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ammonia remover is like activated carbon, it is granules in media bags (you can buy it loose if you want) and you just put that in the filter. Adding mulm is usually just done for the bacteria, rather than ammonia but I suppose you could do it. Cant you just run the filter on the loaned tank...

usually it is the ammonia. Doing large water changes and running ammonia remover and/or purigen in your filter helps reduce the chances a lot. Make sure the the mature bacteria has an ammonia source because after a day or two they will start to die off.

what are you running in the filter? Water change schedule? It is usually the ammonia that triggers it, running ammonia remover and/ or purigen etc helps :thumbup:

agreed, someone linked a paper to me arguing you can starve algae by limiting N&P, they didnt read it and/ or understand it but the levels recorded were in micromilligrams and algae growth persisted.

In places such as in front of a powerhead or filter then algae can grow, because the water parameters there are fluctuating all the time. However, water flow doesnt encourage existing algae to grow.

Re: Staghorne Algae Challenge I have my DC green at lights on, then once it is yellow, i turn CO2 off (3hrs before lights out) personally, i prefer to dose all nutrients from day one as i know there wont be any limitations, AS is nutrient rich, but you can never be sure there is enough...

Nice tank, glad you are winning :thumbup:

I quote: "ultimately, you are the only true "pro/expert" for the tank that is in front of you. As much as the more knowledgeable members such as Clive can advise you, they are only doing it based on text and pictures. Nobody can really estimate flow or ferts around your tank better than you. "...

I used to get it on my filter output not anymore because i have glass and try to keep it clean as possible :lol: But the CO2 or nutrients wont ever be stable like Dave said, plants cant compete against algae in those conditions. This is why it is pointless having 20x turnover and aiming it in...

I would say you have a high turnover, but you are not being efficient in using the available turnover to distribute the CO2 to the lower areas of the tank. It is all well having a high turnover but you can survive with 10x along as you are using it well ;) If th DC is yellow at the top then i...

Dose 1ml per 20litres daily as a guideline, so you should raise the dose, but if the plant health is in good shape then keep it where it is. I used to dose 10ml in my 180litre but it was a high tech tank.

mine is fine, except a few plants which are next to the powerhead where the tips have gone brown, although they may be damaged :roll:

It isnt as effective on green water, GSA & GDA, mainly the hair types it works best on I would of done an 80% water change, followed by a 3day blackout and another 80% water after. That usually clears it.

the greyish & messy appearance makes me believe it is Staghorn. BBa tends to form little neat tufts.

i would be tempted to raise that slightly, i used to dose 3ml on my 60l daily! Or you can just dose some of the macro you have,

try raising the PO4, but yes, cutting the photperiod helps. what are you currently fdosing at the minute?

plants use various chemical processes to convert it into CO2/ carbn and algae does not have that ability so instead it becomes toxic. Thanks for the link James, just going to have a read, or i may save it for tomorrow!

Hi, can you just confirm what an isomer is? Is it when the same atom has a different mass number? Or is it different chemistry terms? (that providing i have it right for physics, my brain is overloading with science at the minute :shock: )

:lol: thanks for the tip.

i see more sense in this stament, than in your first post, but like James says, there is a fine line of not dosing enough, giving the plants just enough is fine, but if nutrients run out then you just run into more trouble, and this is what EI covers. It provides nutrients to cover the demands...

If that is the case then why can so many people run tanks sucessfully using EI, or even any other method. What method are you using currently? What level does there have to be for it to be called "surplus"? I bet anyone who is dosing a fertiliser is dosing a surplus amount of NO3/ PO4. The...

you aren't dreaming, that is the first thing that came to my head too. I think it was flyfisherman.

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2618

thanks, i though i have read it was about 6ppm.

If you take a look at the journals section and you will see that almost every tank adds NO3 and PO4 on a daily basis, or every few days. It has been proven that NO3 doesnt cause algae or even health problems in fish above 30ppm, you cant beat evidence, and by looking and tanks with levels above...

:lol: I have a sponge scourer, good as it is soft on one side, and rough on the other for more stubborn algaes. It lasts me ages as i only need to use it once a month. Very cheap & effective :D :D

Re: Green dust Algae break out In my last 2, possibly 3 tanks, i have always had diatoms > GDA. Dont know why :roll: and i know that it isnt an automatic occurance, however, it is probably just the ecess ammonia still being there which hasnt been cleared up. However, i know know better...

Re: Green dust Algae break out IME GDA follows on from diatoms. lol, do you still have it now you have moved?

how is circulation in the tank? is water movement ok throughtout all areas in the tank? Algae tnds to appear in the areas with less flow.

It is diatoms and they are usual in a new tank, after a few months they clear on there own but to help you can do 2 x 50% water like you are doing, clean up crew which you have. The only other suggestion i would make is to cut the photoperiod down to 6hrs for a few more weeks.

Personally i would do a blackout, just because it would take longer than 3-5days for delivery :roll: I managed to get rid of the BGA in my tank by a 3 day blackout followed by 50% daily water changes for the following week. It hasnt come back since and i never did buy the koralia lol :roll: I...

I think someone on here bought some EM from America.

EM is specific to gram positive, the filter bacteria are gram negative - Cyanobacteria is positive so therefore it only kils BGA

yes, the reason it come on aswell is because i had just rescaped the tank and i disturbed the substrate alot but never folowed up with water changes after to keep the ammonia levels down :roll:

i had it ages ago, i kept removing it then doing 50% water change straight after every day for about 1 week, it worked but it may not be easy on a tank that size!

sounds like spyrogyra, which is hard to get rid of seen as it likes similar conditions to plants.

adding PO4 will lower it, but you will probably still get the odd spot.

i use a scourer

Dont know if you know already but it also kills off other beneficial bacteria (filter bacteria)

So what causes diatoms then? Just the immature tank itslef that is still creating bacteria/ NH3 presence?

Plants are able to save energy so when they are desperate for light they grow quickly to reach the surace to try and gain some.

It takes a few months, are you still getting as much as you used to or is it starting to slow down? If you have silicates in your water then it may never go.

I do it all the time :lol:

Yes, the infusoria (or other organisms) can feed of the algae which provides food. :)

I have just recieves this email from Aquatic Magic on how to eradicate green aquarium algae, i am sure many others have too so it would be interseting to see your views on this: Useful Tips on How to Eradicate Green Aquarium Algae One of the methods for keeping algae away from your aquarium...

could it be spyrogyra? very hard to remove if it is, it likes the same living conditions as plants. Just keep removing it and it should go away.

if you are changing the substrate then you wont have any BGA left to kill, or am i missing something? If you mean to prevent it in the future, then the causes are: low NO3 Dirty Filter Poor circulation/ flow issues

didnt think so, i have about 8x turnover, i have the 205 creating surface ag, then the spray bar from the eheim pointing down towards the front glass, i rarely see any waste on the substrate & i make sure that i dont overfeed. It isnt the substrate ine, it is on top of the substrate, he is the...

i posted a few week back, about a BGA problem, i put it down to it being a fairly new (so fairly unstable) environment, i did a 3 day blackout after taking it out, and doing a 50% w/c. it worked (for about a week :roll: ) untill it has just started to creep back in again :evil: there is a an...

3 days, if it is extremely bad then you could do it for 5 but this is usually not needed. cover with a blanet or something similar yes is that for trace? Tap water is fine, but you can use RO if you want because the pants could use them all up in the first few days and then they could...

yes you can do it at the same time if thats what you mean http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... &cPath=145 http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/fertilise ... -5_147_200 plastic is fine :) A lack of nutrients causes algae, so always better to overdose, plants or fish are not botheres, you...

satrt off with 1ml per 20l for dosing with the Tropica aquacare line.

thats weird, my RCS never touched it - once :twisted:

i had spyrogyra (after a rescape), i got rid of it by constantly pulling it out as soon as i saw a little bit, th worst hit plants i just threw away.

yes - 2wpg HOT5 (2 x 24w) on a 40g. With this tank i was trying to keep it cheap, that is why i gave up on plants with it, if i were to dose then i miht give EI a go because of the cost. I have noticed today a bit of hair algae foming today, i am not to bothered about any algae because it...

i meant if i added any? or would they survive on the waste produced by the fish alone?

Just thought though, with my lighting, it is like 2WPG, would i need to dose any ferts?

thanks.

i think vallis would be best as it is hard water, might try some purigen. When i forst got this tank, it was set up with plastic plants, but i got no BGA then (or in the tank i had before that) Do you think it could happen becasue it is fairly new set up?

The above pic was taken on Sep 1st, (9 days ago) and there is no BGA visible, at the moment, it is dead in the centre at the front. lighting 2 x 24w HOT5

forgot to say it is a cichlid tank so no plants, hence the open space. 20ppm is via the nutafin test kit. Filters were opened last week for a check and hardly any waste had accumulated so i left them. 50% w/c every week, havent missed one yet :wink: 3 x copadichromis borley @ 3" each 1 x...

Hi, i think i have the starting phases of BGA Circulation is fine, no poo is ever on substrate eheim 2215 classic & fluval 205 NO3 20ppm filters are clean set up just under 3 months Any ideas?

Blue Green Algae is blue, green and slimy, covers everywhere and is hard to eradicate. Black Brush Algae is small black hairs that form little clumps, http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

You manage to make things so much simpler in life Clive. I have lost count how many of these descriptions youu have done - and the matrix lines help too :lol:

you can do a DIY TPN+ which is cheaper, see here for info - http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm

it could be low CO2 or nutrient levels (or ammonia spike). 5ml isnt much on a 200l. powerheads improve flow so there are no dead spots and it also hlps push the nutrients & co2 around more

starteed that 2 days ago :)

thanks, i will give it a try :D

wow, pretty strong stuff then! Do you turn the filter back on straight away after squirting the dose?

yes i'm sure, they are forming on the front of the leaf too! I will try spot treating it, how long do i leave the excel on for before putting it back in the tank?

Hi, i have a bit of BBA on the tips of my windelov fern, i know it is usually CO2 related but i have pressurized CO2, and i overdose excel by 3x daily (for the last wek). And still it remains. all the rest of it has gone. Thanks

it wont be linked with the colour temperature, i used to have 2 x 18 000k tubes and never got BGA.

ammonia isnt always detectable in the water. You test kits only detect what is safe for fish. Your tank is constantly producing ammonia & it is impossible for this to be processed imediatley. Do you vac your substrate?

nitrate is fine, it should be around 20ppm for plants. Low NO3 can cause BGA. Other causes are ammonia spkie, not always detectable on a test kit. direct sunlight dirty filter, when was it last cleaned? Dead spots, is the water getting pushed where the BGA is? removal of the BGA followed by a...

some great info there, thanks.

nice work 8)

thanks, the syrogyra has gone, tiny amounts of BBA, but that is going quickly, i am overdosing excel and running CO2 high, verything is back to normal now. James, who is mr.spam?

I dont think there is enough time left in the day to read that - blimey Clive :shock: Well better get started asap :lol:

you can get trace from here: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... 20a&page=2 you can add trace via flourish but it is dearer.

Another visit to AE :roll: I removed as much as i could today with a 50% w/c i cant see anynore BBA but you never know, it wasnt as bad as i thought, thank god

I have BBA and spyrogyra, on James' algae article, it says a blackout for the spyrogyra, is there any other way? I know the cause, my CO2 ran out while i was away, high lighting and heavy ferts dont go well as you know,

12.5ml is ok, it doesn't need changing really, you need to change the KH2PO4, KNO3 if necassary and any other salts you dose as this is what is different in everybody's tap water.

Not cleaning your filter for a long time means lots of dead plant matter is rotting in your filter which comes back to what Clive said - it leaches ammonia then the algae use this to feed off. Good luck,

BGA can be caused by low NO3, i know you dose it with the TPN+ but it may still not be enough. How often do you clean your filter? and when was the last time it was cleaned? Whats the stocking aswell? You may have good flow, but not good circultion, so this could be also another factor.

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/allinone.htm here is the solution by James for a DIY TPN+ If you are going down the EI route, then you need: KNO3 - potassium nitrate KH2PO4 - potassium phosphate trace elements GH booster if you have a gh less than 4 also consider garden direct, higher...

What does it look like? can you get a pic?