Algea problem, need help clearing please.

[vygec]

I started up my first planted tank a couple of months ago, all was going well till around 2 weeks ago. I started to get algae on some of my plants. i think its either BBA or either hair algae. i've taken some pics to help identify.
The tank is a Juwel Trigon 350, along with the internal filter, i have an eheim 2128 filter which helps with additional flow.
Originally i was dosing with easycarbo, then i introduced pressurised co2 around 3 weeks ago. I have got this dialed in to around 4-5 bps (the drop checker is showing lime green on this setting).

I dose with aquariumplantfoodUK allinone fert. i was dosing this every other day, but have started to dose every day for the past week, with not much change on algae. With my plant mass increasing over the last few weeks, im not sure if i should increase my dose? (i dose 30ml everyday).
I carry out around 40% water changes, every 2 weeks. And i have noticed, that the algae significantly increases after a water change. not sure if this is a sign of a problem?
The algae has now become more serious than before. My lighting is the standard Juwel T8 lighting i.e. T8, and this totals to 1wpg, i have reflectors on all tubes.
My plant list is: Vallis, Java Fern, Hornwort, Anubia, Crypts,Moss, Amazon Sword.
Loads of questions, but i would really appreciate any pointers on where i am going wrong.

Full tank shot:

 

[Matt Warner]

It sounds to me as if you have a low nutrient situation. I would do a 50% water change every week and increase your fert dosage. What is flow like in the tank?

 

[Antipofish]

How long are your lights on for each day ? I definitely think you need to be looking at 50% water change every week. What ferts are you dosing and how much/how often ?

 

[vygec]

Flow, seems ok to me. In effect there are two powerheads, i.e. one from the internal filter and the other from the external. The water flows all the way round the tank, with some plants swaying in the flow. how best to tell if this is ok? would i benefit from adding an additional powerhead?, Even with the current flow, the vallis gets blown around quite strong, and doesnt really hold shape-if that makes sense.

i change the water every fortnight, as i simply dont get the time due to work commitments. i was under the impression that water changes were not necessary on a weekly basis? My intention was always for this to be low maintenance, i went the pressurised co2 route thinking that it would only help.

I use AquariumPlantFoodUK 'AllInOne' fert, 35ml now daily. how much should i increase this to?

Lights are on for 8 hours. with co2 coming on 1 hour before the lights come on, and goes off 1 hour before lights are out.

 

[ceg4048]

Hello,
I cannot tell exactly from these photos. It can be either BBA, Hair, or even Oedogonium. If this is a triangular tank it's often very difficult to get good flow, but in any case these are mostly CO2 related algae which can never be solved by nutrients. If it's an injection rate issue then you'll need to increase the rate or turn the gas on earlier. If it's a flow/distribution issue then you'll have to play around with the filter outlets or increase the flow rate.

In any case you can resume the Excel dosing to supplement the CO2 injection until you resolve the issue.

Cheers,

 

[clonitza]

Still got issues with your CO2 regulator? Are you using 4dKH water in your drop checker?

I see there mainly BBA. I'd switch off one of the light units (2x45w), trim all the affected plants (followed by a big water change) and perform 2 x 50% water changes weekly until issues are solved(Using CO2 you should do a minimum of 1 big water change / week, at least in its early stages). Dose NPK, the recommended dosage, every other day and if it's not enough (leaves turning yellow) than dose daily.

Mike

 

[vygec]

Its a corner tank-triangular shaped-350 litres.
The regulator is fine, i just ended up going with a glass diffuser, set around 4-5bps. i am using 4dkh in the drop checker.
The lights are T8, it has two units. one is 2 * 30w, and the other is 2 * 15w.
When you say trim, do you mean trim the algea? or the plant?! if i trim the affected plants, there will be virtually no java fern, vallis left!, and trimming the algea will be alot of work 🙂

I havent had any leaves going yellow, so am going to assume that i dont need to increase on my fert routine. in fact i have enver had yellow leaves, so im wondering if i could still get away with sticking to my original fert dose routine i.e. every other day?
i have a spare powerhead, so will add that into the mix tonight, to provide more flow to see if this helps too.

 

[vygec]

After having done more reading, i have identified that its definitely 'staghorn' algae. So i did a 50% water change on the weekend, and done another 50% this morning. I can see the algae decreasing ever so slightly, but will continue the big water changes for the next week or so.
i added a powerhead above the diffuser, which has meant the co2 is being pushed out much more evenly than it was before, and the flow as a result has also improved.

 

[spyder]

I had the smae stuff in my 125 after about 3 weeks or so and put mine down to fluctuating co2 levels. As you have been using liquid carbon then changed to gas your tank will have suffered fluctuating levels. Aslo noticing the increase after a water changes shows that it's taking advantage of the co2 enriched tapwater.

No need to touch fert dosing here. If co2 is low/fluctuating then there's no need for more ferts. As others have posted, trimming out the infected stuff and good maintenance will beat it. Keep the photoperiod short if you cannot reduce the intensity (looks like you could disable 1 twin unit though),and a toothbrush dipped in liquid carbon will clean it up off the hardscape, takes 3-4 days to turn pinky orange, then it will get eaten.

The last but 1 pic looks like staghorn. It can usually serve as a reminder to check and perform maintenance of filters or a sign you have skipped water changes,if those areas have been overlooked.

Adding that powerhead will help with the co2/flow issues. Keep on top of the maintenance and you should be right in a couple of weeks. Daily dosing of liquid carbon will help through this time.

 

[ceg4048]

Based on your other threads of wanting to reduce the maintenance (which requires reducing CO2) it becomes imperative now to improve the efficacy of your CO2 injection as well as your distribution. A more viable solution is to use an in-line CO2 diffuser. An in-tank unit just will not cut it on a tank of this size with this level of biomass. It would also be better if you could use a more powerful filter.

These are CO2 related algae, so you'll really need to fix CO2 before you start to lower the CO2 concentration levels. You may even have to re-think your distribution methods. I'll look around the board to find other Trigoners and how they solved their distribution problemsReducing plant mass and using an inline device such as an UpAtomizer will be a step in the right direction. This will be a bit trickier than we would have hoped I think. 350L tank ideally requires 3500LPH of flow rating. There was a thread recently where the OP purchased a couple of FX5-like Far East Knockoffs at a decent price. You might want to consider this kind of flow upgrade.

Cheers,

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Not sure about all the algae, but on the Java Fern I think it is "Staghorn" (Compsopogon spp.), a "Red Algae" (Rhodophyta). I often get a small amount of this (I don't use CO2, and have low nutrients) where it grows on the tips of old Java Fern leaves and I ignore it, but you have loads. It should be really tough and strong if it is Staghorn.

I've found it is very much associated with lack of filter maintenance, and if you clean your filter a little more regularly it will go away.

Have a look here: <http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm>

cheers Darrel

 

[vygec]

On the diffuser, i originally picked up the inline UP diffusers. unfortunately, it didnt work with my regulator (TMC Pro2- this isnt adjustable on working pressure- and to make it worse, this wasnt cheap to purchase!)

regarding the filter. this is rated for a 600 litre tank, so this should be more than efficient for a tank of my size. The flow output on this is 1050 l/h, along with the internal juwel pump which is 1000 l/h, then i also have an additional powerhead which is rated at 1000 l/h. This gives me 3000lph.

i'll see if i can find any previous trigon setups to see if this aids my plea.

 

[spyder]

So you may appear to have adequate flow rating for the tank but as already posted, getting this flow around a triangular tank can be tricky. This is where your going to have to experiment by moving outlets and trying various configurations until you find one that works for you.

Seems the TMC V2 pro regs can be a bit hit n miss with inline atomisers. My combo works very well though.