Just another observation today....
The water in the tank is pretty cloudy with a green tinge to it and there is a scum which has formed on the surface, any ideas?
Cheers
Gerbils
Id This Algae Please... Number 2
- Thread starter sophos9
- Start date
Gerbils
Still get algae though!
Algae has happened to me, I upgraded from 1wpg to 2.4wpg recently, I did expect algae to appear again and it has done. Hopefully I can apply what I learnt with 1wpg to 2.4wpg...the only way I could reduce algae to pretty much nil was to reduce the lighting period. I can appreciate the plant growth differences between 1wpg and 2.4wpg but currently I have only gone from a single 7-hour period to an 8-hour period. I am close to knocking it back down to 7-hours as I didn't follow my own advice of leaving it at a single value for a number of weeks and only upping it by 15 minutes then waiting for a further number of weeks.
Getting the balance in high light tanks seems more difficult than getting the balance in low light tanks, given the number of variables being played with in most high light (and often EI) based tanks, I'm not surprised that many of us struggle or at least find it not 'easy' to get this balance. I think that going from low to high light in a running tank is also more difficult than going high light from day one....I think it is almost like starting again and it is this re-start that seems to cause 'problems'.
Getting the balance in high light tanks seems more difficult than getting the balance in low light tanks, given the number of variables being played with in most high light (and often EI) based tanks, I'm not surprised that many of us struggle or at least find it not 'easy' to get this balance. I think that going from low to high light in a running tank is also more difficult than going high light from day one....I think it is almost like starting again and it is this re-start that seems to cause 'problems'.
Dave Spencer
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto.
Dude, your tank screams out instability to me. I wish I could put my finger on what is going wrong. I have just carried out a massive prune on my 120l EI tank (pic in my Lido journal), resulting in less than 50% of the plant mass and I am still only getting a little GDA which I will clean off at the next water change. Apart from a CO2 bottle change which I missed for a day or two and caused some threads and BBA, this tank has been rock steady for a few months now. All this is achieved at 3.4WPG, which is well and truly laughing in the face of algae.
You need some stability with fast growing, pearling plants over a period of time. Are you using a CO2 dropper with 4dKH?. If not PM me and I will gladly give you some of mine for free. You really need to be kicking the crap out of algae and enjoying this hobby by now.
Dave.
You need some stability with fast growing, pearling plants over a period of time. Are you using a CO2 dropper with 4dKH?. If not PM me and I will gladly give you some of mine for free. You really need to be kicking the crap out of algae and enjoying this hobby by now.
Dave.
Nry, I do agree with you! In my instance I'm just doomed 
Dave, I understand what you are saying but I cannot for the life of me think what else to check? Got a CO2 dropper with 4dKH reagent from Aquatic Magic (although would love to be cheeky and take you up on your offer!) It says 30ppm, 24hr PH test also says 1PH drop and to confirm all this I have just bought an electric PH tester from Germany so should arrive in a few days
This is the first week of full EI, I'm not slowing down dosing as I know this will only allow algae to get a better foothold, lighting period is 10hrs straight, CO2 levels are the same at lights on and lights off so I'm fairly sure its optimised... As for plants, I have lots! Keep them trimmed and replant the tops
I have read several other articles of people suffering from GDA when upgrading their lighting, to be fair I have gone from 1.2WPG to 3.33WPG with not much bedding in period so I know this is my fault. Using the Barr method, this should look ugly for like 3 weeks then time for a clean and the word seems to be that it dont come back much after this...
I'm learning loads and am seeing the lighter side of this, I will win thats for sure and will gain a lot of knowledge on the way
I hope that my misadventures help other who find themselves in the same situation
Dave, I understand what you are saying but I cannot for the life of me think what else to check? Got a CO2 dropper with 4dKH reagent from Aquatic Magic (although would love to be cheeky and take you up on your offer!) It says 30ppm, 24hr PH test also says 1PH drop and to confirm all this I have just bought an electric PH tester from Germany so should arrive in a few days
This is the first week of full EI, I'm not slowing down dosing as I know this will only allow algae to get a better foothold, lighting period is 10hrs straight, CO2 levels are the same at lights on and lights off so I'm fairly sure its optimised... As for plants, I have lots! Keep them trimmed and replant the tops
I have read several other articles of people suffering from GDA when upgrading their lighting, to be fair I have gone from 1.2WPG to 3.33WPG with not much bedding in period so I know this is my fault. Using the Barr method, this should look ugly for like 3 weeks then time for a clean and the word seems to be that it dont come back much after this...
I'm learning loads and am seeing the lighter side of this, I will win thats for sure and will gain a lot of knowledge on the way
I hope that my misadventures help other who find themselves in the same situation
cheesy feet
Fish Aficionado
For starters i would wipe the algae of the glass manually.It's hardy stuff!
SuperColey1
Planted Section
Cheesy, the word on the street is that if you leave this kind of algae on the glass for 3-4 weeks it completes its life cycle, then when you clean it off and do a water change it shouldn't reoccur!!!.
I've got to agree with Dave at the moment, My 125Ltr went from 1.25WPG to 2.8WPG 1 month ago.
I have DIY CO2 from 1 Coke bottle and also 2 Nutrafins going into a ceramic diffusor which works brilliantly but.......
......I have an internal filter which doesn't take too many of the bubbles in (only about 25%) and the rest escape to the surface.
My drop checker stays on Light Green / Almost Yellow
The only algae I get is a little bit of brown algae on the inside of the glass after 2 weeks or so and most of the plants in the current have a bit of staghorn or beard algae.
The UV stopped working 3 weeks ago and I haven't replaced it (just binned it) yet I have never had any trace of green water.
I dose 20mlKN03, 10mlKH2PO4, 10ml K2SO4 ach other day and 6ml TropicaPN
The only thing I do different is that although I have lights on 12 hours straight it is 3 hours@0.6WPG, 6hours@2.8WPG, 3 hours@0.6WPG.
Maybe you should just try cold turkey with the light switch, try and stay away from it. leave it 6-7 hours for a couple of weeks. you can do it man, be brave
Oh and I've got approx 100 MTS and 4 pitbull plecs working away all day long with 10 algae shrimp being delivered tomorrow, maybe they keep it down a bit as well.
But my Anubias (scuse the similie) look like a black womans panty triangle with her 'curly clock springs' creeping out of the edges. So mine ain't perfect either
Good Luck mate and use the willpower
Andy
p.s. Please don't take the above similie as me being racist as I most definately am not!! I was just comparing the likeness to what my black Portuguese wife sometimes shows without noticing on the beach!!!lol
I've got to agree with Dave at the moment, My 125Ltr went from 1.25WPG to 2.8WPG 1 month ago.
I have DIY CO2 from 1 Coke bottle and also 2 Nutrafins going into a ceramic diffusor which works brilliantly but.......
......I have an internal filter which doesn't take too many of the bubbles in (only about 25%) and the rest escape to the surface.
My drop checker stays on Light Green / Almost Yellow
The only algae I get is a little bit of brown algae on the inside of the glass after 2 weeks or so and most of the plants in the current have a bit of staghorn or beard algae.
The UV stopped working 3 weeks ago and I haven't replaced it (just binned it) yet I have never had any trace of green water.
I dose 20mlKN03, 10mlKH2PO4, 10ml K2SO4 ach other day and 6ml TropicaPN
The only thing I do different is that although I have lights on 12 hours straight it is 3 hours@0.6WPG, 6hours@2.8WPG, 3 hours@0.6WPG.
Maybe you should just try cold turkey with the light switch, try and stay away from it. leave it 6-7 hours for a couple of weeks. you can do it man, be brave
Oh and I've got approx 100 MTS and 4 pitbull plecs working away all day long with 10 algae shrimp being delivered tomorrow, maybe they keep it down a bit as well.
But my Anubias (scuse the similie) look like a black womans panty triangle with her 'curly clock springs' creeping out of the edges. So mine ain't perfect either
Good Luck mate and use the willpower
Andy
p.s. Please don't take the above similie as me being racist as I most definately am not!! I was just comparing the likeness to what my black Portuguese wife sometimes shows without noticing on the beach!!!lol
LMAO....
I really dont know what to think? The dosing is spot on with EI and 4ml of Flourish trace, I'm sure the CO2 is spot on but will know more when the electric CO2 tester turns up (no more relying on ambiguous colors - yey!) I agree that the one thing left is lighting schedule, I dont want to change too many things at once as I dont want to fluke the result.
I'm thinking that once the tester turns up, I should get the CO2 as close to 30ppm then note observations on algae growth, if nothing changes then adjust another variable (lighting) and leave it for a period whilst noting changes.
The plants start pearling about 1hr into the lighting period and they do pearl like crazy, Riccia carpets are a mass of bubbles...
I am actually interested in the algae cycle and I'm very lucky to experience it first hand
its all got too much and I'm cracking up
I really dont know what to think? The dosing is spot on with EI and 4ml of Flourish trace, I'm sure the CO2 is spot on but will know more when the electric CO2 tester turns up (no more relying on ambiguous colors - yey!) I agree that the one thing left is lighting schedule, I dont want to change too many things at once as I dont want to fluke the result.
I'm thinking that once the tester turns up, I should get the CO2 as close to 30ppm then note observations on algae growth, if nothing changes then adjust another variable (lighting) and leave it for a period whilst noting changes.
The plants start pearling about 1hr into the lighting period and they do pearl like crazy, Riccia carpets are a mass of bubbles...
I am actually interested in the algae cycle and I'm very lucky to experience it first hand
its all got too much and I'm cracking up
SuperColey1
Planted Section
Well mine ony lightly pearl and my Riccia doesn't really at all. Don't what that concludes as according to my drop checker with my own 4dKH solution it should be a bit over 30ppm as it is between green and yellow all the time
Just to test because I doubted it I eft the egg checker stuck to the kitchen wall for 3 hours yesterday and returned to blue so it must be right!!
I'd just go with the lights now before its too late and you have to start from scratch and remove everything.
andy
Just to test because I doubted it I eft the egg checker stuck to the kitchen wall for 3 hours yesterday and returned to blue so it must be right!!
I'd just go with the lights now before its too late and you have to start from scratch and remove everything.
andy
Ok, latest update.... The front is covered thicker than ever - I cannot see into the tank. The sides are not as bad, I can see in and guess what, there is a large amount of green stuff suspended in the water, visibility about 7inches. Is this green water as well?
Questions questions questions....
Questions questions questions....
- Will a UV steriliser work?
- If I reduce the lighting what is the likely impact on plant growth?
- Should I just carry on dosing the usual amounts?
- The weekly water change should just be as per normal yup?
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