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Whats this algae and how do I rid of it?

Jaap

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Messages
1,068
Location
Nicosia
Hello,

I think I am doing everything right:
1. Tank 70L with 18w T5HO and 1000l/h filter
2. EI dosing
3. Porus clay type gravel
4. Only Eleocharis Parvula, no fauna
5. CO drop checker is nearly yellow, blasting tank with pressurized CO2 through inline atomizer

What am I doing wrong?

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Thanks
 
Head over to james planted tank

Looks like brown algae, Due to new setup high NH3 etc. :)
 
Light levels are too high mate. Not necessarily the tank light itself, could be due to sunlight, or ambient light.

I had this stuff, it grows everyday back to full force until I reduced the light from window and Grobeam & upped the Co2.

Check my tank in my sig for details, it was one of my recent posts.

Cheers,
 
Having a very low biomass at start up doesn't help much either, always try and have at least 60% of the substrate planted, the more the better.

My first course of action would be to trim all the hairgrass level with the substrate, get a load of floaters duck weed anything like that and add some big bundles of plants like H.Polysperma, clean everything and increase waterchanges to no less that 50% daily, keep the co2 and dosing high and give the filter,tubing etc a good clean too. I'd also double check dosing and check that there's no ambient lighting coming in as outlined by Whitey.
 
No ambient light or sunlight at all. Maybe i am dosing high on the kno3? Its not a new setup.
 
I don't think it's too much ferts, I think it isn't enough. I'd also be suspicious of just how much co2 is in the water, inline misters have a horrible habit of throwing drop checkers with microbubbles going straight into the "bell" giving a false result.

Even if it's not a new set up low biomass isn't helping you.
 
Quote James planted tank http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

"Description: Forms in brown patches on the glass, substrate and plants.
Cause: Usually found in newly setup tanks due to silicates and ammonia as the filter and substrate have yet to mature.

Removal: Can be vacuumed out or wiped of the glass with a soft cloth. Usually disappears after a few weeks when the tank has matured. Otocinclus will eat it."

Also George Farmer has a good guide linked at the top of this forum page. but here it is anyway
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=905

worth the read
 
The lights are on 6 hours.

I dose 15ml seachem trace elements 3 times a week and 12ml of a solution made up of 100g KNO3 and 20g KH2PO4 dissolved in something less than 500ml of water.

Should i up the co2? The substrate and filter are definately mature. Problem is i cant get more plants since none are available at shops at the moment.

Should i add an overdose of excell?
 
I would definitely up the co2, is it possible to take a photo of positioning in the room? Because if thats light then it wont do you any favours..

A 24/7 lower BPS rate could possibly help, as tim stated, that this technique helped him get rid.
 
Also I made a mistake...its 24w T5HO on for 6.5 hours daily!
 
I would probably recommend a good water change and blackout. I noticed the blackout had an effect on my setup when I was getting a lot of this stuff.

Get a toothbrush and GENTLY brush the algae, it should come off really easy. Just be careful not to pull hairgrass out.

Mine had to be done every day.
How old is the tank? What was the last thing you did to the tank or modified?

Cheers,
 
The tank is over a year old and still I am battling to get this right. Latest change was to add the pressurized co2 and then the atomizer. Complete blackout? For how many days? Wont this kill the plants as well?
 
I honestly think what you have with the hairgrass there is in no way worth trying to rescue, it's clearly of poor health hence my suggestion to cut it to the substrate and allow fresh growth to come back. You really won't get on top of the issues you have unless you have a lot more biomass though, there's no two ways around it.
 
OK I will cut the grass down to the substrate and thus remove the algae.

However I can't get any more plants at the moment...it is impossible for me since there aren't any on the market due to the high summer temperatures and they don't import any plants until later on in September.

I will do the following changes:
1. Add Excell overdose
2. Cut the hairgrass to substrate level and remove algae
3. Up the CO2
4. Reduce the photoperiod from 6.5 hours to 5 hours

I already do my 50% weekly water changes and I clean my filter once every 2 weeks.

Do the above changes sound like a descent try?

Thanks.
 
Jaap said:
OK I will cut the grass down to the substrate and thus remove the algae.

However I can't get any more plants at the moment...it is impossible for me since there aren't any on the market due to the high summer temperatures and they don't import any plants until later on in September.

I will do the following changes:
1. Add Excell overdose
2. Cut the hairgrass to substrate level and remove algae
3. Up the CO2
4. Reduce the photoperiod from 6.5 hours to 5 hours

I already do my 50% weekly water changes and I clean my filter once every 2 weeks.

Do the above changes sound like a descent try?.


That sounds like a good start :)

but as others have mentioned you do need more of a biomass, more plants!
Thanks
 
Jaap said:
OK I will cut the grass down to the substrate and thus remove the algae.

However I can't get any more plants at the moment...it is impossible for me since there aren't any on the market due to the high summer temperatures and they don't import any plants until later on in September.

Are you UK based? If so plants are available all year round - lots for sale on here too, some members just giving them away and just wanting postage cost. :thumbup:
 
Jaap how do you clean your filter?
 
Gary Nelson said:
Jaap said:
OK I will cut the grass down to the substrate and thus remove the algae.

However I can't get any more plants at the moment...it is impossible for me since there aren't any on the market due to the high summer temperatures and they don't import any plants until later on in September.

Are you UK based? If so plants are available all year round - lots for sale on here too, some members just giving them away and just wanting postage cost. :thumbup:

Unfortunately I am not UK based, I am from Cyprus and I honestly cannot find plants except of a few anubias this time of the year.

I clean my filter by cleaning the sponges under running water, removing the ceramic material from the cannister, cleaning the cannister and then putting everything back together and flooding the filter with tank water. The tank water that I use when doing water changes is always treated with water conditioner. The whole filter cleaning process takes about 5 minutes or so, the ceramic material stay out of the water for approximately 5 minutes.
 
That sounds like your most likely problem right there mate, running the sponges under water is killing the good bacteria and the sponges are what converts the waste. By doing this the bacteria are choosing to live in your tank and not your filter.

I'm really surprised how many people jump straight in to the up co2 and cut right back without first checking the basics! This is classic diatoms from an uncycled tank use tank water to rinse your sponges and clean your filter you'll notice a huge difference.
 
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