Teak Root Mini 2

[Ady34]

Hi leonroy,
here's a little link which will help in selecting the appropriate course of action for each of your algae types.
James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide
I think both bba and gsa may be attributed to insufficient co2 and distribution and perhaps too much light. I see you have a poppy lily pipe, perhaps this is effecting distribution around the tank?
Hope you get it sorted.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Deer]

I agree with having shrimps and otos but they do not do anything to BBA. The fish that actually eats BBA is the Siamese Algae Eater other wise known as SAE but NOT the flying fox which looks pretty similar. Although SAE will eat BBA they will grow quite large and this aquarium in my opinion is not suitable for an SAE in the long run. Flourish Excel or liquid carbon will work against BBA and also manually removing it will do with a toothbrush.

Michael.

Thanks for the link! It seems I have been miss sold a siamese algage eater (siamese flying fox according to this link) as a flying fox. A lucky miss sell perhaps.

 

[leonroy]

Thanks for the tips. Deer/Michael W I actually just stopped using Excel a week or two ago but I think I'll go back to it along with an intermittent lighting schedule. Barring that a quick scrub with a toothbrush will be my last recourse since these nano rocks are pretty small and not that deeply placed in the substrate so any fiddling with the rocks just agitates them too much.

Thanks Ady, great link. I think that my dodgy, Chinese CO2 regulator is giving up the ghost. It fluctuates from anywhere between 2 bps to 6 bps or more. It's a real piece of junk. Currently poring over the info at Tom Barr's site to build a decent dual stage CO2 regulator.

I used to use the below lily pipe made by Cal Aqua:

But it broke (grubby little 6 year old ). The new Cal Aqua model with the same name is VERY different and directs the flow straight down, completing disturbing the substrate. After running it for a day I had a deep trench in the soil. Not impressed at all....

The Gush poppy type pipe is great. It does agitate the water a lot but provided I up the CO2 I can push as much flow through it as I like without disturbing the substrate. That said I don't think you can beat ADA for design and innovation. Their Lily pipe spin looks to be superb (but it does cost!):