New Tank Doing Well, But...algae!

[DBridges]

Hi all!

The new tank is doing pretty well so far. All my plants are growing very well, and all of them show new growth, even my Aponogeton crispus. The Glosso is spreading, the Ludwigia and Pennywort are getting tall, and the swords are growing new leaves quickly.

However, I have noticed the beginnings of some green thread algae on some of the upper leaves of my Anubias and Pennywort. My lighting was at 3.3wpg, and though the CO2 was up and down a little, it's now reached a steady 30ppm (according to both a pH/KH chart and my drop checker). I started dosing using Seachem products a few days ago (Flourish, Iron, Nitrogen, and Potassium - I have Phosphorus but haven't used it yet).

I figure I want to try and stop the algae from becoming to bad. Here's my plan - let me know if I'm on the right track.

1. Reduced lighting to about 2.5wpg. Just did this by simply removing the rearmost tube in my apparatus.

2. Keep my CO2 where it's at and don't monkey around with it.

3. Continue with my present fert dosing regimen (the published schedule from Seachem for now).

4. Get some Malaysian Trumpet Snails, as I was going to get some of these anyway soon and I hear they eat algae as well.

5. See if I can find some Otto. affinis for my tank. Again, something I was planning on getting anyway.


Does this sound like a good plan of attack? Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks again for the help!

David

 

[MoneyMitch]

Hi all!

The new tank is doing pretty well so far. All my plants are growing very well, and all of them show new growth, even my Aponogeton crispus. The Glosso is spreading, the Ludwigia and Pennywort are getting tall, and the swords are growing new leaves quickly.

However, I have noticed the beginnings of some green thread algae on some of the upper leaves of my Anubias and Pennywort. My lighting was at 3.3wpg, and though the CO2 was up and down a little, it's now reached a steady 30ppm (according to both a pH/KH chart and my drop checker). I started dosing using Seachem products a few days ago (Flourish, Iron, Nitrogen, and Potassium - I have Phosphorus but haven't used it yet).

I figure I want to try and stop the algae from becoming to bad. Here's my plan - let me know if I'm on the right track.

1. Reduced lighting to about 2.5wpg. Just did this by simply removing the rearmost tube in my apparatus.

2. Keep my CO2 where it's at and don't monkey around with it.

3. Continue with my present fert dosing regimen (the published schedule from Seachem for now).

4. Get some Malaysian Trumpet Snails, as I was going to get some of these anyway soon and I hear they eat algae as well.

5. See if I can find some Otto. affinis for my tank. Again, something I was planning on getting anyway.


Does this sound like a good plan of attack? Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks again for the help!

David

http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
check this link David, send me a pm and i can direct you to a EXTENSIVE thread about algae and causes/fix's.

 

[baron von bubba]

1. reducing lighting is good.

2. CO2 chart is not very good, forget it and just go by drop checker. move it to different positions in the tank every few days until you get an idea of whats goin on. you dont mention flow rates, around 10x flow would be a good target figure.

3. the dosing probably isnt enough. injected CO2 give much faster growth rates. have a read up on EI (estimative index) its a pretty easy method of fertilization.

MTS and otos are always good to have :0)

 

[DBridges]

Thanks for the advice and links, guys!

So far, the lighting has been reduced and the CO2 is still nice and stable. Plant growth continues to be good, and I've added 5 Oto's and some MTS to the tank, and they already seem to be doing their thing quite well! I think I will have to up the dosing on my ferts, though, as I have been fairly conservative so far. I'll keep you posted.

David


P.S. Also, I forgot to mention that I'm working on the whole flow thing as well. I have an Eheim 2128 ProII filter, and I'll be putting in an Eheim Aquaball today (hopefully) to get more flow going in the tank.