# Damn algae



## Bingy_bong (20 Jan 2008)

help, im constantly battling the Algae war, and its always beating me  

Recently i started to suffer from algae on the gravel and the glass. Every time i cleaned the tank i hooverd it up but it keeps coming back with a vengance  .

I read one of themuleous's post on another forum and it was suggested to do the 3 day blackout.

I took out all the plants, hoovered the gravel, at the same time removing 60% of the water, cleaned the filter than taped some heavy duty gardening bin bags all around the tank, turned the lights off then left it for 4 days.

4 days later, i peeled back the bin bags, cleaned the gravel again, removing another 60% of the water and cleaning the filter. i then replanted the whole tank with new plants from aquarium gardening using 40 root tabs along the way.

Two weeks on and the damn stuff is back again with a vengance. 
Im really sick of the stuff and despite all my best efforts i cannot rid my tank of this rediculous stuff.
Is there any other ways of getting rid of it, any treatments i could use and where to get hold of them? 
Cheers guys

Tank info    300l
pressurized co2        30ppm using  diffuser in tank (4kdh in drop checker )
lighting   4 x 55w 8 hours a day
ferts     tropica plant nuitrition+ 2ml a day


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## ceg4048 (20 Jan 2008)

Hi bingy,
               One thing to keep in mind is that algae is not an alien invader from space. Algal blooms occur as a direct result of unhealthy plants - plants made unhealthy typically by poor feeding   habits. The type of algae in your tank is in some way indicative of the elements or compound that is missing in their diet. If your feeding regimen is inadequate then it won't matter how many times, or how thorough you clean the tank and buy new plants - the same mistakes will generate the same results.

It's best if we start at the top. If you can describe your tank and ancillary equipment, your feeding regimen and your maintenance practices we can better help you. Could you answer the following questions to help us out?

What size is your tank?
How much light in watts, and what type of lamps (T5, T8, halide etc.) is it illuminated by? 
What is the duration of the lighting per day?
What is your fish load?
What fertilizers are you dosing, what quantity do you dose and how often do you dose?
Are you injecting CO2?
What type of filtration are you using?
How often do you clean the filter?

Also, could you describe the type(s) of algae you are seeing (can you post a photo)? You can compare what you a re seeing to the photos on JamesC algae guide - http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Cheers,


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## Bingy_bong (21 Jan 2008)

The tank mesurements are as follows Jewel 300 litre (approx 4ft x18inch x 20inch)
Lighting is by 4 x 55 watt power compacts  8hours a day via timer
Eheim 2028 external  lph with spraybar vertlcal
pressurised co2 @30ppm via in tank glass diffuser on same timer as lights
Drop checker with 4kdh solution in
fertilization by tropica plant nutrition +   2ml daily
Approx 40 API root tabs

The tank is cleaned every fortnight with gravel cleaner 
approx 50% water change and filter clean

Fish load 
3 Adult Angels 
6 cory aneous
6 cory barteii
4 ottos
2 tiny golden ancisterous
10 shrimps
feeding once per day


The Algae is deffinetely BGA, and as i posted previously i did do the tank and filter clean blackout redo the tank and filter again. But its back.

The tank is in a room which gets no direct sunlight whatsoever


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## Bingy_bong (21 Jan 2008)




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## GreenNeedle (21 Jan 2008)

Is that Cynobacteria in the first pic?  If so I think its blackout time for you.

Andy


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## Bingy_bong (21 Jan 2008)

I was sure it was too.

I only did a blackout two weeks ago though


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## ceg4048 (21 Jan 2008)

Hi,
     BGA can often be an indication of low nitrates. Again, blackouts cannot prevent it's recurrence if the root causes isn't addressed. 2ml of TPN+ daily somehow doesn't seem sufficient to me but I have no data to correlate it to the dry powder dosing.

Cheers,


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## Ray (21 Jan 2008)

2ml of TPN is less than the dose on the bottle - they say 5ml per 50L per week.
@300L = 30ml = 7.5ml/day.  This is assuming you change 20% water every 2 weeks.

I (and I am just copying George Farmer here) change 50% water/week so I dose more 150% that.  Note George adds separate Nitrates now and gets even better growth.

So given this is BGA and its often caused by Nitrate defficiency I think you should dose more TPN+.  How often and how much do you change water?


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## Ed Seeley (21 Jan 2008)

I had success getting rid of BGA but it took a fair bit of work!  I have only ever had BGA when I have been a bit slacker with the maintenance and the flow has slowed and organic mulm was more than usual.

To get rid of it I gave the filter media a couple of really thorough cleans and then upped the flow rate (upgraded the filter to a 2128 on a 180 litre tank).
I cut the light day length down a couple of hours too.
I also upped the water changes.  At first I was syphoning out all the algae and any mulm I could see daily and doing a couple of 50% changes a week.
If I'd known about it at the time I'd have used some Seachem Purigen in the filter too to help remove any organics that might also trigger the algae.

I didn't add any more fertilisers, but they certainly don't do any harm and will help boost the plant growth if the plants are healthy enough to use them.

Good luck!


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## Bingy_bong (21 Jan 2008)

ray said:
			
		

> 2ml of TPN is less than the dose on the bottle - they say 5ml per 50L per week.
> @300L = 30ml = 7.5ml/day.  This is assuming you change 20% water every 2 weeks.
> 
> I (and I am just copying George Farmer here) change 50% water/week so I dose more 150% that.  Note George adds separate Nitrates now and gets even better growth.
> ...



I change 50% every fortnight.

I will do another water change/hoover tomorrow 50%
Clean the filter
Up the TPN+ to 8ml/day
Give it a fortnight and see how it goes

Cheers guys, hope it works ill keep you all informed


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## Lisa_Perry75 (21 Jan 2008)

I know it might sound obvious and you may already do it, scrub the algae off before you gravel clean... I did not realise this for a long while. My fiance does tell me I'm a blonde done wrong. I also turn my filter off and on again before I start syphoning as my 204/102/305 all kick out loads of white crap when you do this.

Could more algae shrimps/ottos/sae help? I dunno if they eat this type of algae, but they may prevent other types gaining a foothold.

Or maybe adding some fast growing weeds  and adding more ferts, so the ratio of plants vs algae is higher?

I am pretty novice, and some of this may be wrong so please feel free to correct me anyone!


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## ceg4048 (22 Jan 2008)

Hi Lisa,
              Algae eater are always a plus, however BGA is actually a type of bacteria which most fish shun. As Ed says, more frequent water changes, better filter maintenance and better flow helps keep most types of algae from getting a foothold.

Cheers,


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## Lisa_Perry75 (22 Jan 2008)

Thanks for confirming what I thought


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