Algae

[jama12uk]

I bought a 2nd hand vision 180 tank and set it up and had problem with brown algae, added lots of plants and 5 sucking loach and the problem vanished overnight. Then i had problems with hair algae, v long strands that grow to about 2 feet in three days. Ended up throwing away almost all of my plants. Nitrates and nitrites are fine (virtually undetectable) and phosphate and sunlight levels are fine. Any ideas???

If i add more plants, will that stop the hair algae, or will it just destroy the new plants. My plants have always grown really well and so have never injected co2. Would that help?

I have read that potassium can cause hair algae. I do not want to add any chemicals but can use RO water. Will that help and is it ok to use RO in planted tanks?? Will it affect the plants?

Have 6 sucking loach, 2 plecs and 3 amano shrimp (Hide and never eat the alge) along with my normal comunity species. Where can i buy amano shrimp?? Have tried many shops without any luck. If anyone has any i will be willing to pay well. Will increasing filtration help?

Thanks

 

[plantbrain]

I bought a 2nd hand vision 180 tank and set it up and had problem with brown algae, added lots of plants and 5 sucking loach and the problem vanished overnight. Then i had problems with hair algae, v long strands that grow to about 2 feet in three days. Ended up throwing away almost all of my plants. Nitrates and nitrites are fine (virtually undetectable) and phosphate and sunlight levels are fine. Any ideas???

If i add more plants, will that stop the hair algae, or will it just destroy the new plants. My plants have always grown really well and so have never injected co2. Would that help?

I have read that potassium can cause hair algae.

You read wrong Very wrong, don't ask them anything again!

I do not want to add any chemicals but can use RO water. Will that help and is it ok to use RO in planted tanks?? Will it affect the plants?

Well, fertilizers are chemicals, I suggest adding fertilizers even if it's a non CO2 tank.
You may just need to add them weekely or so.
RO water is fine if you blend it with tap if you want lower KH values.
More for the fish than anything.

Have 6 sucking loach, 2 plecs and 3 amano shrimp (Hide and never eat the alge) along with my normal comunity species. Where can i buy amano shrimp?? Have tried many shops without any luck. If anyone has any i will be willing to pay well. Will increasing filtration help?

Thanks

More Amano shrimp will help, but you have basic issues going on here.
If you want to approach the non CO2 well and have consistency, it's not hard at all.
It's as easy as it gets really.

I have some free articles on my site that deal with non CO2 methods, you are welcomed to take a look.
You likely are running low on most macro nutrients give the algae species you are describing.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Themuleous]

Can you give the tank stats, NO3, PO4, lighting, etc? Upping NO3 to around 20ppm can help and adding CO2 can also help against certain types of algae. What kind of plants do you have?

Sam