Carpet algae-intervention required

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mwe056

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Hi all!

I am sort of new, meaning I'm a new member but I have been visiting this site for years.

I have a serious carpet algae problem that I am afraid will require stripping the tank entirely. I would like to avoid that at all costs. It is a 55 gallon fresh, fully planted. CO2 injection with 3 bps. Bubble checker is green so I know my saturation is good. PH hovers around 7.0 +/-. I do 25% water changes about every 4-6 weeks, the lights are on for 10 hrs per day and I use a automatic feeder. The tank has been very stable for years. The pants are healthy and the fish are happy.

About 6 weeks ago I started seeing more algae than usual then I went away for 2 weeks. And, when I came back the tank was covered in carpet algae. Ok, I cleaned it up and did a 50% water change. I went away for 2 weeks and the tank was literally covered again. I travel over 200 days a year.

I did another 50% water change and cleaned the gravel again. I also changed the filters including the bio wheels this time. I had to take a tooth brush to the rocks, and decorations in the tank to clean it all. I could peel the algae of the leaves of the plants. I went away for another 10 days and as you can see from the photos below, It is covered again. Yes, this is 10 days algae growth.

I'm sure it's a nutrient imbalance of some sort but I don't know how to check for that or correct it at this point. Any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated.
 

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This looks like BGA, I'm fighting the same battle. However I've got daylight set to 6 hrs @ 60% intensity with reduced flake feeding, weekly vacuuming etc. I'm wondering if I need to adjust the spectral content of my lights.
 
The second photo shows cyanobacteria, commonly called blue green algae but it is a photosynthetic bacteria. It is caused by (an excess of) organics in the presence of light.

This means the organic level is way too high, above what the plants require in balance. It can be difficult to get control of, but the only safe and effective method is to reduce the organics. These may occur fromm the substrate, filters not kept spotlessly clean, over feeding, overstocking, insufficient water changes. Some of these problems you do mention. And I realize things may have seemed OK for whatever period, but the organic load has now increased to the point that cyanobacteria results.
 
So I spent about 8 hrs yesterday and completely stripped the tank. Removed all the plants, gravel, did a 50% water change for the 3 time in a month. Definitely not easy cleaning all the gravel in the sink. I think I got all the alae off the plants. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

I also took the opportunity to thin out the plants as some were definitely getting over grown. Hopefully it will fill back in with no problems :cool:
IMG_20220313_203429.jpg
 
The second photo shows cyanobacteria, commonly called blue green algae but it is a photosynthetic bacteria. It is caused by (an excess of) organics in the presence of light.

This means the organic level is way too high, above what the plants require in balance. It can be difficult to get control of, but the only safe and effective method is to reduce the organics. These may occur fromm the substrate, filters not kept spotlessly clean, over feeding, overstocking, insufficient water changes. Some of these problems you do mention. And I realize things may have seemed OK for whatever period, but the organic load has now increased to the point that cyanobacteria results.
Thanks Byron for the Info.

I knew what the problem was but just needed a confirmation. The cyanobacteria is starting to emerge again.

As noted in my last post, I have stripped the tank 100% and cleaned all the gravel as best as humanly possible as well as the plants.

I am definitely not over feeding and the tank is only 60% stocked at best. The blue/green algae is starting to come back. Slowly this time, but I'm starting to see it.

I've striped, cleaned the tank and done 3, 50% water changes. Ive replaced the filters 2x and even the Bio-wheels.

Another 50% water change and cut the plants and remove the rocks its growing on instead of trying to clean?

What am I missing? I don't see how, at this point, I can still have a nutrient imbalance that is promoting this growth.
 
The organic level in tank water is higher than many of us assume. Fresh tap water sometimes is loaded with dissolved organics...that is the cause of a bacterial bloom in new tanks with no fish. While the organics may be impossible to eliminate (obviously, with fish present) you then turn to the light. One simple way to reduce intensity is with floating plants. Also reducing the duration.
 
As I mentioned, I am also having an issue with Cyano. By the end of the week there would be a green film over most of the substrate. Unless it is an emergency, I like to change one variable at a time to isolate and resolve problems. This time I killed the RGB channels on my LED and went with low 'White' light (@ 20%). I have seen a definite reduction, though oddly enough the side with higher water flow has more Cyano than the other. Since I have two light fixtures that are known to be unbalanced, I am assuming this is the reason. Humans are eyes notorious for poor light calibration.
 
Just to pipe in I have an issue with Cyano Bacteria. Before it was occurring in a low flow area of the tank so it could have been low oxygen. But I have since added a second filter, replaced all the substrate, and done a 90% water change. Now I have bits of BGA on various places around the tank. It develops quite slowly in my case but once it gets started it definitely grows faster.

In my case the Ammonia, and Nitrite are 0, Nitrate is < 5 ppm(it shows a trace), and the tank is planted. I know the fish are not overfed and the initial water shouldn't have any phosphates, but I don't have a way to check that yet. Oxygen shouldn't be an issue there are two filters agitating the surface of the water, and the fish do not seem stressed in any fashion, with one pair of angels actually breeding.

I am doing something similar to @Oblio right now, I have reduced the lighting by 50%, and switched to a more balanced light that has a bit more red in it. It seems to me that we are missing something that the BGA can take advantage of, and we are inadvertently encouraging its growth. I have done a lot of research on this subject, the normal sites often have conflicting statements about nitrates, and the scientific papers I can access are more for industrial control of the issue.
 
@Uberhoust - I started reading the plethora of BGA info regarding light spectrum etc. and my EE brain went into 'blah blah blah' mode so I just said screw it!, cleaned the algae off my swords, and went to near minimum 'white' only light.
 

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