More Algae Issue's?

[oneblondebrow]

Hi all,

Since my Juwel Rio 180 tank has been running i have had nothing but problems with Algae, Firstly i had a green water issue which was only fixed by getting a UV sterilizer, Now i get some green algae which is not to bad because my Oto's love the stuff but i now have a sort of "hairy" algae and recently a red spotty algae, Any idea what these algae's are? also what would be causing them and more importantly what can i do to get rid of it?

(tank has been running for nearly a year now, Ammonia/Nitrite's are at 0ppm and Nitrate's are at 20ppm at the moment and never go higher than 40ppm, It is mainly a tetra tank with some Oto's and a shrimp. Below are some pics of the algae....





Thanks

 

[gbailey141]

The hairy algae is BBA(black beard alage). Apparantly overdosing with Seachem Flourish Excel is supposed to help reduce it but you would need to increase aeration as it reduces the amount of oxygen in the water. As for the exact cause I'm not too sure but no doubt someone on here will be able to assist.

Gav

 

[ian]

gave is right, that is BBA. Its not helped by inconsistant C02 levels in the water and water flow. I personally wouldn't OD excel, if you want to keep your shrimp alive. Also you don't need to up aeration in the tank as it's not C02, and doesn't reduce 02 in the water. The second looks to me to be GDA as this can somtimes manifest as a reddy colour before it goes green, this is caused by low nutrients and C02.

What lighting do you use?

 

[oneblondebrow]

gave is right, that is BBA. Its not helped by inconsistant C02 levels in the water and water flow. I personally wouldn't OD excel, if you want to keep your shrimp alive. Also you don't need to up aeration in the tank as it's not C02, and doesn't reduce 02 in the water. The second looks to me to be GDA as this can somtimes manifest as a reddy colour before it goes green, this is caused by low nutrients and C02.

What lighting do you use?

I use the Standard Juwel Rio 180 lighting, It is only for maximum of 8 hours daily, Should i try a complete blackout?

 

[ian]

Not all algaes with respond to a blackout. I have given the reasons above on why these types of algae occur. CO2 in a tank with plants has a lot to answer for. In the 180 I'm sure they use t5s at 28 watt, I may be wrong. Howvever, I would be thinking of adding a CO2 source into the tank, even if it's just a simple liquid carbon, ie flourish excell oe easycarbo.

 

[oneblondebrow]

Not all algaes with respond to a blackout. I have given the reasons above on why these types of algae occur. CO2 in a tank with plants has a lot to answer for. In the 180 I'm sure they use t5s at 28 watt, I may be wrong. Howvever, I would be thinking of adding a CO2 source into the tank, even if it's just a simple liquid carbon, ie flourish excell oe easycarbo.

Ok sounds good, So i can get an O2 additive and this will help, Also i was thinking about removing all live plants and putting fake one's in, Would this help rid me of Algae?