Algea Id Please- Pics Included

[dasmall1]

Any help on what it is and how to eliminate it greatly appreciated!

Parameters:
CO2- 30ppm
NO3- 15ppm
PO4- 2 ppm
K- ?
Light- 4.5 wpg. 5 hours on, 3 hours off, 5 hours on
Ammonia- 0 ppm

Fauna:
-7 Serpae tetras
-5 ghost shrimp
-2 amano shrimp
-5 otos

Here is a pic of it on the glosso and then on the blyxa japonica.

 

[JamesC]

Looks like green hair algae to me but a bit hard to properly tell from the photos. Can be a bit problematic to eradicate sometimes. How are you dosing? Why so much light? - much easier to control things with less. No need for the light break as contrary to popular belief it doesn't do anything re algae. How are you measuring CO2? How heavily planted it your tank and do you have many fast growers?

Sorry for the questions but always need to know as much as poss about setups before I can help
James

 

[dasmall1]

I think it is beard algea after looking at an algea guide. It has the size, shape, and characteristics of beard algea except some of it is brownish and some is green. The only treatment it mentions is Simazine, which I would be rather apprehensive of using. Is there any other way? Here are some more pics and one fish pic b/c I just can't resist playing with my camera when I have it in my hands.

 

[tophat665]

That's green hair algae. It can usually be removed by hand, but sometimes, when it's rooted hard in a leaf, the only way to get rid of it is to snip the leaf off. Amano and Cherry shrimp eat it, as do mollies, sword tails, American-Flag Fish (Sometimes called Florida Flag Fish); and Siamese and False Siamese Algae Eaters and Flying Foxes. Of all those, my reading has lead me to believe that Swordtails are best at removing this type of algae, followed by SAEs and AFFs.

 

[Underwurlde]

I'd say 10 hours of lighting a day is a lot. Knock it back to 8?

How do you know your CO2 is 30ppm if you don't know kH?
Also, P is high I'd say at 2ppm. It's recommended that you should never overdose this (not my advice, just passing on). Knock it back to 1ppm?

All just speculation i'm afraid, but hopefully others will pick up on this and then we can BOTH learn something

No need for the light break as contrary to popular belief it doesn't do anything re algae

@JamesC, what makes you say that? I'm intreagued.....

Andy

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh my first instinct would be to check the CO2. The charts can be very inaccurate (well its the KH and pH reading that are inaccurate) so try the 1 pH point drop method and see how it look then.

How big is the tank? With that much lighting, I'm guessing small, if so how often do you water changes? Might be worth increasing these. Other than that amano shrimp would probably eat it.

Sam

 

[dasmall1]

How do you know your CO2 is 30ppm if you don't know kH?

No need for the light break as contrary to popular belief it doesn't do anything re algae

@JamesC, what makes you say that? I'm intreagued.....

Andy

pH is 6.0 and KH is 1, so according to the chart my CO2 is 39 ppm. And as for the break, the main reason for that is just so I can see my tank lit up.

Yeh my first instinct would be to check the CO2. The charts can be very inaccurate (well its the KH and pH reading that are inaccurate) so try the 1 pH point drop method and see how it look then.

How big is the tank? With that much lighting, I'm guessing small, if so how often do you water changes? Might be worth increasing these. Other than that amano shrimp would probably eat it.

Sam

The tank is 29 gallons. I have my water sitting and waiting the 24 hours now. 1 point drop = 30 ppm, right? Water changes are twice a week but I just started that last week. Next week will be ever day I dose N, P, K.

 

[Underwurlde]

Good grief, your pH and kH is low. On my chart pH=6.0 & kH=1 gives 30ppm CO2.

OK, so if you are dosing NPK, i.e. doing EI, then all you want is a ONCE per week, 50% (minimum) water change, not twice weekly water changes.

Are you dosing trace elements as well using something like SeaChem Flourish as well?

If you are doing all that, have at least >50% coverage of (fast) growing plants that you trim on a regular basis, then the plants should outsrip the Algae & it should die off. If you have been using EI for a while, then I can't explain your algae. PM Plaintbrain (Tom Barr) - I'm sure he'll have a few answers!

Andy

 

[JamesC]

No need for the light break as contrary to popular belief it doesn't do anything re algae

@JamesC, what makes you say that? I'm intreagued.....

If it worked then this thread wouldn't have had to be started. If you have algae try it and see if it make even the slightest difference.

I think the idea came about some time ago before CO2 addition became popular. The theory was that to prevent CO2 levels dropping too low as the day went on a dark period was inserted so as to let the CO2 levels build back up again. As is popular in this hobby one person's theory becomes many peoples belief.

James

 

[dasmall1]

I did the 24 hours CO2 test and it went from 6.0 to 7.0, or 30 ppm. I found that a toothbrush works well to mechanically remove it, even from the glosso. I'm going to continue to use a toothbrush, introduce SAE's, and reduce the amount of soluble iron that I add to the tank as suggested in a guide I read online.

 

[Themuleous]

Well CO2 sounds right then, but always worth checking, I was running my CO2 low for 6-8months cos the charts are were telling me I had 30ppm, when in fact is was more like 20ppm. BTW twice weekly water changes are fine, so long a you dose the P and N after to bring it back up to the right levels. I change water 3 times each week on my nano. Granted bigger tanks don't 'need' water changes as often, but they will do more good than harm (if harming at all).

So if its not your CO2, it must be an imbalance in the fert dosing, what’s the dosing schedule for the tank and which ferts are you using? I assume you're doing EI?

Can you get some shrimp?

Sam

 

[dasmall1]

Dosing schedule is (tell me if it's bad):

Day 1: 50% water change. 20 ppm N and 1 ppm P. Change CO2 bottle #1.
Day 2: 5 mL trace and 2 mL iron.
Day 3: 15 ppm N and 1 ppm P.
Day 4: 5 mL trace and 2 mL iron.
Day 5: 50% water change. 20 ppm N and 1 ppm P. Change CO2 bottle #2.
Day 6: 5 mL trace and 2 mL iron.
Day 7: Rest



As for the shrimp, I have 2 amano shrimp now because they are pretty expensive, like $3.50 USD. I have ghost shrimp because they are like $.30, but do they do anything? I'm looking at SAE's today. Thanks for all your help everyone!

 

[Themuleous]

What trace mix are you using? You probably dont need the extra iron, fairly sure it was to much iron that was causing the thread algae in my nano. As far as I know ghost shrimp dont eat algae, amanos are the best for that, expensive yet but worth the money IMHO.

Sam

 

[Underwurlde]

All I can say is don't do the 50% water change on day 5 - you are wasting your time and it will effect your NPK & trace dosing regime IMO - but I'm no expert - PM Plantbrain & get him in on this thead! It seems pointless to dose your tank up and then reset it early via the day 5 water change.

There is no harm in doing a BIGGER water change than 50% once a week but I think EI techniques is NOT to under-dose during the week which is what I guess is happening in your tank with a premature water change.

I agree with the iron dosing, again pointless.

What substrate have you got?

Andy

 

[dasmall1]

I'm using Flourish to dose trace. I will stop dosing the iron and see how that helps and will, of course, update you in a week to see how it is going. As for Mr. Barr, I don't want to bother him with such a stupid probably since he is practically a celebrity now. Thanks again

Edit: Sorry! Just realized I forgot to answer what substrate I use. I use Soilmaster Select (charcoal). It's an infield conditioner for baseball fields (I hear it's called runners in Europe). I like it so far. It has a nice dark charcoal color, it's rather fine, and the glosso carpeted very thick very quickly.