Algae in new tank

[14crazychris]

Hi guys
So my tank has been running for a week now, I’m starting to get algae growing on the rocks, glass and on some of the plants. I’m using R/O water and dosing Easy Carbo/ profito. Have attached some pictures, what the best method for removal? Cut the leaves off with algae? Clean the rocks? Water changes? Any help or advice would be great? Not sure what the best method is?
Cheers Chris

 

[AnhBui]

It’s normal seeing brown diatom during first month period. What you only need is do frequent water change. Depending on your schedule you can do one with 70% or twice with 30% each time


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[14crazychris]

It’s normal seeing brown diatom during first month period. What you only need is do frequent water change. Depending on your schedule you can do one with 70% or twice with 30% each time

Ok cheers will do a water change later, should I remove the leaves with the algae attached or will it die off? The algae is like a pale green hair algae?
Cheers Chris


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[14crazychris]

Ok cheers will do a water change later, should I remove the leaves with the algae attached or will it die off? The algae is like a pale green hair algae?
Cheers Chris

 

[Zeus.]

Hi Chris

Sorry to hear your pain, we have all been though it at some time, it could be diatom algea like AnhBui says, but it looks a bit on the green side to me and filamentous on some of the leaves.

The normal culprit is too much light in combination with not enough water movement in the tank esp when CO2 injection is being used (which I dont think you are using CO2 injection)

To help folk help you better tank specs, filter, lights, ferts and photoperiod would be very helpful and a pic of the whole tank

Zeus

 

[14crazychris]

Hi Chris

Sorry to hear your pain, we have all been though it at some time, it could be diatom algea like AnhBui says, but it looks a bit on the green side to me and filamentous on some of the leaves.

The normal culprit is too much light in combination with not enough water movement in the tank esp when CO2 injection is being used (which I dont think you are using CO2 injection)

To help folk help you better tank specs, filter, lights, ferts and photoperiod would be very helpful and a pic of the whole tank

Zeus

Cheers! Yeah I assumed this would happen, just want to know the best way to deal with it.
Ok so the the tank holds about 8/9L of water, the rear compartment is full of fully mature biohome media with a filter fleece top acting as a mechanical filter.

The lighting is a hydra 26HD, running on 8w at 6500 kelvin. The light ramps up from 10.10am in the morning and ramps down turning off at 9.50pm at night, I’m dosing 0.2ml of Easy Carbo every morning and 0.5ml of profito every four days.

Currently just have some shrimp in the tank and feed a tiny amount once a day. Tank has been running seven days now. Hope this helps

Cheers Chris

 

[14crazychris]

Here’s a pic of the tank before algae took over

 

[Zeus.]

That's nearlya 12hr photoperiod ! I would reduce that to 6hours max possibly even 5hrs. If you can ramp the light can you limit the max intensity? If so I would take it down to 40%.
You also have a low plant biomass which algae loves also. I would suggest spot treating the plants with the liquid carbon when you dose the tank with the aid of a small scringe. Maybe even double dose the LCO2.
Remove what algea you can gentle with the leaves, remove any dieing/melting leaves, Big WC daily at first.

 

[14crazychris]

That's nearlya 12hr photoperiod ! I would reduce that to 6hours max possibly even 5hrs. If you can ramp the light can you limit the max intensity? If so I would take it down to 40%.
You also have a low plant biomass which algae loves also. I would suggest spot treating the plants with the liquid carbon when you dose the tank with the aid of a small scringe. Maybe even double dose the LCO2.
Remove what algea you can gentle with the leaves, remove any dieing/melting leaves, Big WC daily at first.

Ok perfect! Just the advice I was after. Have just done a 40% water change, cleaned most of the algae off with a tooth brush, trimmed back the worst leaves off the repens.

The light runs at 14% power so really low, it’s very controllable, can adjust kelvin, power strength, ramping up/down. Also has lunar and weather effects ect. Will change the photo period so it comes on at 4 and goes off at 10. Will also up the carbon dosage and try to syringe it onto the algae areas as you say. Finger crossed.
Cheers Chris

 

[Zeus.]

repens

It can be a bit of an algea magnet till it gets going IME.

Any chance of getting some more plants as with it being a small tank it should only take a few pots/tubs!

 

[14crazychris]

It can be a bit of an algea magnet till it gets going IME.

Any chance of getting some more plants as with it being a small tank it should only take a few pots/tubs!

Ahh i see, could get more but not sure if there’s much room haha, the Monte Carlo is doing well, a few bits have algae on and are melting but the majority is growing. The repens is also growing. Ideally want the monte carlo to spread all over the tank with the repens in the back creating a bush. Trying to creat an iwagumi aquascape.
Cheers Chris

 

[Zeus.]

Trying to creat an iwagumi aquascape

So doing an easy one then 😉

 

[14crazychris]

So doing an easy one then 😉

Hahah, if the plants don’t make it, I may just change the scape and go without them. Plan is to get a betta in a week.

 

[Zeus.]

So taking it nice and slow 🙄
But too soon as tank will only be 2 weeks old. Normal advise is 6-8weeks. Can be shorter if you have done a dry start and kick started filter at same time.
What substrate are you using?

 

[14crazychris]

So taking it nice and slow 🙄
But too soon as tank will only be 2 weeks old. Normal advise is 6-8weeks. Can be shorter if you have done a dry start and kick started filter at same time.
What substrate are you using?

The filter media is already fully mature from another system, am using Colombo flora base pro. Yeah know I’m rushing ahead :/ can only hope the plants pull through and grow nice and green haha.
Cheers

 

[alto]

With mature filter media available, I often set up new tank & add livestock 1-3 days later without issue

Iwagumi are aesthetically pleasing but not so awesome for fish, even with a Betta I’d include some taller plants (the J repens will qualify once it establishes) ... of course the Betta would’ve likely vote for some nice big Anubias leaves 😉

Heteranthera zosterfolia is a terrific plant for this sort of startup - fast grower, nice texture, easily removed (later), & leaf color, shape will reflect nutrient balance in tank
You could also add a floating plant though I prefer open water - especially for Betta viewing

Can you raise the Hydta - how far above tank is light presently?

ADA soil or Tropica? 😳 just saw the Colombo
Though I suppose it doesn’t much matter as daily water change would be my recommendation given the algae

Snail addition - add some clithon sp as they are a suitable size (at maturity) for this tank & one of the best snail algae crew

The 12h photoperiod is definitely a challenge, while it’s recommended for dry starts, most (planted) aquaria run 5-8h photoperiod (+ ambient light which may significantly impact plant growth)

Nice tank 😀

Note you can also increase liquid CO2 dose by factor of 2-3x while battling algae

Filipe Oliveira has an algae video

 

[14crazychris]

With mature filter media available, I often set up new tank & add livestock 1-3 days later without issue

Iwagumi are aesthetically pleasing but not so awesome for fish, even with a Betta I’d include some taller plants (the J repens will qualify once it establishes) ... of course the Betta would’ve likely vote for some nice big Anubias leaves 😉

Heteranthera zosterfolia is a terrific plant for this sort of startup - fast grower, nice texture, easily removed (later), & leaf color, shape will reflect nutrient balance in tank
You could also add a floating plant though I prefer open water - especially for Betta viewing

Can you raise the Hydta - how far above tank is light presently?

ADA soil or Tropica? 😳 just saw the Colombo
Though I suppose it doesn’t much matter as daily water change would be my recommendation given the algae

Snail addition - add some clithon sp as they are a suitable size (at maturity) for this tank & one of the best snail algae crew

The 12h photoperiod is definitely a challenge, while it’s recommended for dry starts, most (planted) aquaria run 5-8h photoperiod (+ ambient light which may significantly impact plant growth)

Nice tank 😀

Note you can also increase liquid CO2 dose by factor of 2-3x while battling algae

Filipe Oliveira has an algae video

Ok perfect thank you very much, was aiming for the repens to create a large bush, and push over the top to create some foliage to make the betta feel more safe. Will double the co2 dose for the next week to see if that helps. Will have a look at that plant and the snails, will they be ok with my carpet plant? The hydra is resting just above the lid so about 1.5 inches from the water surface. Hopefully thorough cleaning and water changes along with the reduced photoperiod should help with the algae battle. I guess it shouldn’t be much of a problem when the tanks established.
Cheers Chris

 

[14crazychris]

Have done two cleans and water changes, the monte carlo looks ok but I can see hair algae growing all over it. I’m thinking of pulling all the plants out, placing java fern in the back and then filling the foreground with Anubias Nana petite. Will then put a Nerite snail and a couple of ottos in the tank. Hopefully these will be more robust and be fast growers preventing the algae from taking hold?
Cheers Chris

 

[14crazychris]

Just got back from 4 days away, dad has been dosing the co2 every day and the plants are growing really well. The algae is pretty bad, is the only way to get rid of it by cleaning and water changes? Will try and do an 80% water change tomorrow with loads of cleaning. Is there anything else I should or could be doing? A blackout? Attached are some pictures
Cheers Chris

 

[Zeus.]

I black out could back fire on you with your tank at its early stage of development IMO. As the MC will have limited energy reserves ATM.
Reduce light intensity, check pH profile, clean filter and all pipework impeller as well, remove worse leaves esp if melting or holes.
If you can't reduced intensity add some floating plants.
Reinforce clean up crew