Brown Fuzz

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Jbram

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Ok so I have read all the posts I can find that relate to the algae growth on my plants and have consulted the LFS to combat the brown fuzz that seems to cover my plant leaves.  I have done live plants in smaller tanks and never had this issue, but now in my 120 gallon it won't go away.
 
It is a thin layer of brown fuzzy algae that is easy to wipe off but comes back.  I am using a 48" PC light fixture that is running 4 65w 6500 bulbs that hang about 10 inches above water surface.
 
Tank dimensions are 72"long, 18" deep and 24" tall.   I am currently running both a SunSun  canister filter that does 524gal/hr and a Marineland 350 hang on back Biowheel filter.  I have two Koralia 1050 circulation pumps, one at each end aimes slightly upwards to provide more oxygenation through surface movement.  The heater is a 400watt visi-therm.
 
I am dosing daily with Fourish excel and then one a week I use propel and the same with envy which are both aquavitro products.
 
Two of the lights come on at 8am then the other two come on at 12.  At 4pm the first two lights shut off then around 8pm only some blue LEDs are on.
 
I am doing 30% water changes once a week.  PH is 7.5-8..... Ammonia 0....... Nitrite 0..... Nitrate 5mg/L
 
I clean the plants before each water change so that the debris is loose floating and can get sucked out with water change.  I have tried overdosing the Excel and I have tried reducing the lighting.  I have removed all the plants and cleaned them well while I did a water change then replanting. 
 
The ends on my anubias, crypts and swords all turn brown due to this stuff, I want to get it gone.  The only thing I have left to try is a blackout but not sure if that would work or not.  Any other suggestions?
 
 
How long did you try less light for?
Usually this type of algae is caused by too much light. Also I'm not familiar with those ferts but not dosing enough ferts and/or the wrong type of ferts can cause this algae too.
You are dosing excel which mahes your tank 'high tech' so you should be dosing micros and macros daily as well so the plants always have a constant supply of ferts.
The best dosing strategy I have found is called the estimative index, which is basically overdosing your tank with nutrients so the plants have a non limiting supply of food.
 
I tried less light for two weeks. 
As for the other products Envy is a supplement with Vit. C, Thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, choline, Vit. B, Arginine, glutamate, Lysine, Tyrosine, Poly. Unsaturated Fat
 
Propel is an iron suppliment
 
Two weeks isn't really long enough to see an improvement I would say a minimum of 4 - 6 weeks, and you definitely need to dose some appropriate fertilisers .

If you can get a set of E.I. fertilisers that would be your best bet or something like Tropica plant growth specialised would be ok too. you need to dose them daily , so if the instructions say 15ml per week for your tank split the dose by 7 and dose it with the excel.
 
Sounds great, I will get to the store today and see what I can find.  Thank you for the help
 

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