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The circle of algae

Nautilus143 said:
My lights are currently on for 7 hours a day and 4h of that is at 50% intensity (1 bulb off).
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I would try to have all your hours at 50%, you could also try 6 hours for a while to see if it helps. Too much light is a very common cause of algae, especially when you also have it on the hardscape.
Get a fertilizer containing nitrate and phosphate. Having a bit too much doesnt do much harm but letting your plants go hungry for something means they suffer and start releasing compounds that algae use as a signal to attack.
 
How's the overall plant health in general and are you still only adding specialized premium?
Maybe getting the Tropica specialised will help but if the the algae is now on your hardscape that's suggests your lighting is to high, out of interest I notice you've actually increased you light intensity and duration since your last post, I think that's the last thing you should be doing if you're fighting algae issues.

Try running the lights at 50% for the full duration of the light period, at least till the algae is gone, it won't kill the plants. My tanks 240l and I run my lights at about 40% that's probably about 20w in total.

Edit: great minds hufsa 😀
 
Thanks very much both, have reduced lights down to 6h with the rear bulb on for 3 and then the front bulb on for 3. Fingers crossed this does the trick! Will look into tropica specialised too.
 
Good stuff, just give it a try for a few weeks and see if there's any improvement.
Keep on harassing the algae, try and remove it when you see it, upping to 2 x 40% water changes for a couple of weeks will be helpful.

If you haven't already ordered the other fertiliser maybe look at tnc complete, it will work out cheaper than specialised and gives a better percentage of other nutrients to N ratio.

The forum ferts calculator would give you the exact comparison but I can't load it up on my phone, the ferts meister @Zeus. is the man to ask but I'm reluctant to ask for his help for a second time this week. 😉
 
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Update: the algae literally disappeared off my S. repens overnight. When I woke up and checked the tank this morning, my Amanos were all over the leaves so I think they finally did the job I hired them for 😂 I did a water change last night - perhaps that spurred them on to eat it for some reason? In any case, I'm glad they've finally been able to tackle it. With most of the algae gone, I'm now a little concerned that the shrimp don't have enough to eat so will be looking into shrimp foods!
 
Nautilus143 said:
Update: the algae literally disappeared off my S. repens overnight. When I woke up and checked the tank this morning, my Amanos were all over the leaves so I think they finally did the job I hired them for 😂 I did a water change last night - perhaps that spurred them on to eat it for some reason? In any case, I'm glad they've finally been able to tackle it. With most of the algae gone, I'm now a little concerned that the shrimp don't have enough to eat so will be looking into shrimp foods!
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Such a great feeling when the algae subsides, congratulations. And yes, get those Amano's some treats 😀 - I had to recently, to try and discourage them from eating my Alternanthera once they had cleaned up!
 
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