Green Stuff(alg) ?

[Lance76]

Morning all,

Fist some basic`s
Running a 100G semi planted tropical comunity tank,no extra dosing,but i do have 6 root tabs and a substrate of red latarite(sp)under about a third of the tank were my plants are, running 110 wats of T5 pc on a 4hours on 3 off 8 hours on rotation. my water stats are fine.zero`s across the bord.
However over the last 3 weeks the stuff in the photos(do excuse the quality) have started to make an aperance,so far it is only the bits on the photo,

anyone know what it is,,and how to get rid of it?

thanks one and all!

 

[Liam]

Blue green algae, treat with a total blackout for three/four days, not a spec of light, 50% water change before blackout remove as much of the bga as you can and 50% water change after. You can also use antibiotics. Horrible stuff.

 

[Lance76]

Blue green algae, treat with a total blackout for three/four days, not a spec of light, 50% water change before blackout remove as much of the bga as you can and 50% water change after. You can also use antibiotics. Horrible stuff.

Thanks Liam,
looks like i am off shopping for some black bags,,,lots of them! hehe

 

[JamesC]

The reason you have Blue Green Algae is because your nitrates are zero. Take a look at http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm.

James

 

[Lance76]

The reason you have Blue Green Algae is because your nitrates are zero. Take a look at http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm.

James

Thanks James, will have a good read.

 

[Lance76]

The reason you have Blue Green Algae is because your nitrates are zero.
James

OK idiot that i am,,,there is NO ways my nitrates can be zero,,i use tap water and that runs at about 40ppm in my part of the world,,i need to get a new test kit!

but thank you all for your help!

 

[Underwurlde]

Do NOT use antibiotics - unless of course you want to kill all the filter bacteria & spend the next 2 months cycling your tank again.

A black-out will kill BGA, but it will come back, so pretty pointless really - better than this, regular weekly tank maintence.

Knock your lighting back from 4+8=23 hours a day to something like 8 (to 10max) hrs / day.

JamesC is correct - in essence if your plants grow, then no Algae. See my recent post #14 in this thread as to why:
'Semi planted' may not be enough to combat algae - consider at least 50% coverage...?
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=178115

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Lance76]

Do NOT use antibiotics - unless of course you want to kill all the filter bacteria & spend the next 2 months cycling your tank again.

A black-out will kill BGA, but it will come back, so pretty pointless really - better than this, regular weekly tank maintence.

Knock your lighting back from 4+8=23 hours a day to something like 8 (to 10max) hrs / day.

JamesC is correct - in essence if your plants grow, then no Algae. See my recent post #14 in this thread as to why:
'Semi planted' may not be enough to combat algae - consider at least 50% coverage...?
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=178115

Cheers,

Andy

Thanks Under,
My Maintence is pretty spot on, 40% water changes every 8 day,carfull with feeding and clean up etc, and what plants i do have(no idea on the names sorry) are rampent in there growth,i have no hassels with anything apart from the resent BGA stuff,and some white spot type things that will be the subject of another cry for help from me when i have charged my camara up.

so would in your opinion dosing with exel, changing my lighing to 0700-0900 and then from 1400-2200 would help
here is a photo of the tank(quality is not great)but would hopfully give you a idea on the amount of planting i have in the tank.

i also run a internal UV filter,not sure if that would make any diffrence or not.

thanks again for your help ppl.

 

[Underwurlde]

...and some white spot type things...

Could well be calcium deposits -> this can be an indication of a lack of CO2. Are your plants newish?

Adding Flourish Excel OR CO2 injection will help your tank greatly.

To completly combat algae, I would at least double the amount of planting in the tank.

UV Sterilizers are great at combating some forms of algae, probably why you have not seen more (but I have no idea how long you've run it for) - HOWEVER, they cover 'things' up you may need to know about - presence of algae is a good indication (feedback if you like) that 'things' are not quite right in your setup....

Great tank BTW, love it!

Andy

PS
Do I see TWO heaters on the left, none on the right? They should be either side of the tank really (positioned correctly at an angle like the left most of the two).... up to you though of course

 

[Lance76]

...and some white spot type things...

Could well be calcium deposits -> this can be an indication of a lack of CO2. Are your plants newish?

Adding Flourish Excel OR CO2 injection will help your tank greatly.

To completly combat algae, I would at least double the amount of planting in the tank.

UV Sterilizers are great at combating some forms of algae, probably why you have not seen more (but I have no idea how long you've run it for) - HOWEVER, they cover 'things' up you may need to know about - presence of algae is a good indication (feedback if you like) that 'things' are not quite right in your setup....

Great tank BTW, love it!

Andy

PS
Do I see TWO heaters on the left, none on the right? They should be either side of the tank really (positioned correctly at an angle like the left most of the two).... up to you though of course

Thanks Under,
I up graded from a 30G about 4 months ago, and just transferd the plants i allready had across,
i have had the UV just over a month, i got it after i got a new fish and it spred some fungus into my tank and i ended up losing about half my stock(now have a quarentain tank-better late than never) and the BGA stuff started about 10 days after i got the UV.

nope only one heater each side of the tank, crapy photo i know,

and one of the white spots

 

[Underwurlde]

OK for the heaters then. I would definately get more plants & CO2 if you are going to get serious about plants.

Get rid of the air stone / bar / curtain? As this will dispell CO2 - not a good idea to have these in planted tanks. Also remove any carbon from the filters as they remove nutrients.

Those white deposits look wierd. Dunno now if CO2 related... (That would look like a dusting of salt). Agreed, start a new thread on that subject. They look like baby Nerite Snails to me!!!!

Andy

PS
Sanitize new plants thus (if I were you): http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686

 

[Lance76]

OK for the heaters then. I would definately get more plants & CO2 if you are going to get serious about plants.

Get rid of the air stone / bar / curtain? As this will dispell CO2 - not a good idea to have these in planted tanks. Also remove any carbon from the filters as they remove nutrients.

Those white deposits look wierd. Dunno now if CO2 related... (That would look like a dusting of salt). Agreed, start a new thread on that subject. They look like baby Nerite Snails to me!!!!

Andy

PS
Sanitize new plants thus (if I were you): http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686

Found out about the white things(snail eggs-thankyou sharon and voo http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...view=getnewpost
)
and while i will up the plant load a bit, afraid i like the way my tank is set up to much at the moment to change it much,
but just want to thankyou for all your help Under, even if i do ask for it and not take you up on all of it!

 

[Underwurlde]

Yep, know what you mean, because I very much like the linear look of your tank and would be a pity to have to alter it. You are doing everything you can. Hence if you don't want to change things then get the plants that are already in there to grow like mad & hopefully out compete any algae. To this end, like I said, get some CO2 in there, loose the airstone & dose ferts...

GL

Andy

PS

but just want to thankyou for all your help Under

My pleasure!