Algae ID and some help?

[Marios]

Hi all,

I have set up an aquarium two and a half weeks ago with dimensions Width: 140 cm x Depth: 40 cm x Height 30 cm. Currently using JBL e1502, rated at 1400l/h, with added purigen and activated charcoal and an additional powerhead rated at 2000l/h. The lighting unit is Chihiros WRGB 2, which is mounted at 30cm from the water surface. Co2 with inline injection and inline heater are used.

Dosing EI 30mg Macro and Micro daily (Ei Starter 1 Kit with Bottles - Starter Kits - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers).
1st week daily water change and now every other day.

Currently trying to adjust my Co2 at optimal levels. Drop checker currently at green colour but testing my ph drop with the aid of a ph Meter (ADWA Waterproof pH and Temperature Tester) is only 0.5. (Kh is at 13).

Now to my question. Diatoms have started blooming and have some other algae, which is shown in the photos below, and suspect is blue green algae? (The sand has been stirred upped quite a bit trying to clean it)

Any idea on what might causing it and any tips in trying to address the problem?

Thanks,
Marios

 

[Sam66]

In my limited experience, it will probably go as the tank matures. If you plan to have snails you could put some in now as they might keep the algae down.

I'm sure someone who knows more than I do will be along soon to give you an ID

 

[Sam66]

How much light is it getting? I had algae on a new tank at 7 hours of light a day which improved when I reduced to 6 and lowered intensity a bit.

 

[Sam66]

I might be wrong about this but I don't think you want activated carbon in the filter if you are dosing ferts.

 

[Marios]

How much light is it getting? I had algae on a new tank at 7 hours of light a day which improved when I reduced to 6 and lowered intensity a bit.

Hi Sam. I have the lights on for 6 hours no ramp up at 40%.

it will probably go as the tank matures

From what I have read, if it is BGA, then I will need to take some drastic actions, so as to not take over my tank.

I might be wrong about this but I don't think you want activated carbon in the filter if you are dosing ferts.

I believe that the ferts are not that affected by the activated carbon.

It's getting worse by the day.

 

[Sam66]

Mine was similar but only on the plants and hardscape, nothing visible on the substrate.

I dropped to 6 hours of lighting and added 10 each Ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet snails. Within 2 weeks all signs of algae were gone.

I'm not saying snails would definitely work for you as the underlying cause could be different but for me the snails cleared up the algae and as the tank matured it hasn't come back (so far).

 

[Sam66]

Forgot to add, I did scrub a lot of the algae off the hardscape with a toothbrush during two water changes a week apart but I really think the snails made the biggest impact.

 

[jaypeecee]

I'm sure someone who knows more than I do will be along soon to give you an ID

Hi @Marios

What your photos show is the unmistakeable colour of Cyanobacteria (aka BGA). It is not easy to eliminate. But it can be done. Please take a look at the following and we can then take it from there. Do you have any livestock in your tank - fish, shrimp, snails, for example?

Here's a link:

Cyanobacteria Identification - At Last!

It’s believed to be erythromycin Hi @becks In that case, my understanding is that it wouldn't be considered legal in the UK as it's an antibiotic. JPC

www.ukaps.org

JPC

 

[Marios]

Hi Sam and JPC,

I was under the impression that I replied to your messages. Sorry for that and thank you for you inputs.

To provide an update:
1. While I was writing my initial post, I had already started a treatment with H2O2 (Treatment with hydrogen peroxide - Aquascaping Wiki), after manually removing most of the cyanobacteria.
2. In the meantime, I had ordered the Easy life Blue exit, which would arrive in a week's time.
3. I did 50% of water change every day.
4. Added some more beneficial bacteria, with each water change.
5. Reconfigured the flow of the tank.
6. Increased my Macro fertilisation from 30 ml to 50 ml, every other day, after reading again Ceg's article.
7. Decreased my light intensity from 40% to 35% and slightly increased the distance of the light from the water surface, by 3 cm.
8. Cleaned the filter's media and sponges with aquarium water.

By the time the Easy Life Blue exit arrived, I noticed that the cyanobacteria has been dramatically reduced (nearly eliminated, apart from some tiny patches between the glass and sand in the front) so I decided not to treat the tank and see how it goes. It's been nearly a month now and the cyanobacteria is mostly gone, apart from the tiny patches mentioned above, which are cleaned, without any effort, with every water change each week. I haven't noticed any cyanobacteria on the sand or substrate which required manual removal.

What I did notice though, is that my Alternanthera reineckii Mini ("AR") started melting in a weird way, which I will explain below in assistance with some photos.



The AR was planted along with all other plants, around 23 January. Up until cyanobacteria hit my tank, AR was growing, in my limited experience, with good results without showing any signs of melting.
See comparison photos.

22.01.2022

30.01.2022

12.02.2022

12.03.2022

AR started melting (complete melt, the stem as well) from the front most AR and since then it has been expanding to the back most AR (sorry for my English, if this is a bit confusing to understand). So, in the first day only two started melting, the others appeared to be ok (firm stem) and as time progressed, one or two new started melting. It's like something is being transmitted to the other stems and melts them one by one. (don't know if that makes sense). It also appears that the AR have some holes in them.
I am a bit baffled of what is going on. Could it be that the AR are adjusting from emmersed state to immersed? However I find this a bit odd, given the way the melting is spreading. Or could it be the H202 treatment? again a bit odd. Or maybe something else? i did notice a lot of fungii from the driftwood (don't know whether this might had any effect)

Also worth noting, is that the other plants appear to be growing well, as I would like to believe. Here is a photo taken a few days ago.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Marios

 

[Marios]

Forgot to mention that I have also been using Easy life carbo per daily basis. (recommended dosage according to the manufacturer)

 

[palcente]

What is the temperature of the water?

Chihiros wrgb2 at 40% is rather strong for 30cm deep tank, even when suspended 30cm above tank (especially at the beginning).

You also seem to have low plant mass and I cannot see any plants that need strong light in your tank. I would make the light the limiting factor as it is the easiest to control and increase when things start stabilizing.

So you could start with lowering the light to 15% and adding a big bunch of fast growers (even temporarily) - I myself have 15 dKH from tap and found that for me the go to plant is Limnophila sessiliflora - it grows really fast and does well in hard water.

I would not add any more nutrients to the tank until you test what you already have in there. Some literature out there states if you have too much phosphates in relation to nitrates you have higher chance of BGA, which you already had in your tank, so worth getting N/P tests and find out. You can remove nitrates with WC, but not really phosphates as they tend to linger in the substrate and when you test for it you really want to suck the water from the substrate.

 

[palcente]

You can disregard my comment about low plant mass, the last picture did not load when I was posting above. I still believe your light is running too hot for a shallow tank like yours and would find out exact water parameters before adding more ferts.

 

[Marios]

Thank you for the response @palcente. I will try and implement some of your suggestions and see how it goes.