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Trouble Shifting Algae

Barry Hannah

Member
Joined
5 Jun 2019
Messages
39
Location
London
Trying to get to the bottom of a small algae issue I'm having as I'm having trouble finally figure out what is causing it.

I'm sure it's just something that needs tweaking slightly just cant figure out what.

So I've got a 240l tank with the following

Juwel HeliaLux 1200 LED Light Unit.

Dawn - 13:30 to 13:45 white 10% blue 40%
Sunrise - 15:45 to 16:00 white 50% blue 50%
Sunset - 21:00 to 22:00 white 0% blue 50%
Dusk - 22:00 to 22:30 white 0% blue 0%

Co2 comes on at 10:00 and off at 21:00 via an inline diffuser.

The substrate is Tropica Aquarium Soil

Im currently using 2hr Aquarist APT 3 Complete and dosing 7ml per day.

Usually do around 50% water change once a week and try to remove as much of the algae as I can.

Any ideas on what I could do to help would be great.

Thanks

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Ok that's so is that something you would say to increase by dosing with a separate product?

Is there anything that may help, light settings or upping the amount of C02 for example?
 
Hi
You have various Algae BBA, GSA and Green Thread Algae!
Some more information would be helpful!
hoggie
 
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What is the tank age?
And can you please provide a full picture of the tank?
So tank has been up and running probably 10 months give or take.

Have given it a bit of a clean out today so a bit cloudy still but here are some full tank pictures
 

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Hi
You have various Algae BBA, GSA and Green Thread Algae!
Some more information would be helpful!
hoggie
Sorry also to add to the info above I'm using a biomaster thermo 850
 
Hi Barry
Do you have a Drop Checker?
A couple of those Algae issues are probably Co2 related!
I suspect the Green Algae is Cladophora/Blanket Weed?

You seem low on plant mass, adding floating plants will help with some nutrient shortage identification.... e.g. Nitrate/Iron/Magnesium.
GSA...could be low Phosphate levels?

When was the last time you opened up the filter and cleaned the main sponge compartments?

Use this procedure below to help cover some of the surface area!
I'm not familiar regarding the light fixture!

I've used Algexit in the past with good results against Green Thread algae, it can be used on most Green Algae issues I think, it's something to consider!
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hoggie
 
You seem low on plant mass
I was going to say the same thing and specially the tank has predominantly slow growing plants making things more tricky specially in a high tech setup.

So tank has been up and running probably 10 months give or take.

Have given it a bit of a clean out today so a bit cloudy still but here are some full tank pictures
Some of the algae you have there are there because of an excess of light in relation to CO2 availability. So one needs to go down or the other up or both need to be tweaked. I would personally start by dropping the light intensity a bit and monitor for the next couple of weeks how things evolve. You could also increase CO2 every so slightly but I usually prefer to start with the light specially because you have mostly slow growing and not very demanding plants, but adding some CO2 will certainly be beneficial in any case.

If possible I would also add some faster growing stems to allow some stability.

I would also suggest increasing the WC volume for the next couple of week to evacuate as much as possible algae spores and organics. Additionally you can try some anti-algae product but my experience with them is that with shrimps it's never a good mix. Try to slightly cyphon the upper susbtrate layer when doing WC to remove organics as well. I usually just use my finger to slightly stir the susbtrate and immediately suck the organics that come out with the hose.
 
That's great thanks everyone, so I was thinking of changing the taller plants I have at the back right anyway so I will look to change for some stem plants, hopefully will add some mass and a bit more interest in that corner.

One thing I did notice last night was my auto-doser had deleted the schedule so it hadn't been adding any fertz, have resolved this now so hopefully, that will help.

Will also try and do a few small water changes in the week as well.

Wil add some pictures to show how its going
 
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