Added fish --> Algae outbreak. What to do?

[zgall1]

I recently added 22 fish to my planted tank that previously had three. What started as a minor algae outbreak (that was actually triggered by adding a few foreground plants a week earlier) turned into a major outbreak shortly after. Prior to all of this, there was no algae at all.

The hair algae as well as algae spots on the side of the tank can be seen in the pictures (http://picasaweb.google.ca/z.gallinger/AlgaeProblems#). Additionally, the water now has a greenish hue. Lastly, there is a film on top of the water that will not dissipate. Can anyone identify the source of the problem from the details provided and provide me with a solution? Thanks for the help.

Tank specifications - 125 gallons
Lighting - Unsure of the exact lighting. About 2 wpg. 9 hours per day
CO2 - Pressurised
Filtration - Fluval F5 i.e., well-filtered
Fertilisation routine - I am dosing EI with KNO3 and KH2PO4 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and trace nutrients on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am performing a 50% water change on Sunday.

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
I've edited your post to place the images in-line.

The photos themselves are very rough so it's not really clear exactly what kind of algae you have. In general, hair algae and Green Spot Algae appearing together suggests a CO2 shortfall so you'll need to look at the injection rate as well as possibly your flowrate/distribution. You may also nwant to think about adding Excel. Have a look at JamesC's Algae Guide to compare what you have. That first image could be showing Cladophora instead of the classic hair algae.

Adding plants does not trigger algae. If you add plants and then fail to give them what they need then this does trigger algae.

Cheers,

 

[chris1004]

Hi,

A possible reason why algae was triggered when you added the plants could be that you disturbed the substrate. This is known to raise ammonia levels which in turn trigger algae spores to bloom. Another ammonia spike was probably induced when you added the fish because it would have taken the filter bacteria several weeks to adjust to the new bio load put upon it.

Always remember LIGHT+AMMONIA= ALGAE, EVERY TIME.

Regards, Chris.

 

[Dolly Sprint 16v]

Hi,

A possible reason why algae was triggered when you added the plants could be that you disturbed the substrate. This is known to raise ammonia levels which in turn trigger algae spores to bloom. Another ammonia spike was probably induced when you added the fish because it would have taken the filter bacteria several weeks to adjust to the new bio load put upon it.

Always remember LIGHT+AMMONIA= ALGAE, EVERY TIME.

Regards, Chris.

Hi

I agree with the above quotation from Chris and 9 hrs of lighting seems quite a lot - if it were me I would knock at least 2 - 3 hrs of the lighting period. One thing I do is to clean or vacuum the substrate prior to where the new plants are going to be planted.

Regards
Paul.

 

[zgall1]

Hi,

A possible reason why algae was triggered when you added the plants could be that you disturbed the substrate. This is known to raise ammonia levels which in turn trigger algae spores to bloom. Another ammonia spike was probably induced when you added the fish because it would have taken the filter bacteria several weeks to adjust to the new bio load put upon it.

Always remember LIGHT+AMMONIA= ALGAE, EVERY TIME.

Regards, Chris.

Given the above, do you anticipate the ammonia levels will eventually return to their previous levels or will I have to try something like a blackout in order to reduce the amount of algae?

 

[chris1004]

Hi,

A possible reason why algae was triggered when you added the plants could be that you disturbed the substrate. This is known to raise ammonia levels which in turn trigger algae spores to bloom. Another ammonia spike was probably induced when you added the fish because it would have taken the filter bacteria several weeks to adjust to the new bio load put upon it.

Always remember LIGHT+AMMONIA= ALGAE, EVERY TIME.

Regards, Chris.

Given the above, do you anticipate the ammonia levels will eventually return to their previous levels or will I have to try something like a blackout in order to reduce the amount of algae?

Hi,

First you have to separate the two in your own mind.

The Ammonia should return to near zero once the filter bacteria have colonised enough to deal with the new increase in waste, this could take a few weeks depending on the severity of the problem but will sort itself out eventually, if the Ammonia is very high a few large water changes should bring it back into more managable levels, there really does'nt need to be much Ammonia at all to trigger algae to bloom especially under high lighting.

The algae which has occured has probably been triggered by Ammonia + Light and now it is in full bloom will be releasing further spores into the water to be triggered into bloomong. Somehow you have to break this cycle and get rid of the offending algae itself and the spores at the same time AND (this is very important) remedy the causal factor of getting algae in the first place or it'll just return again. Lots of large water changes (50% every other day) and overdosing with flourish excel usually works and will also be benificial for addressing your ammonia spike.

Algae is a very complex subject and you'd do well to take the advice of people like Clive (ceg4048), Tom Barr (plantbrain) and James who has an excellent article on algae on his website here:-

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Which gives causal factors and remedies for some of the more common varieties of algae which appear from time to time.

There is also a wealth of knowledge on the subject on this forum, just spend a little time reading through relevant posts and it'll pay dividends.

Regards, Chris.