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New lights and new algae.

Water change does three things:

1. It removes ammonia from the tank and lowers it's concentration. As your plants succumb to the algae their tissues die and decay releasing ammonia which attracts more algae.

2. It removes algal spores which are produce in massive quantity by the Algae doing the feeding thus helping to break the cycle.

3. It removes other organic matter that decays and causes ammonia.

The problem here is that you must dose after every water change...

Cheers,
 
Well, maybe, as long as they act in concert and don't cancel each other out. This is a fine point that a lot of people miss. If you are not careful how you point them you can actually create more stagnation points. The goal is to create a steady current so that all the leaves bend, flutter or sway in the current.. You also want to ensure that there is significant current along the "sea floor" Remember there are three spatial axes to worry about. Ideally you'd want vertical motion heading downwards and then either longitudinal motion across and/or lateral current fore/aft. The trick is to find clever placements of the powerheads that also don't become a visual blight.

Cheers
 
The photo's really bring home your pain! But something doesn't seem right - can you pop up a photo or diagram showing how your flow is set up - does that spraybar run the length of the tank? Where is the input and what is the location of the drop checker? Perhaps with that we can help with the powerheads...

I'm in the early days of running a 3' 200L tank under 78w on 1050 L/h using an in line CO2 reactor and you've got me worried. Is this because you've an extra 12" of tank and a few extra watts light so the flow falters - or am I too heading for problems?
 
When I get home ( on parents lappy ) I will cobble together a diagram of my set up.

The spray bar runs along the back of the tank, not the full length as it isnt long enough. The holes are pointing towards the front of the glass.

The inlet is then in one of the corners, the right hand back corner.

There are some pictures in the gallery section, will link them viewtopic.php?f=49&t=2594

Does that help?
 
durtydurty said:
There are some pictures in the gallery section, will link them http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=2594
Does that help?
Click to expand...
Yes, flow looks quite OK - makes me suspect dosing and CO2 levels more. Where is your drop checker and do you get the same result where ever you put it? Also, silly question probably, but you are using 4DKh solution in it?
 
Far left hand corner opposite side to the inlet.

I use 4DKh water and what I will try is moving it and seeing what results I get.

Went and bought a Hydor powerhead yesterday a number 2 model which is 2300 lph!!

So all my leaves have a sway to them and hopefully this may go some way to solving the problem.

Went to two different pet shops and was told by both that Phospates cause algae that I should get my phospates tested!!
 
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