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Brown slimy algae on monte carlo.

mangeltrueman

Member
Joined
10 Sep 2021
Messages
59
Location
Norfolk
Hi All

I'm just after some verification that this algae is due to new tank syndrome and will go away of its own accord and also some advice on if it's lighting related (which i think it is). I have this dark brown algae in patches on my monte carlo and java moss. It seems to me to be more like cyanobacteria as it isn't "dusty" but brushes off quite easily with either my finger or a paintbrush. Also comes off in tiny little "sheets" from the glass where it meets the substrate. Also got some diatoms on the rocks but that seems to be fading away slowly. Have been brushing that off with a toothbrush during water changes.

All the fast growing stem plants are doing well, some of my crypts and althernanthera do have some of this on them but they have recently started throwing out some new lush foliage and i just wipe the algae off the affected leaves with my fingers. This seems to only affect slow growers, so was wondering about my lighting.

My lighting is currently running at 60% but not sure if with the combination of the fluval plant 3 and the aquasky 2.0 that came with the tank this was too much or not enough.
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1. Size of tank in litres - 120.
2. Age of the set - up - 7 weeks (3 week dark start)
3. Filtration. - Fluval Flex 123, so internal baffled filter with sponge and biological media. 2 x eheim 600 lph pumps in parallel and one skimmer @ 250lph
4. Lighting and duration. Fluval Plant 3.0 and Fluval Aquasky 2.0 - 8am ramp up to 60% at 8:30am. 4pm ramp down until 4:30pm
5. Substrate - .Tropica Soil
6. Co2 dosing or Non-dosing. Dosing with what i believe to be good flow coverage using fire extinguisher and co2 art reg. Inline diffuser after filters and pumps coming out of tank outlets (see full tank picture). Bubbles get to the bottom of the tank and the skimmer also adds some rotation around the tank.
7. Fertilizers used + Ratios. -Using EI from aquarium plant food with the suggested ratios with their starter kits
8. Water change regime and type. Twice weekly 50%. filter sponge rinsing every couple of weeks.
9. Plant list + When planted. - planted 4 weeks ago. Many tropica varieties, rotala, hygro etc, all growing pretty well
10. Inhabitants - Harlequin Rasbora, Cardinal Tetra, Blue emporer tetra, zebra danios, amano shrimp and nerite snails.
11. Full tank shot.

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I think this could be to do with low nitrates. Just used a nitrate test (yes, I know, probably not accurate), and it was down at around 5ppm. I guess in areas of my tank where flow might be less than optimal, low nitrates may be a cause?

Im dosing using the following macro which is recommended on aquariumplantfood

  • 4tsp Potassium Nitrate
  • 1tsp Potassium Phosphate
  • 6tsp Magnesium Sulphate
  • 500ml Water
25ml of this solution 3x a week.
 
New growth on the carpeting plants looks pale suggesting Iron deficiency, the Iron Chelate in use with Micro part of the EI starter kit is EDTA and if your pH spends anytime above 6.5 then the chelate will half life dropping the Iron making it plant unavailable, depending on the period between dosing it may become critically low for plants (Cyano has no problems with this as it a crafty critter). Either dose more frequently your traces or increase the amount you dose, alternatively if you know your pH profile and it’s well above the requirement for EDTA then supplementing with a different Iron chelate like DTPA or EDDHA will improve the situation.

:)
 
New growth on the carpeting plants looks pale suggesting Iron deficiency, the Iron Chelate in use with Micro part of the EI starter kit is EDTA and if your pH spends anytime above 6.5 then the chelate will half life dropping the Iron making it plant unavailable, depending on the period between dosing it may become critically low for plants (Cyano has no problems with this as it a crafty critter). Either dose more frequently your traces or increase the amount you dose, alternatively if you know your pH profile and it’s well above the requirement for EDTA then supplementing with a different Iron chelate like DTPA or EDDHA will improve the situation.

:)
Thanks, makes sense. My ph bottoms out at 6.5 at lights on (from 7.5 overnight) after 90 minutes of co2 so this would imply that this is a possibility. I think i'll up dosing of both micro and macro and see how i go from there. Was also worried about low nitrates so this would cover that possibility also.
 
Do you think it's better to mix up the micro ferts with rain water? I am conscious that my tap water PH is high and wondered if this would cause a problem for unused fert mix in the bottle?
 
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