Possible Algae Problem?

[SuperColey1]

I don't know if I should be worried.

I have 36W light over 26G water (29G Tank but obviously not filled to top)
Nutrafin Co2 1 bubble every 3-4 secs.
60-70% substrate planted with Tetra Complete underneath playsand
50% plants are fast growing stems (Elodia, Cabomba, hygro etc)

I dose a homemade fert daily that I bought off ebay.

All the plants are vibrant greens and no yellow/brown in sight apart from some which are not going to grow in this light and are soon to be removed (just giving them a chance to regenerate before I do this)

Most of the plants in my tank have a light hairy algae on them, can't tell which colour but it is like the fluffy hair a baby has on his skin. Is this normal or the start of an algae progression?

If so what tips could you give me (without suggesting more light, more CO2, better ferts etc. because my budget has run out for now) I have already introduced Thursday and Sunday as fasting days, where everybody (fish) starts to clean. i.e. plecs on wood and glass duty, mollies on cleaning leaves duty, Betta on find and eat snail eggs duty, danios & tetras on any leftovers duty.

Any helpful advice accepted. I would post a pic but my camera isn't good enough to show this sort of detail

Andy

 

[JamesC]

Your algae is what I call fuzz algae. Can be hard to shift but as long as you have a good balance of ferts it should shift in time. How stable is your CO2? Plants like stable CO2 day to day and week to week as it can take 2 weeks for them to adapt to a different CO2 level. If some plants are dying get them out as they will only become an algae trap. The more fast growers the better.

On a positive note a bit of fuzz algae is fairly common and nothing too much to worry about. Just try not to let it get out of control. Some fish will also eat it if made a bit hungry. Rosy barbs spring to mind here. Do you know what your ebay fertiliser contains?

EDIT: Just seen you've got mollies - they are normally also good at eating this type of algae. Make them go hungry and see if they start to eat it.

James

 

[SuperColey1]

I am implementing a fasting regime. started last sunday.

Now Thursdays and Sundays are fasting days.

The mollys have a nibble at it even on feeding days, and also I have 4 pitbull plecs you missed that. lol

They are legendary scavengers, but at the moment are obsessed by cleaning wood and glass and occasionaly touch the leaves. They are adult and about the size of ottos, so hopefully they'll take to the leaves, once they've finished with the wood and glass. lol

Glad to hear its pretty normal. Its not a lot really, just like a soft fur 1mm-2mm each strand on the leaves, and you can only see them close up.

The strugglers aren't dying, theyre just struggling

Blyxia Japonica under 1.5WPG in a darker area for example. I was about to pull it out (1 month old and came with a collection), but I noticed yesterday it has new leaves growing, so I figured it was maybe a settling in period, so I might let it have its chance before I bin it.

As for CO2 stability. ?

No EI
3-4 Bubbles per min
No GH or KH Kit
Normal Ph 7.2, with CO2 6.4
Fertilizer doesn't have an ingredients list. Is from Aquatic Plantations. I assumed under the 1.5WPG I have with only 1 CO2 kit, with an overstock of fish and TetraComplete under my Playsand that I wouldn't have to worry to much about ferts.

But then I only started a month ago, and am willing to learn.

Heres a pitbull cleaning the bogwood