Algae On Leaves And Rocks / Green Water/ Help!

[Spiceweasel69]

Tank history.

Juwel 260 Vision that is having a bit of a greenwater problem i believe its due to new reflectors being fitted as it never happened before i fitted them. I have scrubbed the rocks and other bits and pieces, and alot of green came from them. But i dont know what to do about the plants. I have some palm (found out not true aquatic) thats actually growing really well, but has brown spots on the leaves.



I thought it was rotting, but the brown spots rub off so it must be algae too. If its on all my plants, how do i get rid of it effectiveley and swiftly? i can clean it from the palm but not the others as the leaves will fall off as theyre delicate. I inject co2 diy if this has any bearing.

Also my other plants are not doing so well



I know its not a bright piccy, butthe top 50% of the plant has algae on leaves, and leaves are tattered and torn, brownish stains and a little bit of rot. Since i injected co2, the bottom of the plant has brightened considerably and leaves are full and fresh. I think this is cos not alot of algae grows on these leaves. Do i cut my losses and throw all plants out or is there another solution. I dont dose ferts, and in this situation, will it help the algae? How long will it take to get all my plants growing lush and green if its possible?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I Have read the algae article, but i think any other personal views would be appreciated.

Thankyou

EDIT*

I think greenwater is caused by leaving light on too long - eg from 9am till 10pm, 13 hours. This was fine without reflectors, but with them i need to cut down on the time i have them on, i realise this now.

 

[Spiceweasel69]

I f i buy lots more plants, then they will drain excess nutrients from water, and then after after a few days i can dose ferts, once the plants have settled in and algae is gone.

A good idea? Suggested by the fella at the lfs

 

[zig]

Post your tank stats, fert routine, lighting, testkit results, and any other relevant info.

 

[Spiceweasel69]

260 litre juwel vision - 2 x 38 watt tubes with reflectors. No ferts being dosed at present as i dont want to enhance algae. Nitrate at 5 ppm, nitrite and ammonia 0, ph 6.8

 

[zig]

Not really sure exactly whats going on, but i would suggest you may not have enough light over the tank and this is why you are probably getting the brown algae, you just have a little over 1 WPG atm and its probably not enough even for a low light tank to function properly, you should aim for about 1.5 WPG, this is a nice amount of light on a low light tank.

Also the tubes that come supplied with Juwel tanks do nothing for growing plants, so if these are the origional Juwel supplied tubes i would swop them out for something more suitable, there are lots of suggestions in the pinned lighting article of different makes of tubes and the light they give. I think would be a big help for a start.

Remove the house plant from the tank its not an aquatic plant and will rot eventually. But you know this allready.

The green water is usually caused by an ammonia or ammonium spike of some sort, maybe you changed something or did something different recently that caused it. Scrubbing the rocks wont cause GW it may cause a discolouration of the water but not GW as in a bloom of some sort. If it is true green water try a blackout for 48 to 72 hours, if the water is just discoloured do a water change.

 

[Spiceweasel69]

[ta zig - was gonna do a 2 day blackout. I assumed the new reflectors doubled the light and this caused the algae, as it only happened after i got them. Did a larger water change than normal, and it looks alot better.