Slime Algae & Thin Algae On Plants/wood ?

[Whitey_144]

HI,

I've had my 30G Amazon tank setup for 5months now, i have wood and live plants...i started off with more fertilizer (TPN+) and liquid carbon, all have been a bit slack recently.

I have 2 types of Algae and was wondering if anyone knew how i could get rid? I had a lot of live plants at the start, but the Amazon swords didn't do well. and the cabomba got too stringy because i put it behind wood, but the vallis and java fern are taking over, so im happy to let the plants that like my water keep going, problem is , the slow growing plants especially likes anubias have got a kind of algae on the leaves, and it's not new, ive had it for a while. Does anyone know what it is and how to cure? I also noticed that i had a tiny bit of slimey algae on the front centre on the gravel? can i kill this in the same way?

I have the lights on for about 8hrs a day, the blue light maybe slightly longer. they are 24W (i think) flurescent tubes and i do about a 20% water change each week or 30% every 2 week (roughly)

here are some photos

http/s1080.photobucket.com/albums/j323/Whitey_144/?action=view&current=DSC01724.jpg#!oZZ8QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1080.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj323%2FWhitey_144%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DDSC01716.jpg

http/s1080.photobucket.com/albums/j323/Whitey_144/?action=view&current=DSC01724.jpg#!oZZ10QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1080.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj323%2FWhitey_144%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DDSC01712.jpg

Thanks!
Adam

 

[SLIM]

For starters, if you are not injecting CO2, you should be using TPN not TPN+

TPN+ contains nitrates and phosphates which shouldnt be dosed really unless your injecting CO2.
Dosing nitrates and phosphates into a low-tech setup will only feed and encourage algae growth.
Your bio filter alone will produce enough nitrates and phosphates for your plants so theirs no need to dose excess amounts.

Having said that, the main cause of algae is normally poor water circulation and trace ammounts of ammonia from fish wastes and rotting plant leaves. These trace ammounts of ammonia are not always picked up by hobby test kits.
Water circulation ideally needs to be 10X your water volume to achieve good water circulation and to ensure you get no ammonia pockets. For example i have a 260Litre so i need a flow rate of 2600lph. My filter is 1000lph so by adding a 1600lph Hydor Koralia achieves a flow rate of 2600lph

If i was you i would manually scrub and remove the algae, switch to TPN, increase water circulation, give your gravel a good syphoning and remove any rotting or unhealthy plant leaves.

 

[Whitey_144]

For starters, if you are not injecting CO2, you should be using TPN not TPN+

TPN+ contains nitrates and phosphates which shouldnt be dosed really unless your injecting CO2.
Dosing nitrates and phosphates into a low-tech setup will only feed and encourage algae growth.
Your bio filter alone will produce enough nitrates and phosphates for your plants so theirs no need to dose excess amounts.

Having said that, the main cause of algae is normally poor water circulation and trace ammounts of ammonia from fish wastes and rotting plant leaves. These trace ammounts of ammonia are not always picked up by hobby test kits.
Water circulation ideally needs to be 10X your water volume to achieve good water circulation and to ensure you get no ammonia pockets. For example i have a 260Litre so i need a flow rate of 2600lph. My filter is 1000lph so by adding a 1600lph Hydor Koralia achieves a flow rate of 2600lph

If i was you i would manually scrub and remove the algae, switch to TPN, increase water circulation, give your gravel a good syphoning and remove any rotting or unhealthy plant leaves.

Thanks Slim, I'll do that. I'll double check what my filter output is too, if i need more would it e ok just to have an internal pump, rather than another filter?

The Algae doesn't seem to be in one area, but on any slow growing leaves, will this eventually kill off the plants?

The wood, i can scrub, and once i get it under control i could prune the plants back somewhat.

 

[SLIM]

For starters, if you are not injecting CO2, you should be using TPN not TPN+

TPN+ contains nitrates and phosphates which shouldnt be dosed really unless your injecting CO2.
Dosing nitrates and phosphates into a low-tech setup will only feed and encourage algae growth.
Your bio filter alone will produce enough nitrates and phosphates for your plants so theirs no need to dose excess amounts.

Having said that, the main cause of algae is normally poor water circulation and trace ammounts of ammonia from fish wastes and rotting plant leaves. These trace ammounts of ammonia are not always picked up by hobby test kits.
Water circulation ideally needs to be 10X your water volume to achieve good water circulation and to ensure you get no ammonia pockets. For example i have a 260Litre so i need a flow rate of 2600lph. My filter is 1000lph so by adding a 1600lph Hydor Koralia achieves a flow rate of 2600lph

If i was you i would manually scrub and remove the algae, switch to TPN, increase water circulation, give your gravel a good syphoning and remove any rotting or unhealthy plant leaves.

Thanks Slim, I'll do that. I'll double check what my filter output is too, if i need more would it e ok just to have an internal pump, rather than another filter?

The Algae doesn't seem to be in one area, but on any slow growing leaves, will this eventually kill off the plants?

The wood, i can scrub, and once i get it under control i could prune the plants back somewhat.

Definately! A powerhead or a hydor Koralia will do the job perfectly, no need to add another filter.
I personally prefer the hydor koralia nano series. They are water movers and do the job brilliantly and smoothly. Powerheads can be abit harsh and blow the fish about abit imo which we dont want. You want the flow so your plants gently sway. If you have good water circulation, algae spores will find it very hard to settle and grow.

If you dont have any water movment down by your substrate and your plants sit dead still this would be why your plants and substrate are getting attacked by algae. Algae can damage the plant and could kill a plant in extreme cases as the algae cuts off light to the plant. Just gently rub the algae off the good leaves with your thumb and index finger and totally remove the damaged and rotting leaves