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Is this algae and what type is it ?

Paul195

Paul195

Member
Joined
31 Dec 2012
Messages
162
Hi all

Can anybody shed any light on what type of algae this is ? You can see it on the leaves and on the filter intake. I have this brown stuff on the internal walls of the cannister filters where there is no light, so I was wondering if it is not algae ?

I water change 60% once per week (UK bristol tap water), and I run C02 during lights on.

IMG_20161202_171624.jpg


Many thanks for any suggestions!

Paul
 
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Hey Paul. I can't really see on the picture but it sounds like diatoms. This is due to raised ammonia levels, not those you can measure by a test, but the amount of ammonia going through the "system" so to speak and lack of counteracting such as enough filtration, healthy plants, enough oxygen, and too much bioload, etc...Any improvement in either can help out, e.g. improve the health of your plants by making sure they get enough nutrients, CO2, which can increase oxygen content, alternatively agitate the water surface more, upgrade filtration, feed less, remove fish, etc...There are many angles at achieving the same thing.

Generally brown diatoms eventually disappear but if the problem is not solved, alternative algae forms like green dust algae, cyanobacteria and others start appearing...
 
Hi SF

Thanks for your reply. Amount of algae has definitely reduced since I upped the CO2 rate, but still a fair amount remains - otto's and SAE's are having a nice time though!
I have been thinking it's either diatoms or brown algae (same thing ?) as looking at most of the algae guides/stickies, they're the only ones that resemble it in terms of colour and appearance. Many articles I have read suggest that diatoms usually disappears on its own after a period but this has been present for quite a long time now and is quite 'crusted on'. It did spread over the walls and wood but I recently gave it an overhaul and a scrubbed it all off.

Some more tank info...

I am running 2x EX1200 on a 3ft 220L tank so I am rated over the 10x turnover guidelines. In both cannisters I have two trays empty, one with bio balls, the other with substrat pro topped with medium density foam, so I think filtration and flow should be adequate. I have been wondering if it would be worth taking out the individual pieces of foam and putting a course,medium,fine sponges in one of the empty trays to provide better mechanical filtration, any thoughts on this ?

I have but running the spray bars horizontal (towards the front glass) which are about 2" under the surface. I have just pointed them upwards now so I have more surface agitation, hopefully this will help. Fish stocking is 3x SAE, 6x Odessa barb, 6x Dwarf neon rainbows, 4 otto cats, 1 banded barb, fed minimally once per day. Approx 60% WC once per week. Filters cleaned out approx once per month.

C02 is coming on at 12:30 at high bubble rate, probably around 5bps, drop checker vivid green (fish seem fine) with 4x 39W T5 mounted about 150mm above water level coming on at 15:00 for two hours then two tubes going off at 17:00 leaving the remaining two on till 23:00 (8 hrs period). Wondering if it might be worth leaving the 4 tubes on for four hours instead of two ?

Nutrients wise I have been dosing EI:
18ppm N03, 30ppm K, 3ppm P04, 0.5ppm Fe, but have recently changed concentration to 30ppm N03, 35ppm K, 9ppm P04, 1ppm Fe.

My thoughts were to get C02 as high as possible as the fish are happy with (which I think I have about right), use unlimited EI nutrients. Then its down to light and good C02 distribution (not sure distribution of the bubbles is that good as tank is 20" wide - might add circ. pump to try and get better distribution at the back).

My Hottania palustris is growing tall but the lower leaves are often small and the bottom 2/3 of the plant goes dark, while the top 1/3 is nice and green and bushy (see pic).

Anybody spot any obvious mistakes or areas for improvements ?

Cheers

Paul

IMG_20161202_171606.jpg
IMG_20161202_172443.jpg
 
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Hi Paul,

Base on your description and the look of your tank, I would hazard a guess that your tank is newly setup (less than a month?).

Brown diatom is quite common and otos are still one of best clean up crew for it.

The other consideration is your substrate. If your substrate is new, it will also leech nutrients into the water column. At least you have fast growing plants to deal with it.

The other point you may face with your lights is the green spot algae. But 9ppm of phosphate that you are dosing may minimise it. However I feel that 9ppm is high, personally I go for 4 to 5ppm.

As for the background plants on the right side... the hottania palustrius.. you will have to trim them once in a while to replant them. That's a common reason why people put them at the back and cover the middle and foreground with shorter plants to cover the lower stalks.

One question - i spotted 5 short dark green plants in the middle. Never seen them before. May I know what are they?
 
Hi
No, this ones been set up now since May. I have had quite a few of my original plants die off, so I still haven't found the right setup / balance yet. Hoping that I'm getting there now - yesterday I moved the diffusers underneath the filter intakes, which is definately making better use of the C02 and the filter doesn't seem to be burping either so hopefully that will distribute the C02 nicely. I will readjust my P04 value to 6ppm.

The darker green plants are ones that I picked up about a week ago from the lfs. I got home and put them in the tank, but only afterwards I looked it up on the net and it is not an aquatic plant - it is called Ophiopogon Kyoto AKA 'Mondo grass'. I read somewhere that it usually dies after a month or two submerged, so only time will tell on this one !

Paul
 
Hi Paul, 5ft Diasaster right?
Tank looks good, in spite of your algae woes...
Id be inclined to remove your non aquatic plant now, as it decomposes it may add additional ammonia to the system & may worsen your problems with algae!
 
Hi all,
Paul195 said:
I got home and put them in the tank, but only afterwards I looked it up on the net and it is not an aquatic plant - it is called Ophiopogon Kyoto AKA 'Mondo grass'. I read somewhere that it usually dies after a month or two submerged, so only time will tell on this one !
Click to expand...
It won't survive submerged, they make a good house plant for shady room.

cheers Darrel
 
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