# first planted tank headache



## somethingfishy (3 Mar 2012)

my 300ltre tank has been running for 6 weeks, which was started up from my old 180ltre tank
it has a gravel base
2 x t8s 40w on for 5 hours a day
2 x external filters ehiem pro2 and 3 roughly 2250 lph
ferts tnc complete 10ml twice weekly
50% water changes a week

im started to get hair algae on my anubias and needle leaf javas
being my first planted tank im looking for any advice on how to 
sort this algae problem out

i have probably missed some key information but would appreciate any help






this pic is a couple of weeks old, it has more plants in now but hope it helps


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## Morgan Freeman (3 Mar 2012)

No added co2?


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## somethingfishy (3 Mar 2012)

no i have no added co2 im hoping to stay no tech and get the balance right ... but im struggling


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## faizal (4 Mar 2012)

Hi . I am not an expert or anything but from what I've learnt so far, the presence of hair / thread algae over a particular plant indicates to low co2 concentration in that area for the corresponding lighting intensity. In a non co2 tank  you should probably try to manually remove the algae and then try to reduce your lighting intensity.

You could probably do this by:
1) Elevating the light source a little & adding some floating plants.( I think this might be the best option because this allows the light intensity to be reduced while still maintaining an even spread of light throughout the tank) 

2) Disabling one of the light tubes.

3)Or simply just add lots of floating plants to reduce the light intensity going into your tank without doing anything to your light source (  i think this is the 2nd best option)

I hope you don't mind me asking you this but do you do the water changes during the  lights on period?


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## somethingfishy (4 Mar 2012)

thanks faizal

yes i have always done my water changes in the light on period is that bad?

i have removed the reflectors and have been looking for some floaters, guess i should stop trying to find some cheap and get some ordered.


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## faizal (4 Mar 2012)

Yeah,...doing 50% water changes in a non co2 tank is not good for the plants because it causes fluctuations of co2 level during the photoperiod. I think it usually causes BBA (Black Brush Algae) but still it's better to do the water change after lights out . I would do water change in a non co2 tank during lights out period and atleast 12 hours before the lights come back on because this gives it enough time for the co2 in your tap water to be de-gassed.

You can remove the reflectors. I have read some people putting mosquitoe screen over the lights to reduce the intensity. I prefer to raise the lights up. You can check on the DIY section where Mark Evans had done a DIY Light stand. Very cheap and easy to do.

Adding floaters is always a good idea when you are getting co2 associated algae in a non co2 tank .


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## somethingfishy (4 Mar 2012)

thanks alot 

it looks like i have run two threads basically asking the same questions (through my nievaty)
thanks for the help i will hopefully learn from what everyone has said


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