Thread algae ...

[bigmel]

Hi all

So i don,t hi jack the other guys thread any more (sorry 😳 ) i just thought i would share my use of the seache excel....

I read about the excel stuff on here so gave it a go .

The tank was set up for about 6 weeks , plants were growing great and i added some jave moss off fleabay and within 2 weeks green / black thread algae starting growing in it and spread to the now large Amazon swords and i had to ditch them. Its a low tech tank BTW .

I added the seachem excell as per instructions , plus did a large water change and upped filter maintenance and dropped lighting to 6-8 hours aday .
Within a few days the algae started turning rusty red and now 5 -6 days later its all dead !

Result If anyone has a low tech tank with algae problems i would 100% recomend it .

Now seeing as its a plant fertilizer , how has it killed the algae ?

 

[spyder]

It's not a fert in a true sense but a form of carbon.

The active ingredient is glutaraldehyde, go google it.

This explains briefly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutaraldehyde

 

[CeeJay]

Hi all

Within a few days the algae started turning rusty red and now 5 -6 days later its all dead !

This is one of the good things about this stuff, it's anti algae properties.
However, you have now added carbon to what was a low tech tank so it has now effectively become a low light hi tech tank.
Just be warned that if you stop your dosing of excel suddenly, you may get all sorts of unexpected algae. Back off the dose slowly over a long period of time and you should be OK 😀

 

[bigmel]

Thanks for the great info guys , very helpfull 😀

Do you think i should leave the lights on slightly longer now ?

I know its just going to be trial and error , but all i want is vallis at the back and a few amazon swords plus jave moss on the sumatra wood which extends to the surface .
I know it sounds basic and it is but algae free and low tech easy plants is all i, after .

I will try and post a few pics up of how the tank looks now , plus i,ve ordered some more java moss to play with 😀

 

[spyder]

6-8 hours a day is plenty of light. More light = more demand for co2. If the co2 is not supplied your plants will fail.

Adding some floating plants to reduce the intensity of light would be more beneficial than increasing the photoperiod again.

Less is more!

 

[bigmel]

Thanks mate i will follow your advice .

Its funny how things change over the years , i,ve kept tropicals for over 20 years but never really been a planted tank guy .... years ago the books (before the internet) used to advise keeping the lights on longer for the plants to out "compete " the algae .

Cheers 😀