Algae Going Crazy On Me

[arabballin]

So i know this thread is always full of algae questions but i hope you all dont mind answering mine.

My tank is a 29 gallon and i have 4 plants
1 Brazillian Sword
1 Anubias
1 Java Fern
1 Crypt(i think it is but im not sure)

I have 40 watts of light with one bulb being the one that came with the hood and the other bulb being an 18000k.
I use liquid ferts every water change (which is about 40 percent every 10 days) and i have root tabs under the substrate.


My problem is the algae is everywhere. I think its taking away from the plants and thats one reason my plants all look very drab. It makes my whole tank look pretty bad actually.
The algae on the glass is not my problem because i can clean that and i have 5 otos that do a decent job of helping me out. But the algae on all the leaves of the plants and every where bugs the heck out of me.

I think i may be keeping the lights on too long, i have them on from 8 in the morning to about 10 at night. I know its a lot but i didnt think it would be a big deal with lighting thats not extremely high. Could this be one of the reasons?

Anyone with any suggestions as too what i can do to help my tank please help me.

 

[Kyrielle]

I think you need more plants. If I'm not mistaken, controlling algae is all about balancing your plants and conditions such that the plants always have the upperhand. One way to do this is to really fill up your tank with plants. I would also lessen the time your lights are on.

 

[nicklfire]

Yea that's part of your problem. Your algae is basically taking all the unused nutrients in the water and using that to thrive. MMMMMM algae loves to eat, and it will continue to eat all those un used nutrients. Keeping a planted tank is a vital art, you'll find even the pros get there algae problems, it's just figuring out how to keep it minimal and how to correct it when it does come about. First off 18000k aint the right lighting spectrum you want to be helping your plants out, planted tanks ideally want a 6700k spectrum. But i doubt that's where your algae problems are coming from. You definately have too few plants and too many nutrients. More stem growers would certainly help you. Co2 injection by DIY would help you out aswell. I would correct the issue of the lighting and rung about 2.4 WPG with 6700K Compacts. Coralife has awesome lights to help you out here aswell. There is so much information on this site. The pinned articles at the top of the section will help you out alot. Take a good amount of time to read everyone because i can tell you it will help you in the long run. Start at the pinned articles. They have topics about algae and lighting.

 

[arabballin]

Questions:
Will the compact bulbs just go right into my hood or so i need a new hood?

Do i really have to do all the CO2 and more lighting? cause i cant afford to spend much more, i can buy the right bulbs and more plants no problem, but i hear a new hood with compact lighting is expensive.

 

[ICEEGRL]

What exactly do you have now? As there are tons of options usually....

 

[SuperColey1]

I think it is very misleading to say that you need to up your lighting to 2WPG to combat algae as this will surely just let the algae produce faster.

I think you should stay with your current lighting and get a lot of fast growers into the tank. They will outcompete the algae hopefully.

If you scour the recent algae posts there are some replies from Tom Barr about low light tanks with no CO2 and no nutrients and how he suggests combatting algae.

If you want high lighting PC Compacts will fit they are 22" for 55W and I am guessing you have a 30" tank.

If you are UK then you can get the single unit cheap from Tamaraquatics site. The bulbs are cheapest from SurreyPetSupplies aite. but I would learn to conquer the algae you currently have before putting in some high lighting cos if you have algae now, then you won't be able to see through the tank after getting high lights in for a week.

andy

 

[arabballin]

My set up is just an external filter and a 40 watt hood. Yea i read co2 and more light will just produce more if not everthing is perfect.

I will look into more fast growing plants, anyone got any good suggestions?

 

[sophos9]

Read through this thread and this thread, they will offer some value as I was in the same boat but an slowly coming out the other end now

Bottom line is you do not have enough plants in there, I learnt this the hard way - then after experiencing the worst algae growth I have ever seen I crammed around 200ish fast growers in, this stalled the algae growth

50% water change once per week followed by 2 x 20% during the week helped a little bit, stability is key!

Your lighting period is too long, I found that throwing a 2hr siesta in actually helped reduce algae growth (I know that people think this period is controversial) I don't know the science behind it. Get your lights on a timer and try 09:30 to 2:30 then 4:30 to 9:30 (or something around that) but go for 10hrs max. Is 18000k not a marine tube? Not sure but I think 6700k is what to look for (maybe someone can confirm?)

Get your lighting period sorted first
Make sure your water parameter are all OK
Fill your tank full of fast growing stems

What are your water parameters and do you have any fish in?

 

[BigIan]

itsll all about the lighting mate...
15 hrs a day is alot, my tank has 8.

at roughly 1.5 wpg you have decent enough light, to grow most plants,

what i suggest you do is do more water changes...

i`m having huse algae issues on my 60 gal at the moment and i`m doing 3 50% changes every week.

and adding some fast growing stem plants is also going to help. ludwiggia is akways a good choice

 

[arabballin]

My tank is at:
0 ammonia
0 nirtrites
20 nitrates

Stock:
6 tiger barbs
2 bolivian rams
5 oto cats
4 sterbai corys

I have started to decrease the lighting and i am gonna start my new schedule for water changes today which will be
40-50 percent once a week and 20 percent 2 days after and then 10 2 days after that. The 50 percent change will be used to vacumn and scrub the glass and all those things.

Quick Question: Will me decreasing my algae leave nothing for my oto's to eat? with all of it in their they look so happy and fat and i dont want to take their main food away. I try to feed them algae wafers but my tiger barbs just tear into any food that goes in.

New greens will go into the tank as soon as new greens go in the wallet.

The bulb is a marine bulb, my lfs guy sold it to me because he said it would make the fish look best and help the plants grow well.

Thank you for all the help so far by the way. Any other suggestions for good plants by the way?

 

[sophos9]

Great stuff...

Many of the stems you will chuck away once the tank is balanced, elodea densa, hygrophilia species and riccia (surface grower) are good fast growers. Not sure about the marine bulb, google it and see what happens, not sure if its good for plant growth?

Good move clearing all the algae down before the water change and give your Ottos a slice of cucumber or zuchini if you have worries bout them

Do check the threads I posted earlier, lots of answers to questions and a few laughs to boot!

Good Luck and trust me, dont give up! I'm looking at my tank now and so happy I'm winning the war, very very happy

 

[Discus_Discuses_Discae]

before getting into lighting levels and co2 and all of that stuff...
how about phosphates? the # 1 reason i see phosphates is PH buffers (products that say.. buffers PH to X.X) are you using any of these?
phosphats can also be brought in by uneaten food etc.... get rid of them by water changes or phosphate removal resins
and those fertilizer tabs... i would only use them on "Heavy root feeders" (crypts and swords in your case)
and java fern likes to be above the substrate... is yours burried? (it will slowly turn brown/loose leaves)
and keep the glass scrubbed down... the ottos will go clean the leaves.. mine do..
also if you can find them Olive snails, sometimes called nertile snails clean algae on any surface FAST and will not eat plants (will not reproduce in freshwater)
get about 12 for your tank and in less than one week it'll prob be clear

P.S. also algae killer makes algae comeback with a vengance from nutrients released from dead algae.......


hope this helps

 

[arabballin]

No i am not using any ph buffers or anything like that and i almost never have uneaten food from my corys always scouring the bottom.

What do u mean the java fern likes to stay above the substrate?

Does that mean i need to tie or anchor it?

Right now i have it in the substrate but its not totally burried

 

[Themuleous]

First off, yes java fern needs to be above the substrate. i.e the thing all the leaves come out of is called the rhyzome, if this is buried it'll root, that why most people attach java ferns to rocks and wood.

phosphats can also be brought in by uneaten food etc.... get rid of them by water changes or phosphate removal resins

I don't necessarily agree with that. Removing PO4 is not necessary. It does not on its own cause algae. I've run tanks with PO4 well over 5ppm but no algae.

Sam

 

[Discus_Discuses_Discae]

I don't necessarily agree with that. Removing PO4 is not necessary. It does not on its own cause algae. I've run tanks with PO4 well over 5ppm but no algae.

Sam

with those buffers phosphates can reach well over 35-40 ppm i had a tank that got daily water changes of 15% and every water parameter was very good.. except PO4 was off the chart... diluted the sample.. still over the chart... so at 35-40 ppm defenately can cause problems by itself... i say this because i started not using the product and tested everything that goes into the tank for phosphates and lowerd the concentration to 2.0 ppm and ALL of the visible algae dissapeared..... these phosphate based buffers are even more vicious when comined with multiple tube PC lighting

also ArabBallin i've heard of java fern doing well when people just place it on the gravel and place a rock on it to keep it down.... but tieing it to something with black cotton string is best

also go get yourself a timer and try 6 hours on 2 hours off and 6 hours on again or 5 2 5 you get the idea... the 2 hour off period will not adversely affect the plants or fish
this is not a quick fix but it will help keep your tank's algae under control... this uses the fact that algae needs long periods of light to thrive