Will A Blackout Combat Non-bga Algae?

[BLASK]

Will a BLACKOUT combat non-BGA algae?
I have tons of green hair algae, tons of black beard algae. Plus brown algae (diatoms?) Its getting super anoying, im sure yall can feel me.

I got 6 ghost shrimp. (I know I should get amano, but all my LFS has is ghost and bamboo). I have 3 otos (planning on getting another 3). 2 blue rams, and 6 glowlight tetras.

I have a 20gal med-heavy planted south american plants.

I use 65watt 6700k light, so 3.25 WPG

15.4 pounds of Flourite mixed with 15 pounds of fine gravel.

Hagen CO2 Yeast reactor - very unreailable for me, I get about 9 to 12 ppm of CO2.

I have a microutrient liquid plant food bottle from big als, and I have purchased Seachems Phosphate, Pottasium, and Nitrogen in liquid form.

I have ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph, kh, and phostphate kits only. DO I really need an iron or GH kit??

My readings are withing limits. And when I say limits I mean the limits you guys talk about in the articles and posts. I will post them later I dont know of the top of my head.

Thank you.

 

[houndour]

from experience...no.

I've done 2 3 day blackouts and the only algae they killed was BGA.

I'd say your main problem is down to amount of light you have. Too much light, not enough CO2.

 

[BLASK]

from experience...no.

I've done 2 3 day blackouts and the only algae they killed was BGA.

I'd say your main problem is down to amount of light you have. Too much light, not enough CO2.

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or get a co2 tank with all the goodies?

I am willing to spend $300 USD for a nice system - direct me if you can, thanks.

 

[zig]

Agree with houndour.....to much light not enough co2.

Your co2 really needs to be kept at a constant 30ppm throughout the photo period or you will have problems.

You should start to think about fertiliseing the tank with the EI method, with a tank with the amount of light you have you really have to be on top of things because problems can develop quite quickly.

You could buy a co2 setup for about $150 US dollars, this would include a regulator, needle valve and a cylinder which you would have to source locally.

I will post some links to regulators if you are interested just let me know, also to save money you could also consider buying the dry fertilisers from Gregwatson.com if you want to pursue EI, this works out about 40x cheaper than buying store bought liquid fertilisers.

To answer your origional question a blackout really only works with bga id say the main problem you have is the co2 but there may be other problems as well, if you can post your test results later that would help to identify if anything else is amiss.

If you want to try the EI method it would help if you knew the Gh of your water (these kits usually come with the KH kit maybe you could double check) an iron test kit is not nescessary as they are nototiously unreliable, a guess would probably be more reliable

Post all your stats and i will find some links for you about co2 stuff that you can order online in the US.

 

[BLASK]

got my stats:

am-0
nite-0
nate-10
ph- 6.7 in morning, 7.0 at night before lights off.
kh- 2.5 to 3.0

phosphate - kit is coming tommorow

as for the co2, i found this auction on ebay: will this be all I need in addition to a tank with co2 ?

ebay auction for co2 kit

 

[LA321]

u can try Flourish excell, from what I hear its like C02, but then again I myself haven't tried it

 

[zig]

got my stats:

am-0
nite-0
nate-10
ph- 6.7 in morning, 7.0 at night before lights off.
kh- 2.5 to 3.0

phosphate - kit is coming tommorow

as for the co2, i found this auction on ebay: will this be all I need in addition to a tank with co2 ?

ebay auction for co2 kit

[snapback]921389[/snapback]​

That looks like a good deal buying them seperatly would cost you about $180, you can get by without the Ph controller if you wish, and just buy the same regulator and needle valve for about $80 from here for example and spend the rest of the money on a co2 cylinder, but its up to you, the regulator you have identified will do the job very well and Milwaukee have a very good reputation, JBJ are also a good brand for co2 equipment in the states.

Your nitrate levels are ok post back when you get your phosphate testkit readings.

 

[BLASK]

phosphate is 0 in tank
and its 0 from tap

I havent dosed yet, i will do a 1ml dose right now.

zig, for that link for the ebay auction. The guy has seprate auctions for the regulator and ph controller, I think I might just get the regulator like you say.

also I see the thing comes with a power cord? this thing needs to be plugged into ac outlet? im wondering if it has a USA outlet or EURO one

 

[zig]

phosphate is 0 in tank
and its 0 from tap

I havent dosed yet, i will do a 1ml dose right now.

zig, for that link for the ebay auction. The guy has seprate auctions for the regulator and ph controller, I think I might just get the regulator like you say.

also I see the thing comes with a power cord? this thing needs to be plugged into ac outlet? im wondering if it has a USA outlet or EURO one

[snapback]923404[/snapback]​

The power cord is for the solenoid, the unit comes with a built in solenoid to enable you to turn the co2 off at night time if you wish, you can run it in on a timer in conjunction with your lights and this will knock the co2 on and off.

I think you are better off not complicating things to much and avoiding the Ph controller, if you were reading the thread here yesterday about Ph controllers they require a lot of maintainence to keep them functioning properly.

Milwaukee regulators are an American product i dont think they even sell them in Europe so im sure the plugs will be just fine, but like i say they have a good reputation so i wouldnt have any worries about the auctual product.

The co2 cylinder should cost you about $80 dollars, dont buy one new, you will see them advertised but avoid them, because when you go in to get a refill they just hand you a different cylinder so there is no point in buying a new one, a 5lb cylinder would last you well over a year on a 20 gallon and would also do for a much bigger tank if you ever trade up in size, refill costs vary from place to place but should be something like $25 dollars, the $80 dollar initial cost should get you a full cylinder.

Co2 cylinders in the States have to be tested every 2 years (the refill center will do this) and the cylinder will have a stamp on it to say this has been done, if you buy a second hand cylinder privately be aware of this, as you will have to pay to get this test done if it is out of date on the cylinder you wish to buy.

Best bet is to look up gas suppliers and welding shops and you should pick something up pretty easy, you will also need co2 proof tubing, ordinary silicon tubing will leak co2 and just cost you money in the long run, ordinary tubing will usually leak about 20% of the co2, so it worth spending a few dollars getting the right tubing in the first place.

Keep removing the hair algae, once you get the ferts and co2 in balance this should start to clear up as your plants will begin to grow again and hopefully outcompete the algae (thats the idea anyway).

For the bba algae you can either up the co2 levels to around 50ppm (do this slowly over a day or two) and this should halt the growth of the bba and then you can remove what you see manually, or you could overdose with Seachem excel and this kills the bba also, both methods will work.

So id start to follow EI and with the co2 as well your problems should be a lot more controllable and should disappear once you get a handle on things.

If you need a hand with EI just post a thread and i will work out a schedule for you.

Best of luck with it.

 

[BLASK]

thanks zig for the help.

will the tubbing that came with the hagen yeast reactor work?

I found a place that refills and sells the tanks I will pick one up tommorow. Or should I wait to order the regulator first to see what size tank it will fit?

 

[zig]

thanks zig for the help.

will the tubbing that came with the hagen yeast reactor work?

I found a place that refills and sells the tanks I will pick one up tommorow. Or should I wait to order the regulator first to see what size tank it will fit?

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Id probably order and get the regulator first, from reading on other boards i dont think that tubing will do but not 100% sure, id ask at the place that sells the cylinders.

 

[BLASK]

Ok finnaly sorry for the wait, I got my regulator!

I am going on vacation tommorow untill the 19th so I will get the bottle then. When I do I will just use the ladder from the hagen yeast reactor as my diffuser?

Plus i am so sick of all this black beard and green hair algae - I am thinking of just chucking all the plants in the trash and buying a new same exact assortment? It was only 22$ US and its a small price to pay to have the tank look clean again and no stress. This way I can start things right with proper constant co2 injection.

Thanks for all the help

 

[BLASK]

Ok finnaly sorry for the wait, I got my regulator!

I am going on vacation tommorow untill the 19th so I will get the bottle then. When I do I will just use the ladder from the hagen yeast reactor as my diffuser?

Plus i am so sick of all this black beard and green hair algae - I am thinking of just chucking all the plants in the trash and buying a new same exact assortment? It was only 22$ US and its a small price to pay to have the tank look clean again and no stress. This way I can start things right with proper constant co2 injection.

Thanks for all the help