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Help - Algae Outbreak!

Just seen some BGA on the bottom 😱 !! and removed it.

Also seem the fuzz and brown algae seems to be coming back.
 
The hygrophilia polysperma's new leaves do seem to be more of a brown colour rather than a nice green.

I've ordered the powders, should get those by Thursday.
 
Looking at James' page, we have some Cladophora amongst the base of the Tennelus at the front of the tank, Brown Algae on the Java fern and Anubias, and a fuzz like algae on the sword leaves, however the GSA now seems to have gone (for now)!

Thanks
 
Yeah, definitely the proper EI dosing regime will solve most of those but you will also need to up the CO2. Once you improve your filtration life will be much easier.

Cheers,
 
How far do you go with the C02 as I don't want to kill the fish, at the moment the drop checker is just beyoud green going on yellow.
 
swackett said:
How far do you go with the C02 as I don't want to kill the fish, at the moment the drop checker is just beyoud green going on yellow.
Click to expand...

Theyll gasp at the surface quite a bit before theyll die, so youll get fair warning. Mine will go pretty damn yellow before the fish start complaining, but I do have a reasonable surface agitation so o2 is fairly good.. remember its not CO2 that kills fish, but lack of O2.. as CO2 gets higher, itll push out the O2 though, so there is a balance. Also, if your plants are pearling like mad, O2 partial pressure will be higher than average, so a nicely singing tank can deal with quite a high CO2 load.
 
In order to keep the detritus out do you use vacuums (like this one http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/addtobasket.asp?skid=2006 to clean the substrate of your tanks or just the siphon when doing a water change?

Just wondering as to keep the substrate nice a clean and so help prevent algae with a siphon I'd have to keep taking water out which is a bit time consuming.

Thanks
 
Hi,
I have one of these and I think it is among the most useless inventions ever. All it does is pull the detritus up from the sediment and dumps it and ammonia into the water column. There is a trap inside which holds larger particles but most of it exits from the cage.

When I do my water change I use a tube to siphon water from the tank. At the end of the tube I attach a filter inlet strainer. I have spare strainers from my Eheim filters. If the diameters don't match you can usually jerry-rig a combination of tube sizes that works. then you can insert the strainer end right into the substrate and the siphon pulls the dirt away out of the tank. That failing just hold the tube end by your first or second knuckle and poke the fingertip into the sediment to dislodge detritus. You can get good at it if you practice so you don't remove too much gravel. 😀 Make sure you vacuum the back side of the tank behind the bushes. Detritus collects on the tangled roots back there and becomes a source of ammonia. Remove as many aerial roots as you have the patience to do. Tangled roots block flow, traps detritus and is unattractive.

Cheers,
 
Thanks, I'll try that now as I'm just about to do a 50% water change

Here are some pictures of the Algae in the tank

Brown - You can see some fuzz on the sword leaves at the back
algae1.jpg

hair
algae2.jpg

general
algae3.jpg
 
Yep, textbook malnutrition. More nutrients, more flow and more CO2. Do this an in about a month you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Cheers,
 
I've upped the doseage of TPN+ to 15ml daily and turned up the C02 - (Probably have to get a larger refillable bottle now!)
 
Probably have the tax man banging at the door with some new tax for c02 usage !! 😱
 
I also think that as a result of changing to T5 lights there is a lot more heat output from the tubes and because these are in the hood the heat is trapped and so heats the water. Last night the temp was between 28 and 29!

I have read that high temerature can help algae grow, also 28 is about the limit for most fish.

Any thoughts of temp and algae?
 
Yes, higher temperature makes everything grow faster but that's just life. Unless you want to invest in cooling fans the only thing you can do is to shorten the photoperiod. Discus and tetras do OK in high temperatures. The limiting factor seems to be dissolved oxygen, which is lower at higher temperatures, but if your plants are doing well then they are oxygenating the water. Just do more frequent water changes to keep organic waste at a low level (and to lower the temperature) and you should be fine.

Cheers,
 
Think I sussed it !

The heater needs to be re-calibrated, I turned it down a degree from 23 to 22 and temp when down a degree from 27 to 26 - Looks like it is 4 degrees out for some reason. It used to be ok - Odd!
 
Just thought I'd post an update,

I've turned up the co2, got a Rhinox 5000 and am dosing 15ml TPN+ daily with a 50% water change each week. The plants now seem to be growing a lot better than before, the algae does not seem to be spreading anymore and hair algae has reduced.

There is still however quiet a bit of brown algae in the tank which pearls nicely towards the end of the photoperiod !
 
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