Algae Problems

[darius3]

Hello,

I have serious problems with algae on my tank.
I noticed green spot algae on aquarium glass and also red alga on all leafs and lately I saw on the gravel a hair alga.
I made a photo with the red/hairy alga which is the most annoying.

I treated the water with H2O2 (3%), by adding 100ml H2O2 to 100 l water, then after 3 hours I made a 50% water change. I repeated the procedure after two days. I did this treatment two times but the algae were just a little affected.

Please find below all the details related to my aquarium:

Aquarium:
200L (100x40x50) 4 months old
Substrate: Dennerle Deponit-Mix Professional (9.6Kg) about 2.5cm and
AquaMedic - Hobby Volcanit 15 kg about 3.5cm in height.
Filter: JBL e900,
Ground convection heater Dupla Thermik Set 120, 20 W 3m, programmed to be on in the same time with the lights.
Water change is done 20% weekly.
Fertilization: Dennerle Perfect Plant System Set (S7, E15 si V30)
One amp of ProdiBio Digest added monthly.
Tests: NO2=0, NO3=10, GH=7, KH=3, pH=6.6, temp. is 26C-27C.

CO2: 2-3 bps, reactor 1000 Aqua Medic connected to filter output, Ph Controller fixed to PH 6.6

Light:
On top lamp at 10 cm above the tank: 1x Osram 39W/830 warm white and 2x Osram 39W/865 cool daylight
The lights are on 6 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the evening 7:45-13:45 and 15:00-21:00.

Fish:
11x Corydoras Panda (3cm), 8x Pangio Java Loach (6cm), 2x Bristlenose (6cm), 4x Molly Black (3cm),
2x Kryptopterus bicirrhis (4cm), 4x Poecilia reticulata (3cm)

Invertebrates:
4x anentome Helena, 50x Melanoides tuberculata, 7x Red Cherry Shrimp, 2x Zebra Nerite, 2x Tiger Nerite

Plants:
Anubias barteri – nana, Echinodorus 'Red Flame', Anubias hastifolia, Bacopa amplexicaulis,
Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, Nymphea Lotus red, Nymphaea 'Pygmaea Alba', Ceratopteris Thalictroides, Ludwigia Repens

Food:
Frozen Bloodworm (a half of square every 3 days),
Ocean nutrition tropical wafers and algae wafers, depends of how they are eaten, about 1 per day.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Darius

 

[BethK]

So your light are on 12hrs a day?

Try cutting it down to 6hrs a day and see if that helps, it's usually a max of 8hrs a day (i think).

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

you could also do a 5-7 day blackout after a good 50% waterchange and manual clean down of all the glass/plants.

I did a blackout on my tank about 6 months ago, and algea content since is almost nil!

 

[darius3]

So your light are on 12hrs a day?

Try cutting it down to 6hrs a day and see if that helps, it's usually a max of 8hrs a day (i think).

ok, I will shorten the time from 12 to 6 hours and check the algae status.

It’s been 5 days with lights on 6 hours per day.
The algae are growing at a much slower rate.

 

[darius3]

you could also do a 5-7 day blackout after a good 50% waterchange and manual clean down of all the glass/plants.

I did a blackout on my tank about 6 months ago, and algea content since is almost nil!

I did manual clean and water change but algae won every time.
5 days in a row blackout, it's a little extreme but I will try it if everything else fails.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

you could also do a 5-7 day blackout after a good 50% waterchange and manual clean down of all the glass/plants.

I did a blackout on my tank about 6 months ago, and algea content since is almost nil!

I did manual clean and water change but algae won every time.
5 days in a row blackout, it's a little extreme but I will try it if everything else fails.

Its not as big a deal as you think.
Honestly, it was the best thing I ever did with my tank!! I was sceptical at first, but it has annihilated the algea growth in my tank, and the plants took over Down the line now, i have barely any at all, apart from a light build up on the glass which the magnet cleaner takes off weekly

 

[shelaghfishface]

are those plants prone to hair type algae or what? i used to pull handfulls off the very same plants.. in the end i gave up and ripped them out

 

[darius3]

I removed the last bacopa plant as it was too affected by algae and I bought a couple of vallisneria.
Lets hope it will consume the nutrients faster than the algae.

I don't know how to prevent this alga from the gravel.
picture is on the picasa link
http/picasaweb.google.com/darius.munteanu/Aquarium#5474189191985895762