Algal depression

Garuf,
Lets start from the beginning so we can figure out why the algae outbreak was induced, and what you need to do to minimize it. If it is GDA then you'll have to leave it alone for 3 or 4 weeks and it should go away.

These are standard questions in order to troubleshoot:
1. It's a 10G tank but what type and wattage of lighting?
2. Is this a newly setup tank?
3. What exactly is your dosing, in teaspoons or grams if dry powder or ml if commercial fert.
4. Are you injecting CO2, if so what method and how are you measuring the concentration exactly?
5. What is your water change schedule?
6. What is your filtration?

No need to be depressed but it will take some elbow grease to remove. I don't really like to suggest stripping a tank down because the reason algae appears is because there has been some sort of error in keeping the plants healthy. If you make the same error the second time the algae will only return. If we can find out what it is that you are doing or not doing the problem can be solved.

For sure you'll have to physically remove the algae growing on the plants and wood.

Cheers,

 

OK, 36 watts CF, even without reflectors, is a tremendous amount of light for a 10G tank. Wow! I would suggest that, at least in the short term, you consider lowering your light by at least half and have lights on for no more than about 8-9 hours per day. This will immediately throttle down the demand for nutrients.

Aquasoil is notorious for leaching quite a bit of ammonia into the water column. Again, a short term solution for the next few few weeks is to do an 80% water change at least twice a week. This is a way of continually reducing the NH4 concentration in the water column. Water changes also removes algal spores, a top priority.

You could easily move up to the next bracket in James' dosing schedule. These plants are Nitrogen starved. As they decline, they then leach NH4 back into the water column across damaged cell walls. This signals algae to propagate.

Puny filters do not have a large enough bacteria colony to handle ammonia spikes. Optimally, the filter for this tank should be able to turnover at least 30 gallons per hour while filled with media. All filters are rated at about twice what they can actually do with media so you'll ideally need a filter that has a turnover rating of near 60G per hour. The 2213 has 116GPH from what I see on the website so this should be fine.

Adding more traces is all well and good but you've absolutely got to fix the macronutrients first. :idea:

As discussed before, physical removal has got to be a priority because as you add more nutrients the existing algae will feed on what you dose. This ought to be followed by a three day blackout. Remember that you must continue to dose after every water change and dose even during the blackout. You don't need CO2 during the blackout. This might take a few weeks so hang in there. '8)'

Cheers,

 

Hi,
Sorry, my mistake - I didn't choreograph all the suggestions:

1. Sod's law - this is THE most important factor. I'm on thin ice here because lighting isn't my specialty but I believe that even though your ballast output is 36 watts it can drive a lower wattage lamp without blowing it to bits. If it's a CF socket, all the lamps, regardless of wattage rating fit (4 pin Euro-socket right?) Just to test this I inserted a 24 watt lamp into a 55 watt ballast and it was fine - and it wasn't any brighter than if it were plugged into a 24 watt ballast. I don't know what the long term effect is though..

2. Physical removal should be performed as quickly as humanly possible. Get as much as you can out of the tank but try NOT to disturb the substrate if you can't do the water change immediately thereafter.

3. 80% water change should be performed immediately after physical removal. You must get ammonia, spores and remnants out of the tank or life is more difficult.

4. After water change dose immediately (double your dosage) and perform a 3 day blackout. Blackout means BLACKout. Do not let one photon of light into the tank. Use black plastic bin liners if necessary. Shut down CO2 (and lights obviously) The second dose if possible should be done at night (if it can be done - if not, leave it).

5. 80% Water change at the end of blackout. This is important because dead things killed by the blackout like spores and leaves generate ammonia if left in the tank. Dose (double) after water change:!:

6. I'm not familiar with the tetratec. It should be fine if it's got similar media volume and similar pump output as the Eheim. The idea is to get enough bacteria built up (takes a few weeks) to handle NH4.

This is the standard triage for algae attacks. Keep it up for the next few weeks and you should see a decline in algae and more importantly an increase in plant health. Remove algae and infected leaves as quickly as possible. It is definitely possible to find a dosing scheme to allow you to run the 36 watts CF but I honestly don't know what that is right now. Use James 20-40G dosing to start off with and see how the tank responds in 3 weeks. Remember you can always go higher. It's when you go lower than you should that you run into trouble.

Cheers,

 

Hi,
The blackout should knock back the algae quite a bit. Go ahead and do the immediate water change and turn on lights+ CO2 again. The plants need to start production again. Don't forget to dose. I would severely restrict the photoperiod though seeing as that was what got you in trouble in the first place. Even though you are dosing more it takes time for the plants to reconfigure their chemistry to take full advantage of the new dosing scheme. Meanwhile they continue to "bleed" and algae again have an advantage. It's Catch-22 but it has to be done. The frequent water changes help to limit the impact of the "bleeding".

An analogy: If I found you starving in the desert and gave you food and water that would save you that day but it would take a few weeks of feeding before you'd regain your original weight, right? This is the case here. As you continue to physically remove the algae, then also continue to remove ammonia and spores via water changes. Continue to limit the light and to dose. Over the next few weeks you should notice that less and less algae re-grows. This is a signal that the plants are regaining their health. As the plants regain their health they will then start to absorb ammonia instead of ejecting it into the water column.

You've got to think about why algae flourishes in order to avoid massive outbreaks. Too much light, too much ammonia, poor CO2 and poor feeding. That's it for all intents and purposes. Control these four basic factors and you control the outbreaks. Can you see now why I don't agree with stripping the tank and starting all over again? No matter how many times you restart the tank, if you fail to understand the causes you will continue to make the same mistakes you'll have the same troubles. Many people simply throw in the towel and give up because they never learn to perceive algae as a symptom of plant illness. Instead they perceive it as some foreign invader. Algal spores of every type will always be in your tank. Like vultures they wait for ill health or poor water conditions to attack. If we focus on keeping our plants healthy we avoid the conditions that signal them to bloom. Avoid the combination of high lights and ammonia at all cost. Avoid starvation by dosing appropriately. Whenever you see algae your default thinking should be - "plants are starving (NPK)" and/or "too much light" and/or "ammonia breach". If you follow this discipline you will always be able to react properly. On the contrary, if you follow the popular thinking that nutrients cause algae, you'll be doomed...

Cheers mate.