Been Advised To Get A Co2 System..

[fishy55599]

To get rid of black hair algae i have been advised to get a Co2 system
does this look alright?
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAGEN-NUTRAFIN-NATURAL-CO2-SYSTEM-AQUARIUM-PLANTS-/200356983700?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2ea634f394

 

[Uriel]

I don't really know a great deal about CO2 but have heard that you can treat a tank for algea with Seachem Flourish excel. You need to overdose it and it is apparently very effective. Do your research though cause as with anything you add to you tank there is always the possibility for side effects.

 

[fishy55599]

I don't really know a great deal about CO2 but have heard that you can treat a tank for algea with Seachem Flourish excel. You need to overdose it and it is apparently very effective. Do your research though cause as with anything you add to you tank there is always the possibility for side effects.

oh can it really get rid of it!?
it is alot cheaper, that means i could get more decor and stuff

 

[myrtle]

With liquid carbon and CO2, as soon as you stop dosing your algae will return. I assume you've been pointed to CO2 as you have a lot of light in a planted tank? If you don't want to go down the CO2 route permanently then reduce your lighting and dose with liquid carbon (easycarbo/excel) until the algae has gone. With lower light the algae may not return though I can't promise it if there are other triggers in your tank, ie direct sunlight etc...

ETA Using liquid carbon as a permanent solution will work out more expensive than pressurised CO2 in the long run.

 

[myrtle]

I've just seen the original post and from what I can gather you don't have a "planted tank" so pressurised CO2 would be a waste of money. If it were my tank, I'd remove the fish to a temporary home (tank/bucket etc) empty the tank and throw away the substrate, scrub it within an inch of it's life and as you say, remove the ornaments that came with it and replace with new and some live plants to use up excess nutrients. Refill with lovely fresh substrate and water and make sure you are really tight-fisted with food for a while and see how that goes. If it does start to return then quite possibly some liquid carbon might be in order.
Hope this helps

 

[fishy55599]

With liquid carbon and CO2, as soon as you stop dosing your algae will return. I assume you've been pointed to CO2 as you have a lot of light in a planted tank? If you don't want to go down the CO2 route permanently then reduce your lighting and dose with liquid carbon (easycarbo/excel) until the algae has gone. With lower light the algae may not return though I can't promise it if there are other triggers in your tank, ie direct sunlight etc...

ETA Using liquid carbon as a permanent solution will work out more expensive than pressurised CO2 in the long run.

ok, so woul the link to one on ebay e suitable?

 

[myrtle]

Ha ha, I think we cross posted! Don't bother with pressurised unless you've got a tank with numerous live plants!

 

[FishTankCrazy]

Just buy a couple of SAE they love the stuff!

 

[fishy55599]

Ha ha, I think we cross posted! Don't bother with pressurised unless you've got a tank with numerous live plants!

it has 1 atm, but wen i get another tank at hristmas im gonna buy 50 live plants from ebay and put them in

 

[myrtle]

Have a good read of the planted Aquarium Resource Centre (PARC) down in the planted section. Running a heavily planted tank is very different to an unplanted tank when it comes to fertilisers and maintenance.

You will want to make sure you've got rid of the algae first otherwise the plants will be overrun and suffer.

 

[fishy55599]

I've just seen the original post and from what I can gather you don't have a "planted tank" so pressurised CO2 would be a waste of money. If it were my tank, I'd remove the fish to a temporary home (tank/bucket etc) empty the tank and throw away the substrate, scrub it within an inch of it's life and as you say, remove the ornaments that came with it and replace with new and some live plants to use up excess nutrients. Refill with lovely fresh substrate and water and make sure you are really tight-fisted with food for a while and see how that goes. If it does start to return then quite possibly some liquid carbon might be in order.
Hope this helps

ok thats cool, the substrate is and, so it soesnt grow on it any way, i gave the back a really good scrub yesturday wen i was doing a w/c as it was covered in green algae, now most is gone.
so i will replace everything but they wont go in the tank till i upgrade the tank so i can get some plants.

also will keep light time lower, and feed less then

Have a good read of the planted Aquarium Resource Centre (PARC) down in the planted section. Running a heavily planted tank is very different to an unplanted tank when it comes to fertilisers and maintenance.

really coz i have got 1 plant atm and it is doing ok and has lived a while

 

[myrtle]

1 plant will be ok as there will be enough nutrients from the fish waste and any excess food

 

[fishy55599]

1 plant will be ok as there will be enough nutrients from the fish waste and any excess food

it will end up with about 5 plants in total

 

[myrtle]

How big is your tank? 5 plants in a 35l would be heavily planted whereas the same plants in a 240l would be lightly planted and would be ok without extra ferts etc

 

[UKCo2Guy]

+1 for the SAE`s, they`ll make short work of that type of algae, mine did I would personally increase your water changes and manually remove for the short term / get some SAE`s If you are going planted then a good fertilizer regimen, stable co2 etc will also help keep this stuff at bay. If you want advise on this setup etc then i`m more than happy to help

I`ll be honest, that link you posted for ebay, i would forget it. CO2 has to be kept pretty stable e.g. once you`ve found the best bubble rate you generally leave it and only provide minor changes. That kit on ebay will need refilling often and the co2 emitted from it will fluctuate quite a bit, i wouldn`t be surprised if you had more algae issues with that than without it, well that`s my opinion anyhow Again if you are serious about getting decent plants then a pressurised system is the only way to go and it does not cost hundreds like you see in some shops, i built my last full rig for £50 including reg, cylinder (fire extinguisher), diffuser, stop valves, solenoid, timers.

Cheers,