Why Am I Having Algae?

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tlef316

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pretty standard question. I'm trying to figure out why i have algae. I've got the following plants....

- Some very small amazon swords
- some crypts
- anubias Bartelli
- java moss
- dwarf hairgrass
- jungle valis
- red ludwigia

My ammonia and nitrites are at zero. Nitrates are currently at 20. (water change tonight) Ph is around 7.2

I tried doing some low light plants with a lousy lighting system a few months back. It didn't work out, so i upgraded to This I have a 75 gallon tank. No Co2 injection. 2 cap fulls of kent freshwater ferts twice a week. I'm seeing a ton of brown algae on the glass and most of the plants. There is also some sort of white fuzz on some of the plants as well (mostly the valis leaves that are near the surface) My lights are on from 11:30-10:30. The room does get some sun during the day, but there are no windows within 20 feet of the plants, and they all have blinds on them.

What could the cause of my algae be? Should i try less light time? More? I really don't want to have to set up a Co2 system, as that would be a massive PITA. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Pictures in This Thread.
 
Basically, I think all tanks go through a phase of algae infestation. My advice is to keep up with cleaning and water changes.

Be patient.
 
sounds like too much light and lack of co2, thats the main cause of algae in most tanks, if you dont want co2 then id advise having a low light setup tbh, for now reduce the photoperiod, manually remove algae and do more regular water changes, if you dose ferts on the same day as a waterchange then dose them after it.
 
yeah, i figured that that is part of it. A few months back i had a Ph issue that killed off all my bacteria. I had to cycle from scratch. That caused a decent amount of algae. However, it cleared for about a month or so and is now back. It's doing some decent damage to a few plants. It overran a really great looking java fern and is doing some damage to my crypts and swords.

I guess I'll just have to deal with it for now. Hopefully no more plants have to die.
 
just rub off the algae with your fingers then the plants wont get damaged, also add as much plant biomass as you can, like 70% of the substrate covered would be good, also adding floating plants would help to cut down the light and inhibit the algae.
 
just rub off the algae with your fingers then the plants wont get damaged, also add as much plant biomass as you can, like 70% of the substrate covered would be good, also adding floating plants would help to cut down the light and inhibit the algae.

yeah, trying to add as many plants as i can. I need to add in some more substrate, as I'm having trouble covering the roots of the newcomers. I'm gonna hit the LFS this weekend. Should add some more. Also, the valis is extending over a good bit of the surface now, so it is acting like a floating plant of sorts. Thanks for the advice.
 

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