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Hello, Apologies for the confusion. As far as plants are concerned the expression "poor CO2" always means that there is a problem with the ability to capture an to process CO2 from the water column. Plants can virtually never have too much CO2, however, the animals tolerance of CO2 is...

This is a typical symptom of poor CO2. It is only perfectly natural when CO2 is poorly executed. Cheers.

Yes. Cheers,

He and I spoke briefly. We met in a phone booth. Along for the ride were Bill and Ted. It was their Excellent Adventure... Cheers,

Hello, The root cause, as usual, is a CO2 deficiency which may not affect all the plants, but probably somewhere in the tank there is a deficiency. This may have been the result of the plants growing and causing blocked flow or blocked distribution. The green organisms at the surface...

Even if antibiotics remove the BGA it still does not reveal root cause. One of the causes of BGA is a high NH3/NH4 loading rate. Their Aquasoil is very high in Ammonium Nitrate, which does result in a high buildup unless frequent water changes are performed. This buildup is also present in tanks...

BGA is primarily associated with poor nitrate levels. You have not stated exactly what steps you have taken. Is this a CO2 injected tank? If so step number 1 is to add more KNO3. Light bulb type has nothing to do with BGA unless you have too many bulbs. Initiate frequent and large water changes...

Hello, This offers an insight into the root cause. This is primarily a CO2 related algae and the demand for CO2 is related to the light intensity. The salvinia helped to block some of the light, but it's removal increased the amount of light penetration. Reducing the duration is only...

Karl, These are excerpts from messages from the venerable website The Krib A lot of the data is from the experiments of Paul Sears and Kevin Conlin. These guys were great and they brought us the original Poor Man's Dosing Drops (the first D in PMDD actually is the first letter in a...

Hi erwin, Yeah, getting nice even flow to the substrate really does require the combined effort of all the outputs to push the water across and then down, regardless of what type of output. Robinj above in post #22 mentions a desire for laminar flow, but that is only true when the...

Hi, No, this rarely, if ever, happens. The reason is that the water comes out of the pipe as an expanding cone. The cones from each direction then collide and typically cause cancellation. This weakens the flow from each direction. It is always better to have all pump outlets on the same...

Yeah, like Gorillastomp mentions, try moving the diffuser so that the filter inlet sucks up the CO2 and spits it out into the spraybar. The pots do seem to be blocking flow. Maybe move them somewhere else if you can't attach them straight away. Cheers,

Hi eminor, I got an error when trying to access your link. If you have a video link, copy the link, then, just at the top of your post, is a toolbar with an icon on the right which looks like two links of a chain. You can click that and there is a tab where you can paste the url...

As noted by the other posters BBA is 100% related to poor CO2. CO2 is a very complicated subject and it is THE single most misunderstood factor in planted tanks. CO2 is not just a button that we press. It is a technique that requires study and practice, like playing a musical instrument. It is...

Hello Stefan, Thanks for the kind words. Normally, when you have a situation where the animals are stressed by the CO2, yet at the same time the plants suffer CO2 related faults then the problem can be attributed to poor flow/distribution. Now, you do have a lot of light...

No, both staghorn and BBA are CO2 related algae. Your minimum pH reading (5.3?) should occur at or around lights on. Also, placing a filter outflow at an opposing angle as shown in your sketch, is not usually a good idea as it typically results in flow cancellation. It would be better if all...

Hi, Yes it was my suspicion. If you do not have the ability to dim the lights and cannot raise them then as wookii mentions, you can use floating plants to reduce light penetration, or any device can be use to obfuscate the light, such as dark perspex or even cheesecloth placed between the...

I agree with Oldguy. When you see algae growing over so much of the hardscape then it is a sure sign that there is too much light. If this is a CO2 injected tank then flow and distribution are also suspect but I cannot see the filter outlet orientation and it is unclear whether this is a CO2...

Actually, in a broad sense, yes, there is a difference, but that difference is NOT what The Matrix would have you believe. The difference lies in the origin and the location of PO4 within large organic structure. The PO4 ion itself is the same as inorganic PO4 but in organic compounds it is...

This is the worst idea possible. A likely contributor to BBA and especially GSA is the addition of too much light. Yes, more water changes are a good thing but is not the root cause. None of these are relevant. The mechanism of BBA and GSA is a CO2 shortage caused either by excessive lighting...

As mentioned by sparkyweasel your suggestion is impractical. It's first necessary to understand the causal factors of each algae type. These algae are normally associated with malnutrition. Shortages of nutrients or shortages of CO2 will result in the rise of each associated species. Clado is a...

Hi Marcel, Well, really, we want to avoid getting bogged down with semantics in order to better understand what's going on in the tank. If we follow that path then we'll end up defining everything as a competition and will lose all sense of what the point is. We are well aware...

Hi Marcel, I'm having to continually remind hobbyists that plants can never even dream about outcompeting algae. People really need to consider how absurd this idea is. This is like saying that elephants can outcompete mice for food. Think about how many tons of food a animal the...

Hi, Clado is fundamentally a CO2 related algae and in the list of things you've tried, the missing item is an attempt at re-doing flow/distribution. Having said that, looking at your photo, the dropchecker appears to be blue, so I'm not sure what the situation is there. Soft acidic water will...

Cheers,

Hi, By far the easiest and most logical approach is to reduce the demand for CO2 by reducing the light intensity. Low tech tanks had a much easier time of it when they were limited to T8 fluorescent tubes. Another, more expensive option is to use daily liquid carbon product dosing such as...

:Dhaha first I need to find a publisher who is convinced that nutrients don't cause algae... Hi Fluke, Well this get very deep so I'll describe in general terms. Nature always has techniques to clean up. On the open plains/savannah for example there are vultures who eat carrion...

Hi Michael, Yes, it's easy to latch on to a sentence or paragraph and to then use it out of context. To be fair, we need to understand the situation at time at which Tom Barr first presented the EI concept. Hobbyists generally were wary because nutrients were always being...

Hi Flukeworld, There are a couple of important reasons to worry about organic load and none of them have anything to do with nutrients. First and foremost is that another name for organic load is "water pollution". There are some complicated science associated with...

Hi Andy, Practically speaking, it can fall anywhere, depending on how much injected CO2 it is being compared to. Generally it is compared to the mythical "30ppm" of CO2 gas saturation and if that's the case then it may only be 2X to 3X the metabolism of plants in a low tech tank, but...

Thanks for the kind words mate. We're thrilled that you find the information useful. EI was developed fundamentally for high tech fuel injected tanks. The reason is that with CO2 the metabolism of the plants is increased by up to an order of magnitude (10X) compared to a low tech tank. Barr's...

As MichaelJ mentioned this is the equivalent of any trace mix you can find in any garden center or from any of our sponsors. In the old days we used fertilizer products that were cheap and easy to find. Plantex CSM was used quite a bit by the hydroponics folks. Later they added Boron to the mix...

NPK ratios and proportions are meaningless for aquatic plants. They do not live in an environment where they have the luxury of flowering or fruit production and so forth until the dry season when they are living on land. Their response to being flooded is all about survival. I think folks...

Hello, As mentioned by jamila169, the problem fundamentally found here: When fighting algae the first thing to do is to reduce the light, because light causes algae. I suggest you reduce the intensity to no more than about 20% for now. Excel is neither helped nor harmed by agitation...

Hi Katie, Well, yeah, that is not great but what I look at is how long it takes to drop the pH from gas ON. It still looks like a 4 hour lag just to drop it 0.7 units. I've seen this lack of performance from several peoples' tanks and it seems very odd to me and I always wonder...

Hi Katie, You'll need to do a bit of both. It looks like the pH continues to depress for about 4 hours, so try moving the gas ON time back by an additional 4 hours first. This is extreme and is not the final solution, but try that first. The expected result is that the pH drops to...

Hi Katie, OK, when you have a chance, perform another pH profile to see if there is any improvement with the changes you've made. Cheers,

Haha, Hi Simon, yeah I was brainstorming this problem and though that Katie could temporarily use one of those fry cages that is mounted to the front glass. That would coral the floaters but wouldn't look so good... The surface scum is caused by the same issue which causes the algae. These are...

Hi Katie, Regarding your floating plants there really is not a good compromise. You either have to optimize your flow distribution for the submerged plants, who are at a disadvantage or you live with the issues below the surface in order to prioritize the floaters. I suppose that if...

Hi, Yes, non-CO2 users have only the control of lighting as an option. In the old days we would use T8 lights which were not very powerful at all. Low tech tanks were easier with those lights, but now we live in a world controlled by the Klingons who sell us particle beam weapons of mass...

Hello, My suggestion is that we avoid thinking of algae as some sort of disease to be eradicated, such as "outbreak of smallpox". Algae actually own the tank and the plants are merely renting the space. When the plants become weak it is the role of algae to clean the space by consuming...

Hi Chris, Well, again, since we do not know how much PAR we are talking about it would only be a wild guess. We also do not know how good the CO2 is. You do not "need" to increase the light, so I would suggest a slow approach - maybe 5% every two weeks. Simply use any appearance of...

Hello, This looks like BBA and is due to poor CO2. Poor CO2 takes many forms but is primarily cause by: 1. Excessive lighting 2. Poor flow 3. Poor distribution 4. Poor CO2 diffusion 5. Any combination of the above. Cheers,

Hi Chris, Well, lighting duration always has to be considered within the context of light intensity. It is the intensity that does the damage. When the intensity is excessive then damage is being done to the plant tissue. A long duration simply means the damage is being done for a...

Hi, Well, really, that's still a lot of light. As I mentioned, limiting the maximum to about 25% is the best start. Plants really do not want a lot of light when you throw them under the water. They are really struggling to breathe and adding more light forces them to try and breath more, so...

Hi Katie, OK, I misunderstood your explanation. If the natural pH of the water is 7.7 then the target pH is 6.7. Looking at the last photo at the bottom showing the pumps, they are still a bit low, but if it's the best that can be done then that's how it goes. I would try to rotate...

Hi Katie, This is actually quite bad. It should not take 7 hours to drop the pH by 0.4 pH units. Ideally, we want to drop the pH by 1 full unit within about 1 to 2 hours. Was this with the bubbles going into the intake? When you have the burping this can sometimes be reduced or...

Hi, This happens a lot when people "upgrade" their light instead of just using the basic light. Light causes algae, so step #1 is to reduce the light intensity to about 25% of the max intensity. Cheers,

Hello, Light causes algae. Whatever flow or CO2 you inject, if the light is too high then the plants will suffer and algae will grow. Also, one has to consider how flow is being distributed. So for example, this statement is indicative of poor distribution: Legginess has nothing to do...

Hi Katie, A shame about those Fluval filters. I forgot about their unique hose configuration. Well routing the gas bubbles into the intake is the only remaining option. The rattling is definitely annoying and can wear out the impeller blades. There is a way around this, but that...

Hello Katie, I suggest that you move the CO2 diffuser to the filter inlet tube so that the bubbles are sucked into the filter, This accomplishes dissolving of the gas into it's aqueous form. The problem with placing it under the powerhead is that the powerhead is at the top of...

Hi, Your flow/distribution methods are suspect. The first photo shows the spraybars mounted very low and is too far beneath the water's surface. Also, it seems there are two pipes. The one on the left is pointing too far up and I cannot see the holes on the right side pipe. I see a powerhead...

Hi, sorry, I'm not sure why you referenced PO4, which has nothing to do with the fact that having you plants suffer NO3 starvation is a typical cause of BGA. As I mentioned, it's not about the tank per se, but about how the plants are responding. There are insufficient details to do a...

Hi, Yes, Erythromycin is very effective, however it's use is typically frowned upon. Really it's unnecessary as all it takes is to keep the tank clean with regular water changes and to consistently dose the tank with KNO3. Nitrate, Erythromycin and peroxide all damage BGA, but that's not...

Hello, BGA is caused by low nitrate in the tank. Another cause is dirty filters. Clean you filters and/or add KNO3. Cheers,

Hello, Blasting plants with flow does not really work reliably. Flow over leaves works within a certain margin of rate. Too far below or too far above the margin results in poor CO2 uptake. The pipe outlet is in the worst possible position, from the parva's point of view, as all the...

Hello, Well, the reason this is challenging and that you may feel that you are not learning is probably because many of the things you were taught previously were all incorrect. I'm afraid you'll need to learn some new principles and perhaps that will empower you to find the correct...

Yes. No.

Sorry, but this is an illusion. BBA rules the world and their spores are ubiquitous. The blooms occur whenever we make mistakes. It's up to you of course, but it's better to learn how to solve the algae problem. Stripping the tank will not teach you anything. Even if the BBA does not return...

Correct!

Hi, I can see from the video what appears to be two filters and what appears to be two filter outlets in the rear corner both pointing at the opposite diagonal. Appears to be a third outlet lower down along the rear wall pointing in the direction of the other two. It's not clear. In any case...

Hi, We need to see how the outputs are actually arranged in order to analyze. It happens often that hobbyists imagine the flow path and their imagination turns out to be only a dream not based on hydrodynamics. If the flow path is not coherent then there can often be flow cancellation at...

Hello, GSA, from the plants perspective is caused by some combination of poor PO4 and poor CO2. As usual, saying that you have a lime green DC does not really mean that you have avoided a CO2 issue. If you are dosing EI level of nutrients and you are getting deficiency syndromes then...

Hello, No idea about stain remover, but typically, BGA is cause by poor NO3, so you might want to review your dosing program. Multiple large water changes along with physical removal is well advised. Airstone at night is OK, but is not OK during the day. Cheers,

Hello dcurzon, You can easily add a dark sediment to the top of the sand, or you can gradually take out and replace small sections at a time once a week or so. GDA is also CO2 related and is also considered to be one of those "life cycle" types that after a while will go...

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...

Hello, There is not much of an issue regarding whether there is too much or just enough powersand. The relevant issue is that the sediment is new and therefore is unstable as regards bacterial colonization. The filter bacteria is only one part of the tank infrastructure. The sediment...

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...

Hello, This is a type of diatomic algae. You'll probably want to reduce the light intensity. It's not easy to predict whether this will go away by itself. Is your powersand and Tropica soil new? A lot happens in the sediment that affects the water column.

Okay, yes, this is what we want to see. If you have the reagent style pH test kit you can take the measurements while you wait. I'm an advocate of purchasing high quality pH probes, such as the Hanna brand and other top brands. As much as people winge about pH you'd think they would invest in a...

Hi dcurzon, I might have missed it, but I thought in one of your earlier post you stated that you actually turned the CO2 down? Have you turned it back up? Also, I'm not seeing a DC in the photo. Have you performed a pH profile to help understand how the CO2 is behaving? We...

Hi JPC, Why is it always the victims of disinformation who are obliged to provide scientific evidence? I mean, why aren't the test kit makers and test kit lovers ever asked for scientific evidence? You may be aware that Einstein, when asked whether his theory of relativity could be...

The answer is no. All of these statements are wrong. In fact it's just the opposite and brown has nothing to do with anything. Well, you'll have to spend a lot of money to find an instrument that can accurately and consistently measure nutrient levels. You'll not know from a hobby test kit...

Yes, but it is a possible indicator that you are using too much light and it may be a harbinger of future problems. Cheers,

For clarification, I'm a plant grower - just another guy off the street. Darrel is the biologist. In any case, since we have all the spores present in the tank it's a race to see which species can conquer the tank. Different algae are triggered, as you mention, by a combination of and variety...

Yes, perhaps you misunderstood. As Darrel mentions, algae consume all the same types nutrients that are present but there is no correlation between the nutrient level present and the rise of the algae. Just because silicates are present this does not automatically mean that a diatomic algal...

As mentioned above, neither sand nor silicates in the water column have anything to do with diatomic algae. Troubleshooting has to begin with the basics such as review of lighting, CO2 and flow/distribution. Did the issue arise 18 months ago? What is the gas/light schedule, etc. etc. Cheers,

Well, I mean, water changes are always a good thing. The more the better, always. Of that we can be assured, but GWA is tenacious, so I'd prefer to say that UV is the fastest and most efficient way. You don't need to spend big bucks on a supercharged megatron UV by the way. We aren't trying to...

Doubtful, very doubtful mate. If there is only one specimen left in the tank, gravel, filter, walls of the tank hardscape, or plant it will multiply geometrically and infinitely, thank heavens.... It's possible that contributed, yes, but I mean, people have fish die on them every day and they...

Hi, Is that a new chunk of wood? Looks like typical fungus after submerging the wood. That should wipe off. The brown stuff looks like diatoms and you are wise to have reduced the amount of light, but there is no need to split. How often are you doing water changes? Half the battle with...

I'm saying that in a nutrient limited system the only flora affected by the limit are the plants. Algae have practically no limit by comparison. They have access to nutrients at a concentration of parts per billion, which is thousands and even hundreds of thousands of times lower than plants. So...

Err...I don't think you want to trigger GWA in your tank just so you can grow daphnia. That's a bit of cart before the horse... Maybe try that outside in a barrel - in the summer...;) Cheers,

Yes it's absolutely true. Algae are predators and they tend to attack weak and dying plants. Having said that, you still need to do the right things so that the plants do well in the first place. Cheers,

Presumably the poster is referring to daphnia, an excellent live food. Typical way of growing and maintaining daphnia is to feed them green water algae. Cheers,

Hello, The most efficient way to cure green water algae (GWA) is to use UV. I have no idea how to convert your lumens per watt, but lumens don't really tell us a whole lot in terms of PAR (which is what plants see) unless we have access to a conversion chart for that particular lamp...

Hello, no this is not wrong. Hair algae is caused by poor CO2. Many people attribute the expression "poor CO2" to exclusively mean low gas injection rate, however, there is much, much more to "poor CO2" than the oversimplified injection rate. You will observe in many cases the hobbyist reports...

Hello, Algae and plants do not compete for nutrients. This is a myth that was started in the early 1990's and is perpetuated since that time. Algae can survive and feed on nutrients levels thousands of times less than plants could ever hope to. This is a seemingly minor point but it is...

Hello, Too many nutrients do not cause algae. On the other hand, not enough nutrients causes algae. Hair algae is always caused by not enough CO2, so you need to address either the amount being injected, the timing of the injection and, as noted by paraguay, you'll need to ensure...

Hello, Yes, you are correct. Poor CO2 is the root cause of BBA. Is this a non CO2 injected tank? I'm assuming so. If that's the case then the only options are to reduce the CO2 demand by reducing lighting. When you do the water change you can spot dose either hydrogen peroxide or...

Yes, correct and new leaves will emerge from the rhizomes, hopefully more healthy than the ones you removed. Cheers,

Hi, Yes it easier in the beginning because there was less plant mass so it was easier to satisfy their needs. As the plant mass increases they become victims of their own success. The new growth is most likely the result of higher dosing but these also may fall victim to GSA if CO2...

Hello, GSA is caused by any combination of poor CO2 and poor PO4. You have listed in your configuration the item 4. ADA Amazonia, which, if this is new substrate (i.e. less than a year old) then there is plenty of PO4. Therefore, we should assume that the condition is cause by poor...

It's best if you stop interpreting the charts in the manner that many people do. The chart is a theoretical exercise and it does not necessarily indicate the level of CO2 in your water. There are many sources and substances in the world that affect the pH of water. CO2 is only one of the...

Hi, Staghorn is a CO2 related algae and has nothing to do with nutrients. As mentioned by Zeus, it's a good idea to measure the pH at intervals and to ensure that the minimum pH occurs more or less at lights on. It's easy to drive the the pH low and to get a yellow DC but it's more important...

Yes the tank has a hood but Sunlight is streaming through the front and side panes throughout the day. PAR reading throughout day and night verified that sunlight reached all areas of the tank. Daytime PAR levels were 3-4 times of that during the night with artificial lights alone. Yes...

My experiences just don't follow the paradigm of green filament algae is the window tanks - loads of (sun)light, minimal flow, no added CO2, minimal water changes, lean nutrient dosing. I have no reason to doubt your statements. We know for example that there are many ways to skin the cat and...

Everybody thinks they have good this or good that. Only the plants know what things you have that are good or not good, and in this case they know that your CO2 is not good. Since they cannot speak, we have to determine, based on inference where things have gone wrong. There are five main...

No. Hair algae is caused by poor CO2 and has nothing to do with iron or with any other nutrient... You'll need to fix your CO2 implementation or your flow/distribution. Cheers,

One does not win the battle of algal blooms by killing. If you do not solve the root cause of algae in your tank then the blooms will simply return. Blooms occur due to poor plant health, so it is necessary to ensure healthy plants first before any type of algae can be "cured". Cheers,

Not automatically. Algae really do not care how much nutrients are in the water. They respond to light, temperature and other chemical signals in the water. Folks who use RO water in their tanks have just as many algae problems as any one else. Algae require nutrients in the parts per billion...