# Algae starting to form, ID needed



## lowee (6 Oct 2008)

My nano tank has been set-up for about 6-7 weeks now and since last week algae has started to grow, I gave it a clean out yesterday and as you can see by the pictures it has grown by back very quickly. 

Tank is 28 litres
2x11W Arc pods
Dosing 6ml Potassium Nitrate 3x week
3.5ml Potassium Phospahate 3x week
1ml Tropica PN+ 3x Week
50% water change per week
C02 dropchecker showing green

Any ideas of what it is? And more importantly how to get rid of it!






Thanks
Tom


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## JamesC (7 Oct 2008)

Rhizoclonium. Take a look at http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm for starters. 

James


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## lowee (14 Oct 2008)

Thanks for that James, but after following your guides im still having troubles with it. Im doing 3 water changes a week, increased CO2 and Ferts but still it grows. Im also finding it very hard to remove! I know it says excel, but this stuff is everywhere, so it would need a v.high dose. Any other ideas?

Thanks
Tom


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## lowee (19 Oct 2008)

Still having problems with this, anyone have any idea what might be causing it?

Thanks
Tom


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## ceg4048 (19 Oct 2008)

Hi,
     As listed on James's site Rizo is nutrient and CO2 related. The first step would be to lower the lighting level to give yourself half a chance. Shut down one of the lamps. Secondly, CO2 or flow must be increased. You have not stated whether your CO2 is 24/7 or on a timer. If on a timer ensure that the gas goes on at least an hour before the lights come on. Also, it is not clear exactly how much you are dosing. For example, "6ml of Potassium Nitrate" is meaningless unless you describe exactly how you prepared your solution, i.e how many teaspoons or grams mixed with how much water? It may be that you simply need to double or triple your dosage but without knowing how much is being fed it's impossible to troubleshoot.

Cheers,


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## lowee (19 Oct 2008)

Okay will get on the lighting tomorow. At current I have just had the CO2 coming on at the same time as the lights, but will set that to come on an hour earlier.

This is the guide I used to make my EI solutions:
Potassium Nitrate - 40g to 500ml of water and adding 10ml per 100L of water would give you a value of 5ppm. 
Potassium Phosphate - 15g to 500ml of water and adding 5ml per 100L of water would give you a value of 1ppm

Im also now also only dosing Tropica PN


Cheers
Tom


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## lowee (2 Nov 2008)

Just come back from a week on holiday to find the tank totally over run with this stuff! Spent a good hour cleaing today, but I still dont know how to stop it growing! Anyone?

Thanks


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## rudedog (16 Nov 2008)

Have you tried using Excel? You don't need to go crazy with the dosage even if you have a bad infestation - it will just take longer to clear if you use smaller dosages.

Also, do you use a specific reference solution for your CO2 checker or just tap water?


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