Algae bloom?

[Louis287]

Can someone give me abit of advice. Is this diatom algae and is this an algae bloom? The tank has been set up for about a month now and over the past week I’ve had a rapid growth of this brown algae which i think is diatom and some darkish algae appearing on the wood.

Could anyone advise me on what I can do to keep on top of this and is there anything I can do to combat this?

Thanks

 

[Konsa]

Hi there
Looks like Diatoms and BBA.
Please provide more details.

Please read the guidelines for plant help!

Dear Member Please give as many details as possible regarding your aquarium set-up, when requiring advice/help! The above will be posted at the start of each help request. Why do we ask these questions? It will reduce the member posting multiple times, plus adviser's don't need to scroll...

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Regards Konstantin

 

[Louis287]

70L tank
Fluval u2 filter
Tropical soil
Dose 1 squirt of tropica specialised daily
No C02 injection
Plants include (bucephelandra, crypts, Java fern and anubias petite)
5 cherry barbs
4 panda corys
6 celestial Pearl danios
6 cherry shrimp
24c
Planted on the 25th January
Filter has been established for 13 months
Gh12

 

[MichaelJ]

@Louis287 How often and how much water do you change? Also it looks like your light intensity is very high - I suggest you dial that way down (say 1/4th) for the time being.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Louis287]

I change about 50% weekly at the moment. Also I bought the s2 pro dimmer as the Superfish light is very intense for the tank and I only have it on 50% rising to 65% from 3pm toll 9pm

 

[Louis287]

If anyone could offer me some advice on how to combat the two types of algae present then that would be great before it gets to out of control.

 

[MichaelJ]

If anyone could offer me some advice on how to combat the two types of algae present then that would be great before it gets to out of control.

Hi @Louis287

Diatoms are very common in new / immature tanks. They will fade and go away over time as the tank matures. The BBA is bit more more tricky.

My advice is to do the following:

Take out the woodscape and clean off the algae. From the pictures it looks like that might still be feasible.

Give the tank a thorough clean up (filter, vacuum, front/back/side glass surfaces, tubes etc. etc.) get rid of as much of it as you can.

Add a bunch of fast growing plants - (you can always prune them down when the tank establish).

Add some floating plants (Frogbit, pennyworth etc.)

Leaves that are already very badly infected with BBA (the brown hairy algea - that cant be gently rubbed off between two fingers) should be removed.

Lower your light intensity (again, down to say 25-30%).

Make sure you have good circulation throughout the tank (make sure your filter is providing good turnover -- that it is not clogged up!).

Your weekly WC should suffice, but you may want to consider upping it to twice a week for a bit. Make sure the water you put in is not too far off - parameter wise - from what you have in the tank. I would let the WC water dose off the CO2 before putting it in to avoid CO2 fluctuations.

You can safely increase the Tropica dosing a bit say 2-3 pumps/day or use another and cheaper fertilizer such Complete fertilizer such as TNC Complete.

Have patience - a month in on a new low tech tank is still very immature.

All the above will help!

What water are you using for WC ?


Cheers,
Michael

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi
Follow the above advice from Michael
Clean the glass, use a toothbrush or small wire brush on the wood to remove algae/growths!
Remove any damaged or discoloured leaves.
Rub the plant leaves with your fingers to dislodge the brown diatoms, then do a water change.
Ramshorn snails will help eat brown diatomic algae!
You can use this method below to help!

Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently. This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits especially for a new set - up. I try and cover at least 50% of the water surface minimum. 1. Improves water...

www.ukaps.org

hoggie

 

[Konsa]

Hi
good advice above.
You have low plant mass and high light. Provably where your issues come from.
Increased maintenance will make major difference and floating plants are your best friend.
The OP is using Tropica specialised fertilizer. Thats a complete fertilizer and don't need suplementing with second Complete fertilizer as TCN or orher product.
Upping the dose if you need once you get more plants in should be sufficient
Regards Konstantin

 

[MichaelJ]

The OP is using Tropica specialised fertilizer. Thats a complete fertilizer and don't need suplementing with second Complete fertilizer as TCN or orher product.

Hi @Konsa. Agreed and thanks for making that clear. My point was to up the Tropica Specialized dosing (which is expensive) or use another complete fertilizer such as TNC - not both. I edited my message above to make that clear.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[PARAGUAY]

Early days for this tank totally agree with what's been said also. I would definite 2or 3 water changes a week and more if you can for a couple of weeks

 

[Louis287]

Hi @Konsa. Agreed and thanks for making that clear. My point was to up the Tropica Specialized dosing (which is expensive) or use another complete fertilizer such as TNC - not both. I edited my message above to make that clear.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks for the advice! I can’t really take the wood out to scrub bba off as I’ve positioned rocks and wood to make it impossible move! Is there anyway you can recommend combating bba without taking the wood out.

 

[G H Nelson]

Use a old toothbrush or small wire brush on the wood in-situ to remove algae/growths!
hoggie

 

[Andy Pierce]

Your tank is supporting organic life and your fish look happy, which is good! As you have discovered, your tank is going through an evolutionary phase which is normal and expected for any newly set-up ecosystem. You've had some excellent advice above so those are things to try. That being said, this is a hobby where patience is rewarded. Unless you really enjoy doing water changes, or unless things are very rapidly going disastrously wrong, I would NOT do more than weekly water changes. That keeps things sane for you and lets your tank equilibrate to a long-term strategy of weekly water changes.