# That little anoying GDA on glass...



## herezor (6 Jun 2016)

Hi

Well, I think I have already read all possible information on how to get rid of GDA. But most of the posts here and in other forums refer to GDA blooms or big problems. That is not my case. I have a little GDA on the glasses at the end of the week. Actually, I guess it is just at the end of the week that I see it, but it is probably growing slowly during the week. When I scrub the glass on the water change day, I do it with a small piece of filter floss (no need to use any other more aggressive tool as after cleaning the 4 tank glasses, filter floss is only slightly green). It is not a problem. I do everything that needs to be done to keep the tank clean but...

My question is... is it unavoidable the elbow grease or can I have as a goal to get rid of glass scrubbing. It is just the one thing I hate doing. All the rest (fertilizing, water change, etc) is ok... but cleaning glasses drives me nuts
Do you guys have no algae at all. And when I say at all, I mean nothing, not a single green spot or haze on the glass?.

-Tank specifications - 112L (80longx40widex35deep).
-Lighting - 3 LED bulbs 13W each and 1150 Lumen each (no PAR measurements). - 1 LED on from 16:00 to 17:00. All on from 17:00 to 22:00,  Just 1 LED on from 22:00 to 00:00 h, then all off.
-CO2 - Pressurised with inline atomizer (pH shift 7.8 at 14:30 to 6.85 at 16:00 and 6.7 17:00 stable until 22:30). 14:30 on 22:30 off. Flow all around the tank seems good checked by moving pH probe all around the tank and getting the same pH everywhere. Plants (pogostemos erectus, Staurogyne repens and HC) growing very nice and no trace of algae.
-Filtration - Eheim 2213 (2 sponge and some sera siphorax, little load + Aquaclear 50 foam + purigen + some sera siphorax. (in theory 440 + 757 = 1197 L/H or around 11X turnover)
-Fertilisation routine - EI: 2 tbsp KNO3 + 1/2 tbsp K2PO4 in 480 ml 20 ml (Mon/Wed/Fri) and Traces 1/2 tbsp in 480 ml 20 ml (Tue/Thur/Sat) recommended recipe for 20 to 40 gallon tank for 8 weeks. Sunday rest day. Monday water change 50-60%

Cheers

Pedro


----------



## Eduard18 (6 Jun 2016)

Hi; cleaning glass is unavoidable; an inescapable fact  

Envoyé de mon SM-G935F en utilisant Tapatalk


----------



## Finn (6 Jun 2016)

Yeah, it's a sad fact, even low tech tanks get biofilm and mulm building up on the glass, you just can't escape it.

I know you say you're happy using the filter floss, but I personally keep looking at the ADA pro razor, I reckon these things are designed just to make you feel a bit glamorous doing the weekly scrub - you don't want to resent tank maintenance.


----------



## herezor (6 Jun 2016)

Yeah... well. Although I was hoping for a "yes, you can do it changing this or that", I knew in my mind what the answer was...unfortunately.
I use the floss, because I tried once with it and realized that it was enough with it. Why use something that may scratch the glass when one can use something much less aggressive...

Thanks for your replies

Cheers

Pedro


----------



## Easternlethal (6 Jun 2016)

I had a high tech tank once with 0 visible algae. And I mean you couldn't even find any if you tried. It was rock solid stable and I could go for months with no water change.  I wasn't even using EI. Just generic fert from my lfs. Light was medium/high. 

But I have not been able to repeat it since.


----------



## rebel (6 Jun 2016)

Otos or plecos. That's how Tom Barr combats his. You should try PMDF plus phosphate ie scale back dosing a little and see also . Do you auto dose.? If so you can be accurate with your reduced dosing . gdA can be the final frontier .


----------



## herezor (6 Jun 2016)

I have 6 otos, 6 nerite snails and 20+ red cherrys (and breeding) as cleanup crew. I have read Tom talk about brittlenose plecos or ancistrus, but I would need a really small ancistrus species, probably around 6 cm max. However, I have also read that they are actually good at cleaning when young. I do not auto dose. I do it manually.

I am a believer of EI . I do not trust in cutting back ferts. I was rescued from The Matrix (as Clive would have said ) and took the red pill. All my problems went away when I added more ferts... so, I won´t be reducing my dosing.

I was more inclined to think that I am not dosing enough, and that is why, at the end of the week GDA shows, because plants are running low on ferts... but I do not think that would be the cause either


----------



## rebel (6 Jun 2016)

herezor said:


> I have 6 otos, 6 nerite snails and 20+ red cherrys (and breeding) as cleanup crew. I have read Tom talk about brittlenose plecos or ancistrus, but I would need a really small ancistrus species, probably around 6 cm max. However, I have also read that they are actually good at cleaning when young. I do not auto dose. I do it manually.
> 
> I am a believer of EI . I do not trust in cutting back ferts. I was rescued from The Matrix (as Clive would have said ) and took the red pill. All my problems went away when I added more ferts... so, I won´t be reducing my dosing.
> 
> I was more inclined to think that I am not dosing enough, and that is why, at the end of the week GDA shows, because plants are running low on ferts... but I do not think that would be the cause either


No issues . Sounds like you have no solution?

If you increase dosing and solve it, please let us know . I can use the same technique.


----------



## herezor (6 Jun 2016)

What about Mg?. I am not dosing that and my tap water contains 2 ppm (water company report). Is that enough or might this be the problem...?

I comment on that as Darrel just asked me in other thread if I added Mg or not and he make me think about it...


----------



## rebel (6 Jun 2016)

Maybe. No harm in trying though.


----------



## Easternlethal (6 Jun 2016)

If in doubt, add.  That's second rule of EI. 

But I don't think Mg fights algae.

I hate cleaning glass too and never do it. Even when I get algae. Over time I just increase ferts light co2 until eventually  it goes away.


----------



## MrAqua (6 Jun 2016)

Its unavoidable Im afraid. 
Use a razor to scrape/shave it off


----------



## herezor (24 Jun 2016)

Easternlethal said:


> But I don't think Mg fights algae.



Well, what I meant was not to use Mg to combat algae. I meant that Mg deficiency may contribute to sub-optimal plant performance, giving room for algae growth. And it is GDA who takes advantage of that situation.

By the way, I have been adding Mg for a couple of weeks and I can confirm that GDA is not progressing. I do not see it disappearing, but not increasing. My tap water has 1.8 mg/l Mg (water company report) and I am adding 10 mg/l aprox weekly. I removed just half of the GDA from the front glass during water change just for comparison and it seems that the cleaned part does not have any green dust on it. I  have not changed anything else. Same EI dosing, same flow distribution, same CO2, same plant mass, same temperature, same water, same fish, same everything but Mg. Two weeks now...

So, for those of you with low Mg and little GDA... check it out!!!. I am getting close to no scrapping at all...


----------

