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Algae identification

Gringo

Seedling
Joined
20 Jul 2020
Messages
14
Location
Warwickshire
Hi,

Would anybody be able to help identity this algae, I can't work out if it's BBA, hair or staghorn.

IMG_20200727_132914.jpg


Tank specifications - 87
Lighting - stock lighting, 10.8w led, due to upgrade soon, 9hrs per day
CO2 - small amounts of DIY to keep pH level slightly lower and daily excel dosing for 2 weeks
Filtration - the stock filter which is marina 160i and also ef1000+ which has been running together for 3 weeks now
Fertilisation routine - TNC Lite for 1 week now because I spotted potential potassium deficiency, due to high nitrates and phophurus I decided to only use lite version, I have reasonably hard water, KH6 GH14 pH 7.8

Thanks
 
Hi Gringo,

Straight away I can see you have very low plant mass.

It is difficult to balance an aquarium with low plant mass and unsurprising that you are starting to see algae.

I would try to increase your plant mass by 4 to 5 times.

Slow growing plants like Anubias really don't help in the short term. Grasses are good but you need much more, and stem plants would really help.

I see you have some floating plants. That's good, they are useful.

I would consider adding some Egeria Densa or similar. It grows very quickly and helps out compete algae.

You could also consider a clean up crew - shrimp, Nerite Snails or Otocinclus.
 
Thanks again,

Should I plant the Egeria Densa or leave it floating? If I was to buy 5 bunches should I leave them bunches and weighted in the sand?

I have 1 neurite snail, I have been meaning to get some otocinclus or Siamese algae eaters but not got around to it yet. I'm uncertain about shrimps because of the yellow convicts in there, although they are very shy and never go for the other fish at all so might be worth risking,
 
OK, forget shrimp with the convict.

Your tank is too small for SAE.

So I would either increase the number of Nerites or try Otocinclus.

Floating or planted doesn't really matter. I like it planted personally.

Try to double up on your Vals at the same time.

Think about reducing your lights to 7 hours.
 
Thanks,

I've changed my timer and ordered another load of Vallis and 5 bunches of Egeria Densa

I'll take a trip to my lfs for some otos at the weekend.

Thanks for your help again, once it's all in I'll put up an update, I can't wait for the external filter to establish fully so I can get rid of the internal one, it's becoming more unsightly everyday :confused:
 
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