Green Spot Algae

[chipster55]

FYI I have posted numerous questions asking how to get rid of green spot algae on this forum for the last year..i got good responses with many different ideas to get rid of it.. FINALLY I figured what my particular porblem was..To Many phosphates..I bought phosphate remover for my cannister filter and am happy to report after 4 months the algae is be irradicated...No more scraping each week....My tap water apparently has a high level of phosphate in it..Hope this helps someone because it drove me nuts for a year.

 

[SuperColey1]

you won't get many replies with that assumption. lol

phosphates have been proved already not to be the cause and if you leave the GSA on the glass to run its 3-4 week cycle and then remove it , it will never come back!!!

Many of our waters are high in phosphates as we live in a very rural agricultural country yet we still add phosphates with no problems.

Glad you are happpy with your results though.

AC

 

[aaronnorth]

there is a point at which high phophate can cause a little GSA, but also low phosphate can cause it too.

You just have to find the sweet spot.

 

[chipster55]

I appreciate your comments. However like I said i have been looking for answers to this junk (GSA) for over a year. One of the last recommendations I got was to remove phosphate (my tapwater has high phosphate levels). I scraped this stuff for a year and it always came back and it got to the point i had to scrape every 2 weeks or I couldn't see the fish (well not really but it was unsightly). I didn't expect comments but was just trying to give a potential solution that helped me..I wish I could have been so lucky to scrape it off after 3-4 weeks and have it disappear forever. BTW all i did was buy a phosphate remover and put it in my canister filter. It lasts for around 6 months (according to directions).. I have since bought an r/o system and C02 system with ph meter..I am going to planted tanks so hopefully this won't be an issue for me again. Happy fishkeeping

 

[SuperColey1]

Now you tell a different story. phosphates were causing you a problem due to there being no plants. If you are going planted the reverse will be true in that removing phosphates will cause the plants to be defficient and then lots of other algaes will grow from the other nutrients.

If you'ld mentioned you wern't planted I wouldn't have posted my last post. lol

Not sure why you feel you need RO in a planted tank. Just means you've got to add nutrient back in that would've already been in the tap water. Ph meter with the CO2 will cause problems with stability. They are jsut another 'recommended' by merchandising 'gurus' along with heated substrate cables.

AC

 

[chipster55]

Now you tell a different story. phosphates were causing you a problem due to there being no plants. If you are going planted the reverse will be true in that removing phosphates will cause the plants to be defficient and then lots of other algaes will grow from the other nutrients.

If you'ld mentioned you wern't planted I wouldn't have posted my last post. lol

Not sure why you feel you need RO in a planted tank. Just means you've got to add nutrient back in that would've already been in the tap water. Ph meter with the CO2 will cause problems with stability. They are jsut another 'recommended' by merchandising 'gurus' along with heated substrate cables.

AC

The r/o is to keep ph around 6.5..From what I've read (which has been many hours) the ph meter with C02 is very stable..My plan down the road is to breed Discus thus the 6.6 ph. I do have a fert system to get the plants the nutrients they need which includes phosphates. My plants have been in for a few weeks and are doing fine, growing fast and getting full (I realize this is early in the process) and no sign of algae. . I am by no means an expert in this part of fishkeeping, but I am going the route most people thought was best..Hopefully this will be fine, if not I'll try another way. As far as the R/O water goes, I realize I am adding back tap water but it will keep the ph where I need it. I do appreciate your input though...

 

[SuperColey1]

RO with discus is fine.

What sites have said that Ph controller with CO2 is good? Not many planted people use them and a lot of the ones that did when they started have stopped. It keeps turning CO2 on off which makes the CO2 inconsistent. This is the reason for the instability and eventually means algae starts to attack.

Click on the UKaps (UK aquatic plant society) link in my sig and have a rummage through there. One of the Admins is George Farmer who was a judge in the AGA contest this year.

AC

 

[chipster55]

RO with discus is fine.

What sites have said that Ph controller with CO2 is good? Not many planted people use them and a lot of the ones that did when they started have stopped. It keeps turning CO2 on off which makes the CO2 inconsistent. This is the reason for the instability and eventually means algae starts to attack.

Click on the UKaps (UK aquatic plant society) link in my sig and have a rummage through there. One of the Admins is George Farmer who was a judge in the AGA contest this year.

AC

I appreciate your knowledge and took a look (and registered) to the website..Lots of interesting reading..I have discovered just reading some different forums on this subject that there are strong opinions both ways..Aquatic Plant Central has members who swear by the controllers and others that think they are a waste of money..I don't think there is an answer to this issue..I can see advantages and disadvantages both ways..Seems like this is like arguing politics..Thanks for info and website..

 

[aaronnorth]

Plants generally don't care about pH. What they care about is having a steady supply of high levels of CO2. If the CO2 levels drop too far during the day they become malnourished. The pH controller has no idea about the CO2 concentration level in the tank because there are many acids in the tank that affect the pH. Plants produce acids such as humic & nitric etc (along with other things in the tank) so the ph is constantly low, and no CO2 is being injected at all!

 

[chipster55]

Plants generally don't care about pH. What they care about is having a steady supply of high levels of CO2. If the CO2 levels drop too far during the day they become malnourished. The pH controller has no idea about the CO2 concentration level in the tank because there are many acids in the tank that affect the pH. Plants produce acids such as humic & nitric etc (along with other things in the tank) so the ph is constantly low, and no CO2 is being injected at all!

What is your opinion of a drop counter...My goal is a plnted discus tank and possibly breeding down the road which is my reason for lower ph value.

 

[SuperColey1]

do you mean drop checker? this is just an indicator of CO2 ppm / ph and won't change anything just give you an indicator.

The basics are this:

Inject CO2 @ 30ppm and as long as your tank parameters aren't at the extremes ends of hard/soft your water will lower ph by 1, so if you have tap water @ 7 then 30ppm will reduce the tank Ph to 6.

You can use the ph controller to read the ph but I wouldn't suggest you let it control the CO2.

AC

 

[aaronnorth]

Drop checkers at the minute is the only affordable way to measure your CO2 pretty accuratley. Using 4dkh solution in the ball, we know that:

with a ph at 6.6, and at 4 dkh (green drop checker) the CO2 will be around 30ppm.

 

[chipster55]

Yea my bad..Meant a drop checker..I have one ordered and plan on using it in combination with ph meter. One more question..Is 30 ppm the target for C02 and if at that target will ph stay consistent at around 6 to 6.5....Thanks for your help

 

[aaronnorth]

25-35ppm is ok, less is bad, some people run it higher without bad effects, but better if you have more experience. Ph will drop around 1degree.