Algae Out Of Control

[alanchown]

I've let my tank go a bit recently and I now have an algae problem. Its horrible slimy filamentous stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's not BGA. It doesn't seem to 'root' to anything, just gets caught up on the plants and keeps growing-inches per day!

I checked my stats this morning and

PH=7.6+
KH= 180 ppm
CO2= 5 ppm
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 5+

So clearly my CO2 is on the low side-I turned it down abit as I was refilling the bottle every couple of weeks, but obviously went too far.

So I have done a 50% water change, upped the CO2 to give me

PH=6.8
CO2 47ppm

CO2 via JBL cylinder, around 12 hrs per day. Lighting around 10 hrs per day

Trying to get the PH around 7.00 to give me around 30ppm of co2.

MY tap water has a fair amount oif Nitrate in to start, according to the local water authority it is less than 20ppm, and phosphates are apparently abt 1.7, which is probably more accurate data than a test kit gives me, so as well as upping the CO2, I'm going to start 5ppm of nitrate every other day and general fertiliser every other day. I think the Phospate is probably best left.

Am I on the right lines? (data regarding lighting etc in the sig). Will my algae start to disappear, or do I need to strip everything down (doesn't seem a good idea).

Alan

 

[MoreCoffee]

How many plants do you have in there ?
You'll find your algae far easier to beat if the tank is heavily planted with some fast growing stem plants.
That combined with good lighting and stable Co2 should win the battle.

Your CO2 was very low to start with. If you have your lights on for 10 hours per day then you may want to try reducing the Co2 to match, the plants wont need the extra Co2 once the lights go off and this will save you on CO2 and with a bit less Co2 in the water it may help you get your PH nearer 7


Al

 

[JamesC]

Sounds just like BGA to me, especially if your nitrates are at 0. I've got some algae photo's and remedies on my website if you want to try and identify. A photo would really help if you can't ID.

James

 

[alanchown]

Sounds just like BGA to me, especially if your nitrates are at 0. I've got some algae photo's and remedies on my website if you want to try and identify. A photo would really help if you can't ID.

James

The tank is heavily planted-very heavily in fact, I'm 99.9 % sure thats it's not BGA (had it before and I know what it looks like). From your pics I'd say it's Cladophora. I have some Excel, so will try overdosing with that too.

Alan

 

[alanchown]

Sounds just like BGA to me, especially if your nitrates are at 0. I've got some algae photo's and remedies on my website if you want to try and identify. A photo would really help if you can't ID.

James

The tank is heavily planted-very heavily in fact, I'm 99.9 % sure thats it's not BGA (had it before and I know what it looks like). From your pics I'd say it's Cladophora. I have some Excel, so will try overdosing with that too.

Alan

It looks pretty much like this, although not as thick http/shop.uwphoto.no/250/job01cd105.jpg

EDIT: on second thoughts I'll stick with cladophora

Alan

 

[JamesC]

Cladophora is regarded by many as one of the worst algaes to get as it is so hard to erradicate. Good CO2 and ferts won't clear it as I found out when I had it last year. I got it when I went away for 2 weeks and tank was under dosed. Took 3 weeks of daily 3x overdosing excel to clear. Fish and shrimp were fine but my vallis took a hit but recovered well. Even so it may be a good idea to keep a close eye on things.

James

 

[alanchown]

Cladophora is regarded by many as one of the worst algaes to get as it is so hard to erradicate. Good CO2 and ferts won't clear it as I found out when I had it last year. I got it when I went away for 2 weeks and tank was under dosed. Took 3 weeks of daily 3x overdosing excel to clear. Fish and shrimp were fine but my vallis took a hit but recovered well. Even so it may be a good idea to keep a close eye on things.

James

Did you over dose at 3 x the initial rate on the bottle, or 3 x the subsequent daily rate?

Alan

 

[JamesC]

Did you over dose at 3 x the initial rate on the bottle, or 3 x the subsequent daily rate?

Alan

At 3x subsequent daily rate. Forget about the initial rate.

It took a while before there was any noticeable change so you just have to be patient with it.

James

 

[alanchown]

I've let my tank go a bit recently and I now have an algae problem. Its horrible slimy filamentous stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's not BGA. It doesn't seem to 'root' to anything, just gets caught up on the plants and keeps growing-inches per day!

I checked my stats this morning and

PH=7.6+
KH= 180 ppm
CO2= 5 ppm
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 5+

So clearly my CO2 is on the low side-I turned it down abit as I was refilling the bottle every couple of weeks, but obviously went too far.

So I have done a 50% water change, upped the CO2 to give me

PH=6.8
CO2 47ppm

CO2 via JBL cylinder, around 12 hrs per day. Lighting around 10 hrs per day

Trying to get the PH around 7.00 to give me around 30ppm of co2.

MY tap water has a fair amount oif Nitrate in to start, according to the local water authority it is less than 20ppm, and phosphates are apparently abt 1.7, which is probably more accurate data than a test kit gives me, so as well as upping the CO2, I'm going to start 5ppm of nitrate every other day and general fertiliser every other day. I think the Phospate is probably best left.

Am I on the right lines? (data regarding lighting etc in the sig). Will my algae start to disappear, or do I need to strip everything down (doesn't seem a good idea).

Alan

A week or so on, things seem to be better, but I'm not convinced. I removed all of my plants and cleaned off all of the algae and replanted most, but I seemed to end up with less stem plants and quite a lot of slower growing stuff, so i've outed this (today) and replaced with cabomba and some riccia, which has grow well, too well in fact in the past. I've also had to replace my external filter, but seeded it from the outgoing one.

PH is now a steady 7 with CO2 around 30ppm, I'm dosing daily, but have noticed a few strands of algae re-appearing which i remove straight away.

Alan