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Battling algae!

How are things going, Miss P?

I confess I've only just read this thread, but here are my suggestions:
  • Stop uprooting your swords! You really need to leave them alone to establish their root systems; they won't like being disturbed so frequently. Cleaning algae off the leaves in this way is counter-productive because you're not allowing the plants to get properly established and grow strongly. You need to accept that you will see some algae for a while, until you hit upon the solution to the problem - and then the algae will pack its bags and disappear without being physically removed.
  • Stop vacuuming your gravel so frequently! The substrate shouldn't be 'clean' - it should have a certain amount of detritus in it. In fact the vacuuming may well be releasing small amounts of NH₃/NH₄ into the water column, which the algae may be using. With the low bioload in your tank, I reckon you'd only need to vacuum once a month maximum, and even then I'd only do half the tank each time (swapping to the other half next time). And don't vacuum in the immediate vicinity of your swords' roots.
  • More plants! I think you could have even more plants than there are in your last picture. Try to use them to hide the filters.
  • I think your light level and photoperiod are fine. I wouldn't change anything there.
  • Your algae problem isn't all that bad. From the pictures you've shared, it doesn't look like the algae is anywhere near enough to hinder the plants' growth, so personally I wouldn't be removing any leaves from the swords unless they're really badly infested or dying. If the leaves you're removing are still photosynthesising and contributing to the strength of the plants, and not rotting down and contributing to pollution in the tank, then by removing them you are weakening the plants and tipping the balance in favour of the algae.
 
Hi there, thanks for checking in to see how I'm getting on. Appreciate it.

Yes, I know - uprooting the sword plants is bad! I'm trying to not uproot them but sometimes the temptation to do so in order to remove the BBA is overwhelming!!

I have had to remove the elodea as it was rotting away from the bottom of the stems - assume it was due to the low pH and softness of the water in the tank. Am going to order some more new plants tomorrow to fill up the gaps and add some height.

Can I ask if you think my ferts regime is ok?

Water change every 7-10 days.

5ml NPK added twice a week.

Micro ferts added once a week.

3ml Easy Carbo added twice a week.

When I add more plants do you think it's worth upping the carbon or NPK dose? The four original standard Amazon swords from which I removed a lot of algae covered leaves months back are putting out new leaves but very slowly. The three Ozelot swords I added a couple of months ago are doing really well and growing lots of new leaves, with little sign of deficiencies, but their roots are still small.

I'm going to be adding 12 Purple Emperor Tetras to the tank soon.
 
Over the last five or six years of being a terrestrial gardener, I've learnt an important lesson: take heed of what grows well in your garden, and grow more of the same!

So the first thing I'd do in your position is get more of those Ozelot swords. They look good in your tank, and if they're doing well then that's great. I'd plant them fairly close together to form a 'raft' of it in front of your filters. Really go to town if you can afford it; you could accommodate at least another three in front of your filters, and perhaps even another three somewhere on the other side to make another raft over there. In a spacious tank like yours, plants look best in fairly close groups with spaces in between, rather than dotted about randomly.

One thing worth bearing in mind is that plants like swords, cryptocorynes etc are good at storing nutrients, and can grow strongly for quite a while using up their stored reserves of nutrients - and if that store isn't being replenished then they'll eventually run out, hit a brick wall and stop growing or even start to die. So don't forget to give your swords some substrate fertiliser in the form of balls or tablets pushed into the substrate close to the plants. Otherwise, I think your fertilisation seems fine to me.

Have you considered getting some algae-eating fish? Otocinclus are great and you could easily keep 3-5 of them in your tank (they're much happier in groups). Not 100% sure that they'll eat hair-type algae though; someone may be able to advise. Or Siamese Algae Eaters, which eat a wider variety of algae and a couple of them would do well. Probably steer clear of plecs, which may eat your swords. Whichever you choose, you'd need to supplement their diet with algae wafers because they'll run out of naturally-occurring algae.
 
Help! The green hair algae is getting worse in my tank lately! The only thing I've changed is the flow direction - I added spray bars about 6 weeks ago to try to ensure all of the plants were getting ferts and to create a circular flow around the tank. I really don't know what else I can do to try and combat this long hair algae. I noticed today it's started to grow on the spray bars now too as well as all over the plant leaves! It seems to be enjoying the increased flow! Argh! I remove as much as I can with every water change. Any further thoughts and advice would be really appreciated. I'm still getting some BBA growing on some leaves, a bit on the filters and a line of it along a back corner of the glass, near the filter intake, but it's not as bad as it used to be before I started adding liquid carbon.

I've got some plants to add tomorrow so my plant list will be;

3 x Amazon Sword Ozelot
4 x Amazon Sword Bleheri
2 x Ceratopteris Thalictroides
1 x Hygrophila Siamensis
I also have 3 bunches of Cabomba which I could add but was planning on leaving those in my quarantine tank (currently empty of fish) for now......unless you guys think it would help the main tank if I added them?

Thanks all!
 
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