Algae and spotty java fern

Lamie said:

Thanks for your reply.
I don't know the Kelvin rating. How do I find this out. The tank light is on a few hours and it is not consistent. The sunlight in the room is not bright but light gets in on all sides of the tank. The java fern uses low light and the other plants use more light I'm guessing. It's all a bit haphazard. I'm new to this. I don't know whatthe GH of the water is or even what that is. Thanks again
The pH of the water is 7.4- 7.8
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm Nitrate 10ppm

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Byron said:

I mentioned the cause, it is an imbalance. To sort this out we need to know the light data--intensity, spectrum (the Kelvin rating), how long the light is on each day, and is it consistent by using a timer or ad hoc. All of these lighting factors are important. As for the nutrients in balance, are you using any fertilizer? What is the GH of your water?

Do not use hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizer that has been used under field conditions to control I. multifiliis. High doses can cause gill damage leading to fish mortality (especially at high temperatures) (Schmidt et al. 2006; Noga, 2010). Some may argue that "high doses" would not apply, but that is no reason (and may not be true anyway) to risk fish when there are safer methods.

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Byron said:

The Kelvin might be on the unit, or the package, or on the end of the tube if it is fluorescent light. If these do not work, look up the unit and give us the link.

A regular photoperiod is advisable first for the fish, but also it helps control algae. Daylight entering the room factors in too, and sunlight can really cause algae problems.

A photo of the entire tank will allow us to see the plant species/numbers and the fish load.

GH is general hardness, which measures the dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. You need to track this down for the source water, check the website of the water provider. This is worth knowing as it is a source of these two mineral nutrients; it is also important for fish, some need hard water and some soft water.

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Byron said:

The Kelvin might be on the unit, or the package, or on the end of the tube if it is fluorescent light. If these do not work, look up the unit and give us the link.

A regular photoperiod is advisable first for the fish, but also it helps control algae. Daylight entering the room factors in too, and sunlight can really cause algae problems.

A photo of the entire tank will allow us to see the plant species/numbers and the fish load.

GH is general hardness, which measures the dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. You need to track this down for the source water, check the website of the water provider. This is worth knowing as it is a source of these two mineral nutrients; it is also important for fish, some need hard water and some soft water.

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Lamie said:

I can't find the Kelvin rating on the light or in the information booklet but I have posted what I could find. The web page to the actual tank I bought in September last year.

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Lamie said:

Thanks. Sadly a few days ago I cut off two of my java Fern leaves because they had algae

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Byron said:

That is not t all bad, so this should be easy to resolve. I would suggest a dark background to the tank. The simplest that I use is black construction paper; you can buy one sheet and cut it to the size of the tank back glass, and just tape it on the outside. This will really show off the colours of fish and plants.

Get a basic timer for the tank light and have it on for 7 hours, any time of the day is fine, provided it is consistent each day, and there is a period of several hours of total darkness.

Some floating plants would likely help too. Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, or Frogbit. Or allow the stem plants to grow across the surface. Stay with the Flourish Comprehensive once a week, careful not to overdose.

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Byron said:

That is not t all bad, so this should be easy to resolve. I would suggest a dark background to the tank. The simplest that I use is black construction paper; you can buy one sheet and cut it to the size of the tank back glass, and just tape it on the outside. This will really show off the colours of fish and plants.

Get a basic timer for the tank light and have it on for 7 hours, any time of the day is fine, provided it is consistent each day, and there is a period of several hours of total darkness.

Some floating plants would likely help too. Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, or Frogbit. Or allow the stem plants to grow across the surface. Stay with the Flourish Comprehensive once a week, careful not to overdose.

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Essjay said:

According to the manual (link in post #34), this tank has a NovoLux LED tube. Juwel's website this is 6500K. Unlike other Juwel LED's there would appear to be just one NovoLux LED.

JUWEL Aquarium | NovoLux LED White | purchase online

NovoLux LED - NovoLux LED White. JUWEL Aquarium

www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk

Timer - Juwel sell a timer for this tank & tube, it has two dimming phases but it is likely expensive.

JUWEL Aquarium | NovoLux Day Control | purchase online

NovoLux LED - NovoLux Day Control. JUWEL Aquarium

www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk

But I use timers like this and this I assume similar products are available in New Zealand

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Essjay said:

The fancy timer Juwel make to go with NovoLux tubes does have a sunrise and sunset dimming function, but that's all. It's not got the multiple settings like other lights discussed on the forum.

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