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Algae Strategy!

I will indeed check it again later today (about 24hrs after it was taken out). It was just interesting the difference between the two so soon.
 
So... The aquarium is currently reading 7.0 and the sample taken yesterday is currently reading 8.0...
Assuming CO2 is the only influencing factor that shows 30ppm concentration in the aquarium water?
 
Brilliant! Thank you for your help.

Having done all the other bits (increased dosage, 2x per week water change / clean, increased circulation) things are looking better. The algae seems to be retreating (helped by some physical removal) and new plant growth is looking healthier. I'm awaiting some new plants too - should be here early next week.
 
So... Some weeks later...

I've started to get BBA... I think caused by my CO2 running out. Before the BBA the hair algae and coating of green algae on leaves had reduced but then remained fairly persistent.

CO2 has been restored and I've recently increased the lighting from 20% to 50% as the plants simply do not seem to be growing as fast as aquatic plants normally grow in my experience.

I've started to get some pearling and hoping the growth will starve the algae.
 
So typical of a high tech tank that hasn’t been given anywhere near enough time to mature.
 
Soilwork said:
So typical of a high tech tank that hasn’t been given anywhere near enough time to mature.
Click to expand...

How long does a high-tech tank take to mature in your opinion; and what would you expect to be seeing by now?
 
Contemplating adding a solenoid or, trading my CO2 supermarket reg for one with a built in solenoid.
I'm prompted by reading how CO2 fluctuations can cause algae; figuring shutting it down during lights out will add stability and therefore help reduce algae.
Thoughts on this theory welcomed along with solenoid / reg recommendations. I would be particularly interested in solenoids that run cool. I had one with a previous setup but not sure why they're not so popular?
 
bugs said:
How long does a high-tech tank take to mature in your opinion; and what would you expect to be seeing by now?
Click to expand...

Any tank usually takes up to and beyond 12 months to fully mature. The 3 month cycle we are taught to follow at the beginning is just the nitrogen cycle aspect. In the early stages of any tank there will nearly always be stages of instability where algae will take a foothold and unfortunately since we plant partially emersed grown plants and throw in large amounts of fertiliser straight off the bat we just end up feeding the inevitable growth of algae.

To make matter worse we are then told to use methods of alage control that can be detrimental to our biofilter such as chemi-clean agents, glutaradehyde and hydrogen peroxide all of which have no place in an aquarium.

So here we are 2018 with pages and pages long algae threads, some of which were never even seen 80 years or so ago. Once the tank has had a chance to properly mature as in the biofilter is left undisturbed the tank actually becomes quite robust which ever method you choose.

Common practices should hold the biofilter at the forefront of every new tank and it is something that we should be encouraging on a daily basis through sites such as this. Unfortunately we strive to create something in such an unrealistic timeframe.

Hope you get things under control.

Regards

CJ
 
I don't want to speak too soon but I thought some may find it helpful if I shared details of what seems to be working in terms of dealing with the algae and improving the plant growth. I can't pinpoint any one thing, nor can I discount maturity of the tank playing a role too. That said, these are the changes that seem to have finally resulted in a good state:
  • More plants; in particular fast growing stems and including Egeria Densa (said to have "special" properties when it comes to dealing with some algaes).
  • Dosing TNC Carbon straight on to BBA. Either emerged areas during water changes or submerged areas with all circulation switched off.
  • Lighting increased from 20% to 50%. (I started at 100%, dropped it when I first started this thread and kept going down until the plants seemed to stop growing, and then brought it back up again just before I started adding significantly more plants).
  • Increased TNC Complete 7ml twice weekly. (50 litre tank).
  • Twice weekly 50+% water changes.
  • Changing the white pre-filter on my Juwel with every water change but I stopped meddling with the rest of the filter more recently as the pre-filter keeps it quite clean and I figured all I was achieving was to potentially mess with the development of the good bacteria for no good reason. The carbon gets changed about once per month.
  • I changed the motor on my Juwel from 300 lph to 600 lph. This, I think, has had a significant effect in three ways. More water (and therefore oxygen) through the filter to deal with bio filtration. Better circulation around the whole tank. Finally, because of the extra power, I am better able to get the water surface to swirl and churn vs the more direct and isolated agitation from the smaller pump.
  • I also have a Koralia Nano pump coming on for 15mins every hour throughout the day.
  • I also work quite hard to get into all the nooks and crannies to clear detritus from the gravel.
Fingers crossed, things seem to be working.

For anyone battling BBA - I've suffered with it with every single tank I've ever put wood into (is there a connection?!). Nevertheless, this is the first time I've bothered to try the direct dosing of TNC Carbon and I'm glad I did. Interestingly, almost as soon as it is treated (i.e. within a few hours) the shrimp are all over it; cleaning away the stuff with more enthusiasm than I've ever seen them consume anything other than fish food!
 
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