# Algae, cause and suggestion for treatment



## BakerJ (7 Mar 2021)

I've been having this algae for quite some time now   Earlier this year it was this algae combined with some bga, that battle I've already won. Think this was due to my filter not running properly combined with weak flow. The flow issue is resolved, I've added some more bio material in the filter and removed some of the mechanical filter material. Resulting in better flow and more surface for bacteria. The silky like algae, not sure what it is, keeps bothering me though. My water parameters are quite good, I think. Some more info on the parameters a week ago:

Nitrate 10-20mg/l
Phosphate 0.5-1mg/l
Ph 6.35
Kh 8-9
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Co2 120mg.
Once a day 3 squirts tropica premium and 1 squirt easy carbo (to battle out the algae)

Now the co2 was quite a shocker, I found out that the green plants behind my drop checker made the yellow seem lime green, when I was removing some algae and my hand moved behind the drop checker I noticed it was yellow. I've since then slowly dropped co2. From my own measurements my water parameters are now as follows:
Nitrate 10-20mg/l
Phosphate 0.5-1mg/l
Kh 8-9
Co2 20-40mg/l
Ph 6.8
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Ferts: 3 squirts tropica (6ml) + 1 squirt easy carbo

Since the algae I'm doing a 50% on Saturday/Sunday and a 25-50% wc on Tues/wednesday. I've been told to tone it down and do a steady 25% weekly as the algae is supposedly caused because I don't have enough cycling bacteria (due too a big filter clean about 5-6 weeks ago). I hand remove the algae at least weekly, getting it out of the moss is difficult though, so I don't get everything out. The algae feels silky like and a bit smudgy. Hope you guys have some good advice on the route I should take to battle this. Is it safe to say that t the easy carbo and hand removal combination is not working? Or should I be more patient and continue doing this for the next few weeks? 



Aquarium info:
60 liter
Filter cristal profi greenline e402
Filtermedia Eheim filtermassa substrat pro
Heavily planted
Light: super fish scapersled60

Fish:
9 neon tetra's
2 dario dario
1 siamese algae eater
7 ish amano shrimp
20 ish bloody mary shrimp
3 nerite snails


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## jaypeecee (7 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> Co2 120mg.


Hi @BakerJ 

Do you mean 120 mg/litre? How were you able to measure this figure?

JPC


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## BakerJ (7 Mar 2021)

Some extra info I forgot:
Tank age 1 year,
Substrate amazonia light
Light 8 hours a day
Started with no co2, added an installation 4.5 months ago (late October)

Plants: guyana, rotala green, rotala h'ra Vietnam, dwarf Hair gras, crypto wendtii, ranunculus inundatus, hygrophilia verticulata, moss, pinnatifida, s repens.


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## BakerJ (7 Mar 2021)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @BakerJ
> 
> Do you mean 120 mg/litre? How were you able to measure this figure?
> 
> JPC


Sorry meant 120mg/l. My drop checker was yellow, combined with kh, ph test and the co2 table which came with the dennerle dropchecker


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## BakerJ (7 Mar 2021)

As I was posting I thought let's test the ammonia level again... Hmm might this be the problem?


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## jaypeecee (7 Mar 2021)

Hi again, @BakerJ 

You may find this link helpful in identifying the algae in your tank. It looks like some form of hair algae:









						Algae in the aquarium - Aquascaping Wiki
					

Causes for algae and algae control




					www.aquasabi.com
				




JPC


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## John q (7 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> As I was posting I thought let's test the ammonia level again... Hmm might this be the problem?


Certainly won't be helpful and will definitely be harmful to the fish.


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## jaypeecee (7 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> Sorry meant 120mg/l. My drop checker was yellow, combined with kh, ph test and the co2 table which came with the dennerle dropchecker


Hi @BakerJ 

OK, fair enough. 120mg/l is one heck of a CO2 figure - it's the highest I've ever come across in any tank! 


BakerJ said:


> As I was posting I thought let's test the ammonia level again... Hmm might this be the problem?


Yes, something's amiss. On my PC monitor, I'm seeing 1.0 mg/l. Not good.


BakerJ said:


> Substrate amazonia light


I've never used the above substrate material but it would be worth checking if this is one of those substrates that leaches nutrients (particularly ammonia) for several weeks after adding to a tank.

JPC


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## BakerJ (7 Mar 2021)

jaypeecee said:


> I've never used the above substrate material but it would be worth checking if this is one of those substrates that leaches nutrients (particularly ammonia) for several weeks after adding to a tank.
> 
> JPC


After a year still?


jaypeecee said:


> OK, fair enough. 120mg/l is one heck of a CO2 figure - it's the highest I've ever come across in any tank!
> 
> JPC


Managed to get my ph a full point down with just co2 and the dropchecker was yellow. 120mg/l might not be the case I'm not sure how accurate these fluids are, anyway it was far above the recommended 30mg/l.

I think I first need to deal with this ammonia problem and see if this fixes the algae problem as well. Fish are luckily (still) doing fine. 

Just did a quick water change filled it back up and did a water change again to to dilute the ammonia and nitrite..

Any chance that I've been killing bacteria with dosing easy carbo or my water change and cleaning regime?

I'll give you guys an update coming days.


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## dw1305 (8 Mar 2021)

Hi all, 


BakerJ said:


> Sorry meant 120mg/l. My drop checker was yellow, combined with kh, ph test and the co2 table which came with the dennerle dropchecker.





jaypeecee said:


> OK, fair enough. 120mg/l is one heck of a CO2 figure - it's the highest I've ever come across in any tank!


You won't have 120 mg/L of CO2. Do you have the 4dKH fluid in your drop checker?


BakerJ said:


> I thought let's test the ammonia level again... Hmm might this be the problem?


Do you use a dechlorinator like "Prime" (I know you are in the Netherlands, where the supply may not be chlorinated)? 


John q said:


> Certainly won't be helpful and will definitely be harmful to the fish.





BakerJ said:


> Fish are luckily (still) doing fine.


With healthy fish and that level of planting I would be very surprised if you had any ammonia. 

cheers Darrel


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## ceg4048 (9 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> Since the algae I'm doing a 50% on Saturday/Sunday and a 25-50% wc on Tues/wednesday. I've been told to tone it down and do a steady 25% weekly as the algae is supposedly caused because I don't have enough cycling bacteria (due too a big filter clean about 5-6 weeks ago). I hand remove the algae at least weekly, getting it out of the moss is difficult though, so I don't get everything out. The algae feels silky like and a bit smudgy. Hope you guys have some good advice on the route I should take to battle this. Is it safe to say that t the easy carbo and hand removal combination is not working? Or should I be more patient and continue doing this for the next few weeks?


Hello,
          This appears to be Rhizoclonium and if so, is related to poor CO2.
Firstly, you are clearly having a problem determining CO2 and secondly, you may still have an issue with flow/distribution.
More than likely, you have too much light, so in any algae fighting that's the first thing that's needed. Whoever suggested to limit the water changes is mistaken. The second thing to do when battling algae is to perform large and frequent water changes.
I have no idea how much 1 squirt of Easycarbo is. I believe the bottle instructs to do a water change and to dose a certain amount in ml or in capfuls, then to dose a certain amount daily?

Cheers,


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## BakerJ (9 Mar 2021)

dw1305 said:


> You won't have 120 mg/L of CO2. Do you have the 4dKH fluid in your drop checker?


I believe so, it's the dennerle dropchecker fluid.


ceg4048 said:


> Hello,
> This appears to be Rhizoclonium and if so, is related to poor CO2.
> Firstly, you are clearly having a problem determining CO2 and secondly, you may still have an issue with flow/distribution


Co2 could very well be a problem, I had a problem with an empty canister for about 4 days. I did already have algae at the time so it's not just that. For the flow I'm thinking about adding a small wavemaker. 



dw1305 said:


> Do you use a dechlorinator like "Prime" (I know you are in the Netherlands, where the supply may not be chlorinated)?
> 
> 
> With healthy fish and that level of planting I would be very surprised if you had any ammonia.


I don't use dechlorinator, water comes straight from the tap. I was really surprised with the ammonia as well. I do reckon that the co2 outtage for a couple of days caused some plants do decompose some leaves. This might cause a spike? I trimmed all of the decomposing leaves and did a big water change. 


ceg4048 said:


> More than likely, you have too much light, so in any algae fighting that's the first thing that's needed. Whoever suggested to limit the water changes is mistaken. The second thing to do when battling algae is to perform large and frequent water changes.
> I have no idea how much 1 squirt of Easycarbo is. I believe the bottle instructs to do a water change and to dose a certain amount in ml or in capfuls, then to dose a certain amount daily?


I currently have 8 hours light, would you advice to go to 7 or 6 temporarily?

Thanks for the WC remark, I had trouble believing this as well as it is not general opinion on this forum from what I've read so far.  How often should I change water?

1 squirt is 2ml. The dosage is daily, no extra amount after WC. it's FloraGrow Carbo (Colombo). I checked and it contains Gluterdialdehyd.


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## dw1305 (9 Mar 2021)

Hi all, 


BakerJ said:


> I was really surprised with the ammonia as well. I do reckon that the co2 outtage for a couple of days caused some plants do decompose some leaves. This might cause a spike? I trimmed all of the decomposing leaves and did a big water change.


I don't think so, my guess is that it is an <"issue with the test kit">, rather than an actual ammonia reading.  Is it a possibility that your water supply <"contains chloramine?">


BakerJ said:


> I did already have algae at the time so it's not just that.


Green Algae are difficult to treat, because they belong to the <"same clade as all the Green Plants">, and share the <"same photosystems etc">.



BakerJ said:


> I believe so, it's the dennerle dropchecker fluid.


I'm not a CO2 user, but the <"drop checker should be accurate">.

cheers Darrel


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## BakerJ (9 Mar 2021)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I don't think so, my guess is that it is an <"issue with the test kit">, rather than an actual ammonia reading.  Is it a possibility that your water supply <"contains chloramine?">
> 
> ...


No in the Netherlands we do not have Chloramines in tapwater, as we mainly use ground water for drinking. 

I believe the test kit is quite accurate though, I've never tested positive for ammonia since the cycling phase, where I added food for the purpose of cycling, and I've been testing my water like a mad man before trusting I started trusting on EI. Back then it gave a positive measurement as well. Ammonia today is back to zero again, so whatever it was, misread or spike, it's seems to be oke now. Will test for ammonia daily for at least a week just to be sure.


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## BakerJ (9 Mar 2021)

And thanks Darrel, ceg4048 and jaypeecee for the help and suggestions! Very much appreciated. I'm still quite new to the co2 balance and all my knowledge is just from the internet. It's great to have your experience on the matter! 

Picture of the tank after the WC and maintenance. I cut back some if the background plants to hopefully promote more flow and manually removed as much of the algae as possible. Will keep up with the water changes, was thinking about once every other day 25%. On Saturday a 50%. Of course with removal of algae in the mean time.


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## dw1305 (9 Mar 2021)

Hi all,


BakerJ said:


> Ammonia today is back to zero again, so whatever it was, misread or spike


Good, you are probably never going to know exactly what happened. If you have <"efficient nitrification"> then ammonia/ammonium (NH3/NH4+) and nitrite (NO2-) will give a transitory reading and even the <"smoking gun"> of nitrate (NO3-) will be depleted by the plants

One advantage of having a large plant mass is that it gives you <"extra nitrification capacity"> if you have an unexpected pollution incident (dead fish?)

cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (9 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> And thanks Darrel, ceg4048 and jaypeecee for the help and suggestions! Very much appreciated. I'm still quite new to the co2 balance and all my knowledge is just from the internet. It's great to have your experience on the matter!


Hi @BakerJ 

It's good to know that we were able to help you.

JPC


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## ceg4048 (10 Mar 2021)

BakerJ said:


> I currently have 8 hours light, would you advice to go to 7 or 6 temporarily


Hi,
   The duration of the light is much less important than the intensity, which is what does the damage, however, if you have no way of reducing the intensity then reducing the duration is the next best thing. Algae love light more than plants do so reducing the duration a few hours will help.


BakerJ said:


> Thanks for the WC remark, I had trouble believing this as well as it is not general opinion on this forum from what I've read so far. How often should I change water?


A 50% water change 2X or 3X a week would not be unreasonable. Also, when you remove the water and drop the water level you can squirt the Carbo on the affected areas. Remember to dose the Carbo as well as the nutrients after the water change.
All the liquid carbon products are made from diluted glutaraldehyde, so it doesn't really matter what they are called. I just use the names Easycarbo or Excel as generic names, like Coke is a generic name for all colas.

Cheers,


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