# Brown algae



## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

Hi guys

I have decided to ask for some help and guidance here. My new scape  is not going so good. It's been assembled for almost a month and at the moment it's been completely overrun with brown algae.

Rocky Mountain:
New scape "Rocky Moutain" | UK Aquatic Plant Society


Pictures of the tank:

















I am dosing  co2 with a pressurized system, i am keeping my lights on for 5 hours a day (6 hours before) to keep it under control, and i think the tank has a good flow. I am using two canister filters,plus a 2500 liter per hour wavemaker.
I do two 50% water changes weekly, vacuum the sand and clean the algae of the rocks and glass regularly.
The filters where already cycled when i started the tank. They were working in my other tanks while the scape was being assembled.

Flow:
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This is how the flow is setup in the tank. My fluval 305 has a dual exit,one of them pointing to the left of the tank and the other one to the front,the intake is standing right next to the outflow, the tank is drilled so i do not have a choice here. My other filter has the intake in the left side of the tank and the outflow is a spray bar in the center of the tank pointing forward. 
And on the left side of the tank i have the wavemaker pointing to the right side of the tank.
I don't thing flow is the problem.

Light:

The unit is 4x54 watts T5. I am only using 2x54 watts and for only 5 hours now. The confusing is in some places i've been reading that brown algae is a lack of light and to get rid of them you just need to increase the light. I tried this and it just makes it worse.

Nutrients:

I am now doing a EI dosing. I follow the guidelines that were sent to me when i got the dry salts from aquarium plant food. 

I am preparing a 500 ml solution for macros:

Potassium nitrate - 3 teaspoons
Potassium phosphate  - 1 teaspoon
Magnesium sulphate  - 6 teaspoons

I am dosing 30 ml  3x a week of this. It says to do 50 ml for a tank my size but i do not have that many plants yet.

Chelated trace - 1 teaspoon

30 ml 3x a week.

Can someone help me with what i am doing wrong.
I know parvula is not a fast grower and that might be the root of the problem, but then again i see other people with beatiful carpets weeks after assembly and no algae in sight. 
My carpet is spreading but is covered in algae and to me it feels like it's spreading slowly.


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## foxfish (31 Oct 2013)

It is the normal problem of not enough gas reaching the plants to match the light!
Looks like you have fish in there but if you did not then the simple answer would be to continuously turn up the gas until things improved.
So you will have to be more carful upping the gas levels unless you can rehouse your fish.
You can safely does full IE recommended amounts though.
I cant quite workout your flow either, wave makers are not popular although that does not mean they are not useful, however it seems to be conflicting the purpose of a spray bar.
The idea of a full length spray bar is to cause a diffused but constant circular flow within the tank. This effect will feed the whole bottom in an even controlled way.
How are diffusing the C02? what size is the tank?


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

The tank is 120 cm x 40 cm × 50 cm. Aprox. 240 liters.
And I am using a glass difuser.
 I do see a lot of co2 bubbles everywhere in the tank.
The scape does have a huge mountain hardscape in the middle.
Wonder if it is breaking the flow?


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## squid102 (31 Oct 2013)

I agree with fox fish. It looks like a light/co2 imbalance.



Aquamaniac Fishtanks said:


> This is how the flow is setup in the tank. My fluval 305 has a dual exit,one of them pointing to the left of the tank and the other one to the front,the intake is standing right next to the outflow, the tank is drilled so i do not have a choice here. My other filter has the intake in the left side of the tank and the outflow is a spray bar in the center of the tank pointing forward.
> And on the left side of the tank i have the wavemaker pointing to the right side of the tank.
> I don't thing flow is the problem.



It may well be contributing to the problem. Not the amount of flow but the direction(s). You seem to have a very confused flow pattern with outlets pointing in all directions. You need to position the outlets so that the water either:

Flows across the top, down a wall, along the floor and back up again
Or
Flows around the four walls in a continuous loop.

The water needs to flow smoothly around the tank without any of the flows from the outlets clashing.

I can't see a drop checker in any of your pictures. How are you sure that you are dissolving enough co2? Are you taking Ph readings instead?


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## Andy D (31 Oct 2013)

When did you start dosing the ferts as your other thread stated you were not dosing?

4 separate sources of flow all aiming in different directions could well be an issue.


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## foxfish (31 Oct 2013)

Island scapes work well with a circular flow around the island with all the outlets facing the same direction.
240l tank will need a lot of C02!


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

squid102 said:


> I agree with fox fish. It looks like a light/co2 imbalance.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Had an accident and broke my brand new drop checker in one of the water changes.
Need to order another one.
But I agree with that my flow is a mess. It did not ocur to me that having flow just for the sake of it is not enough. It needs to be efficient.
I do have the problem that my fluval intake an outflow are on the same side and cannot be moved.
Where should I put the spray bar? In the other side or the same has the fluval outflow?
And the wavemaker? It does more water movement than both filters put together. 


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

Andy D said:


> When did you start dosing the ferts as your other thread stated you were not dosing?
> 
> 4 separate sources of flow all aiming in different directions could well be an issue.



Started dosing one week and two days ago.  
I see now that my flow is bad. It's there but it's actually doing more bad than good.


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

foxfish said:


> Island scapes work well with a circular flow around the island with all the outlets facing the same direction.
> 240l tank will need a lot of C02!



Well my mountain  cannot qualify has an island because it touches the glass on the back. The bigger rock actually touches the glass.
Guess  this weekend I'll really need to get a new drop checker and not break it again to really  check my  co2 levels.

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## foxfish (31 Oct 2013)

I would buy a PH pen or if you are feeling flush a PH monitor, that way you can check the PH drop & rise during the during the tanks cycles.


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

I just checked the ph pen. It does not seem that expensive. 
I'll add one to my shopping list. 
Question is how will it tell me if I have a co2 problem?


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## aliclarke86 (31 Oct 2013)

Co2 effects the pH. If you measure your pH through the day you can see what size drop you are getting. For example my tank runs at 7.4 pH before co2 comes on. By the time lights are on its down to 6.4, it stays there until lights off.


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

aliclarke86 said:


> Co2 effects the pH. If you measure your pH through the day you can see what size drop you are getting. For example my tank runs at 7.4 pH before co2 comes on. By the time lights are on its down to 6.4, it stays there until lights off.



Thanks. I am aware that co2 decreases the ph.
Just not aware that measuring the ph could be used to check if I have enough co2 in the tank.
So can I do it with my normal ph test kit? 
I do not have the ph pen. But the tests I do.

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## Andy D (31 Oct 2013)

The drop checker is simply a crude pH monitor.


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (31 Oct 2013)

Andy D said:


> The drop checker is simply a crude pH monitor.



Thanks.
So untill I get a drop checker or ph pen I can use my tests and check how much my ph changes with co2 and lights on? Gonna do this this weekend.

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## Lee Sweeting (31 Oct 2013)

Aquamaniac Fishtanks said:


> Thanks.
> So untill I get a drop checker or ph pen I can use my tests and check how much my ph changes with co2 and lights on? Gonna do this this weekend.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


 

Have a look at this link Melting Marsilea hirsuta & Staurogyne repens? | UK Aquatic Plant Society. I had a similar problem ,and got lots of help with getting my Co2 right. this link should explain everything.

Hope it helps


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (1 Nov 2013)

Lee Sweeting said:


> Have a look at this link Melting Marsilea hirsuta & Staurogyne repens? | UK Aquatic Plant Society. I had a similar problem ,and got lots of help with getting my Co2 right. this link should explain everything.
> 
> Hope it helps



Just read it all. I feel like all my co2/flow  knowledge up this point was just thrown out the window.
Great help. Will start experimenting on this during the weekend.

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## ceg4048 (1 Nov 2013)

As others mention, flow distribution and CO2 are the root cause of the difficulty in this tank. A 3 day blackout is recommended, along with a total revamp of the placement of the pumps as well as a change in the gas dissolution technique. A vertical standpipe is an upside down affair so it will be not be as simple to port the gas directly into the filter inlet in this case. An inline device may be a better value in this case unless an imaginative way to get the gas into the filter inlet is found. The spraybar and ALL pumps should be placed along the same wall, all should be facing the same direction, and their flow vectors should all be parallel. That will maximize the flow energy and will result in better efficiency of distribution.

Cheers,


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (1 Nov 2013)

ceg4048 said:


> As others mention, flow distribution and CO2 are the root cause of the difficulty in this tank. A 3 day blackout is recommended, along with a total revamp of the placement of the pumps as well as a change in the gas dissolution technique. A vertical standpipe is an upside down affair so it will be not be as simple to port the gas directly into the filter inlet in this case. An inline device may be a better value in this case unless an imaginative way to get the gas into the filter inlet is found. The spraybar and ALL pumps should be placed along the same wall, all should be facing the same direction, and their flow vectors should all be parallel. That will maximize the flow energy and will result in better efficiency of distribution.
> 
> Cheers,



Thanks. 
Will a complete blackout be needed. As in covering the tank from light completely, or just keeping the lights out for 3 days?
Do I shut down co2 and stop fertilizing during the blackout?

I will revamp the flow system today as suggested. I'll use the ph readings during the weekend to see how it affects the tank and go for blackout during the week.

The fluval has an upside down intake pipe. But my other filter has a normal pipe, maybe I can play with that one to get a better distribution.
A inline difuser will be the definite solution  in the future anyway.

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## ian_m (1 Nov 2013)

Brown algae is generally diatoms. They will disappear with frequent water changes or get some Otto's, as I did, and they scoffed the lot in a day or two.

James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (1 Nov 2013)

ian_m said:


> Brown algae is generally diatoms. They will disappear with frequent water changes or get some Otto's, as I did, and they scoffed the lot in a day or two.
> 
> James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide



I am planning to add some Ottos. They are helpful in keeping the tank clean.
But they are not the solution.With all the help I have been getting here I am more interested In sorting out whats causing the algae problem.
 Which in this case seems to be flow and co2 distribution troughout the tank. 

It will not just sort my algae problem but make my setup much more efficient.

P.s sorting the problems plus adding the ottos might be a good way to get rid of the algae already in the tank without going for the blackout.
Someone correct me if I am wrong. 

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## aliclarke86 (1 Nov 2013)

A black will hopefully stop the algae spreading any further than it has already. Otos and shrimp will eat it either way. Get your flow and distribution sorted and you should be back track  fingers crossed

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## ceg4048 (1 Nov 2013)

But then you'll have to worry about fish in your tank, and if the root cause isn't solved, then making corrections is going to be a lot more difficult.

As far as I can see in the photo the plants are not very happy, and ottos can't fix that.
Getting diatoms a month into a setup means trouble generally.

You'd better stop thinking about algae as something to get rid of. If you have algae that means plant health has taken a nosedive, so you should be thinking in terms of getting your plants healthy.

Cheers,


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

I just spent the morning with the tank. 
Here's what was done:

- moved all the outflows to the right side. Spray bar working the full lenght of the tanks right side, and the fluval outflow and wavemaker working paralell to each other on the same side.
All my flow in now coming from the right side of the tank to the left.

- moved the glass difuser to be located under the all pond solutions canister filter intake. I am hoping some of the co2 will be sucked by the filter and difused trough the spray bar.

- cleared all the rocks and glass out of brown algae.

- vacuumed the substrate. I did a very thorough cleaning, there was another type of algae looking like cotton covering the substrate and plants I vacuumed most of it out.

- dosed 50 ml of macros and 15 ml of easycarbo.

I am now ready to do a ph test troughout the day to see how well my co2 is distributed around the tank.
Also preparing for a 3 day blackout during the week.
I just to try to sort the co2/flow before doing it.


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

Just to add I also did a 50% water change.

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## ceg4048 (2 Nov 2013)

Remember that easycarbo must be dosed every day.

If/when you do the blackoutthen turn off the CO2 but you can still dose the nutrients.

Cheers,


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

ceg4048 said:


> Remember that easycarbo must be dosed every day.
> 
> If/when you do the blackoutthen turn off the CO2 but you can still dose the nutrients.
> 
> Cheers,



Thanks.
Been dosing easycarbo everyday for a week now.

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

Well it's lights out and my ph test results are in.

Lights off co2 off
13:00  p.h 7.6

Co2 on
14:00 ph 7.6
15:00 ph 7.4
16:00 ph 7.4

This clearly was not good enough. So here I increased co2 output.Results follow.


Lights on
17:00 ph 7.2
18:00 ph 6.8
19:00 ph 6.6
20:00 ph 6.6
21:00 ph 6.6 

Co2 off
22:00 ph 6.8

Lights off

These are my test results today. After all the adjustments done this morning.

Tomorrow I will test the current co2 output from beggining to end without adjustments.


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## aliclarke86 (2 Nov 2013)

I get a drop from 7.3 to 6.3 between co2 on and lights on (1 hour). I would increase co2!

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

aliclarke86 said:


> I get a drop from 7.3 to 6.3 between co2 on and lights on (1 hour). I would increase co2!
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk



I did increased at 16:00  as I mentioned above. The drop only happened after the increase. 3 hours to go from 7.4 to 6.6.
So tomorrow I will test it again to see how this increase in output will do before lights on.

My co2 is being sucked up by one of the filter intakes and difused by the spray bar.

The only side effect is a gurgling noise every now and then.
Looking at an inline difuser as next purchase.

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## aliclarke86 (2 Nov 2013)

I have been running my co2 into my filter intake for nearly a year. It has done me well 

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (2 Nov 2013)

aliclarke86 said:


> I have been running my co2 into my filter intake for nearly a year. It has done me well
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk



Today was my first day doing it.
Hope it does me welk too 

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (3 Nov 2013)

Another day has gone. And some more testing was done. This time with no adjustments after the test started.
Here are the results:

Lights off , co2 off.
13:00 ph 7.6

Co2 on

14:00 not checked/ not home
15:00 ph 6.8
16:00 ph 6.6

Lights on

17:00 ph 6.6
18:00 ph 6.6
19:00 ph 6.6
20:00 ph 6.6
21:00 ph 6.6

Co2 

22:00 ph 6.6

What do you guys think of the results.



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## aliclarke86 (4 Nov 2013)

Fingers crossed on the distribution side

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (4 Nov 2013)

aliclarke86 said:


> Fingers crossed on the distribution side
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk



Can't do much better with this setup I think. All the outflows are on the same side + wavemaker.

Co2 being difused into the filter and coming out trough the spray bar.
Water does seem to flow much more efficiently trough the tank and there is much less co2 just going straight to the surface now than before the changes.
I hope its ok.

Today I started the 3 day blackout.
I hope my plants survive and the algae don't.



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## aliclarke86 (4 Nov 2013)

Plants usually respond really well to a blackout

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## jart (7 Nov 2013)

Lee Sweeting said:


> Have a look at this link Melting Marsilea hirsuta & Staurogyne repens? | UK Aquatic Plant Society. I had a similar problem ,and got lots of help with getting my Co2 right. this link should explain everything.
> 
> Hope it helps


 Great link; thanks!


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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (7 Nov 2013)

Blackout finished.
Plants look to have survived.
No algae on rocks. The ones on the glass seem to be falling off.
Plants still covered with algae but seems to be dying.
Need to vacuum everything out now.
I am sick today but it has to be done.
Any suggestions.

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## Aquamaniac Fishtanks (8 Nov 2013)

Despite being sick I dragged myself yo the tank yesterday.
Here's a rundown of what was done:

-50% water change
-vacuumed the substrate
-cleaned the glass
- dosed e 15ml of easycarbo
- dosed 50 ml of micros as part of the fertilization regime.

There is still some algae ob the plants that did not come off.

I have some amano shrimps in another tank and I was thinking of moving them to help clean the algae left overs.

What do you guys think?

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