Fuzz Algae

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StarOrbs

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As some of you know I've been dealing with fuzz algae on my plants for I don't know how many weeks. It's really starting to get on my nerves... I can remove the stuff off the glass with a razor blade and I've tried rubbing it off the plants.. It wasn't a big deal until recently it started getting longer. My plants are really starting to take off and don't want this to hinder their progress. My swords are finally getting greener and all my plants are starting to look really good.

My stats...

Iron: around .2 PPM
Nitrate: around 8 PPM
Phosphates: minimal

Any suggestions on getting rid of it? It's really becoming rampant on my sag they are almost covered in it.. not to mention it's getting longer and thicker on my other plants as well?

This is what I usually add to the tank..
25ML Seachem Nitrogen.. brings nitrate up to around 8PPM / weekly usually
20ML Seachem Iron.. brings iron to around .25/ Every 3-5 days
5 ML Seachem Flourish / week
Seachem Pottasium.. some can't remember exact dosage.. for some reason this really helped growth. / weekly
There is another one that I add but I usually don't add much of it.
 
From taking a quick look at your stats, I think it could be a phosphate/CO2 issue. You really need to have your CO2 around the 30 mg/l mark and if your phosphates are minimal, they need to be raised to at least 0.5 mg/l.

Good luck!
 
I would add phosphate but I can't seem to find out how to add it.. I'm going to increase my Yeast mixture up to 1 tsp because my current mixture only gets me down to PH6.7, which is around 12PPM.

EDIT: I take that back Kent Botanic has it...
 
you can also try not dosing and decreasing the photoperiod for a while and see if that makes any difference. it's just a suggestion becuase if your plants are growing well and you have alot of the substrate covered then it could be a phosphate issue.
 
I decreased the photo period from 2 x 5 hour periods to 2 x 4 hour and 10 min and will see if that helps. I also ordered some phosphate so that should be here in a few days. I also did a partial water change to cut down on nutrients.
 
StarOrbs,

If your pH at 6.7 gives you around 12ppm CO2, then I'm guessing your KH to be around 2 degrees. I don't want to be responsible for your tank having a pH crash, so I take back what I said about increasing your CO2 to 30ppm. IMO KH should be at least 3 degrees when injecting CO2.

Please disregard my CO2 suggestion. Thanks!
 
No, you didn't say 2. I was just guessing. A pH of 6.7 and a KH of 2 would give you around 12 ppm CO2.

A pH of 6.7 and a KH of 3 would give you around 18 ppm CO2. :dunno:


A KH of 3 should be ok. :D
 
Hi StarOrbs

iggy is looking at a co2 chart and if your Ph is 6.7 hes assuming that your Kh must be 2 in order for you to be getting 12ppm co2, if you have a way of double checking your Kh i would do that just to clarify the matter, if as you say your Kh is around 3 then at a Ph of 6.7 you are getting 18ppm of co2, still not enough, but if your Kh is 3 then you can easily up your co2 level without any worries of a Ph crash.

Edit; sorry i was looking at something else when i wrote this, i didnt realise iggy had answered allready. k
 
It's been two days and it's still spreading its really starting to cover the plants.. I don't know what to do..I'm still getting growth out of the plants so it hasn't effected them yet but its a real eyesore. So tiring.. :(
 
Did you up the co2, the more i read about hair algae it seems a lot of people get it in conditions of low or unstable co2, get the co2 up to 30ppm and try and keep it there, and check your phosphate levels as soon as you recieve the test kit, if they are low, obviously increase them, 1-2ppm is the target.

If the co2 is stable and your other ferts are in order then the algae shouldnt come back, also once you have the above in order i would prune the most heavily infected leaves and throw them out.

I think you should be doseing as normal, if other deficiencys start showing up things could get worse, basically get the co2 levels up and dose as normal and check the phosphate level and increase that as need be.

Also the more i look at your stats i would say 5ml seachem flourish isnt enough per week, how big is your tank and how heavily planted is it, your trace elements could be deficient as well.

Co2 Co2 is where i would definatly start.

Anyway let us know how you get on.

Cheers
 
Thats not what I'm dosing thats an old thing.. What I've been dosing is on the top post. I just got my phosphate fert so I'll post back soon.

EDIT: Woot, my CO2 level is now around 30 PPM. Going to get my phosphate up now. I'm still trying to figure out how much to add though..
 

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