutrients being available to be consumed by the plants alone. Hence the suggestion of adding moss balls and waste control.
 
Hi Matt,

Do you have your nitrate reading at hand? Since plans (which includes algae as well) use nitrate as well, excess nitrate could cause algae blooms - too much nutrients for the other plants to consume and thus causing a breeding ground for algae.

You can try adding Marimo Moss Balls which should outcomptete the algae for the nutrients in the water.

You can also use something like Nutrafin Waste Control added with your weekly water change to help with the breakdown of organic matter in the tank.

As a matter of interest, do you keep your CO2 unit running all day? If so, turn it off at night as your plants only require CO2 during the day.

I would ignore this advice as per the following:

Nutrients do not cause algae. algae does use nutrients but only if the plants are not growing. Therefore excess nutrient will not be accessed by algae unless there is a defficiency of another nutrient like phosphate, potassium etc.

No point running CO2 in your tank because it IS only needed by tanks with higher light. The more light a tank has then the faster photosynthesis is driven and therefore the CO2 in the water and nutrient supplied by fishwaste is not enough for this faster photosynthesis. This is why people who use higher light go on to CO2 and fertiliser dosing.

Moss Balls are not moss. they are in fact......algae so I can't see the point in putting algae into the tank in the hope of getting rid of algae!!!

I would check your wattage against your tank volume. You have a 20USG tank and therefore need approx 20W of light for the plants you have.

My guess would be that the algae is appearing due to the crypts. Great plants and the majority of the tank in the right picture of my signature is made up of crypts BUT....when crypts are first put into your tank they tend to adapt badly to the change in parameters. They will then go through a 'melt' which means that their leaves dissintegrate. After which they will then recover and grow new leaves which will then go on to give you beautiful plants.

The reason this is a problem is because when this happens to any plant not just crypts that deteriating leaves leach ammonia into the water column and THIS is what causes the algae. You may find that the black algae you have is only on leaves that are deteriating. Most people assume the algae is killing the leaves as they see the algae then the plant 'dieing' but this is because the algae grows the minute ammonia starts leaching and this is normally when there aren't many visible signs YET of the plants problems.

Therefore I would perform a decent water change daily until the crypts recover to remove this ammonia. Chop off all the affected leaves upon sight and ditch the CO2 until everything is recovered.

Check your light and if needed upgrade to 1WPG.

Once the plants have started growing again and look nice then you can decide if you want to return the CO2 to the tank. If so you may need to dose some fertiliser but that is a different story.

Picture of the tank would help just to see how many plants you actually have.

Andy
 
SuperColey

My crypts have been in the tank for 2 years now and have grown from tiny cuttings to really nice plants. A lot of the older leaves do get covered in the algae and eventually I have to cut them back.

I think I tried the tank without the co2 system a while ago and the plants started to die back. What do you suggest to combat this?

Matt
 
What is your light? K rating (or trade name i.e. Hagen AquaGlo) and wattage (or diameter and length)?

And what filter are you running on the tank.

And how planted is it (% of substrate covered when looking from above)

Andy
 
The light is a aecadia day glo or something like that, just a basic one I think, been in the tank for about 6 months now. It is around 23 inches long and 18watts.

looking down on the tank I would say it is around 50% planted.

It has a Juwel Standard Internal filter.
 
I must admit I am stumped really.

As you say that it used to be OK and just recently has started undergoing this algal growth I can only assume that there has been a change in the tank.

Maybe your filter material needs replaceing, maybe there is a blockage somewhere or restriction on the flow, change of temperature, disturbance of the substrate?

Maybe its just time to start again. Sorry to be vague but if there have been no known changes then the problem shouldn't really have started when it was OK for so long. Maybe something unknown has happened!!

andy
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top