Algae!

[kreativ]

Hello guys, i'm getting algae over my plants and my tank walls, i have diy co2, and seachem flourish, dosing 3 times a day, but im getting algae, i've order potassium, phospate and iron, but in the mean time what can i do with the algae?

 

[nry]

Check the algae section on:

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

Very good and accurate info.

 

[Underwurlde]

DIY Yeast CO2 is unstable and this instability may lead to algae. To this end, you need STABILTY with CO2, & if going the yeast route, therefore run 2 in parallel, but change mix for #1 on Saturday, the mix for #2 on Wednesday for example.

 

[kreativ]

sou i need to run 2 units? or can i run 2 bottles?

 

[Underwurlde]

Either, but 2 bottles using Non return valves to a 'T' section and from there to the tank & diffusor will be ideal.

Andy

 

[frozenbarb]

I dont think yo should be Dosing 3 times a day.. wth

You dose Flourish so much that all algae is sucking up all the excess Nutrients that your plants cant take in.

Give us your lights and how much Bubbles per sec is your co2 at
I would stop dosing.. til you get rid of algae
Obivously your plants dont seem to be growing fast enough. Myabe due to lights?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah depends what kidn of algae it is, what lighting you have, etc.

I have found with my tank that it doesnt take something to be out of whack for very long to cause an algae out break. May CO2 levels and water circulation dropped off for about a week and a half and caused a massive bloom of stag horn algae. No I have got the CO2 back to normal levels again it has taken over a month for the algae to die off.

Hard to say without knowing all the tank stats but I would say its most likely low CO2 in a high light/high fert enviroment.

 

[kreativ]

i have 4.4 wpg, 20 bubbles per minute, i think i have a lil bit of hair algae on my anubia, and i get some kind of brown algae on my tank walls and the anubia, and i dont know the name of this other plant but some leaves are getting kind of black/brown spots. My annachoris (please dont mind the spelling are growing like whoa though.

 

[frozenbarb]

Ok.. Then your Overdosing our tank
You do Notice that your Light is 4.4WGP
And diy co2 will never cut that unless you have 4 bottles or so.
at least 4-5 Bubbles per seconds
20bubbles a Min is way to low.
Making the Tanks Unbalance
High Light Low co2 And alot of ferts

 

[kreativ]

do you think i need pressurized co2? I have an HOB, will i need a canister too?

 

[nry]

What size is the tank? That helps decide if 4.4wpg is way too high or about right.

Flourish is not really suitable for a high-light, CO2 added tank - you need to consider something like the Estimative Index (see pinned thread) to keep algae at bay and your plants happy. If you are not up for that then you could do with dropping your lighting down to around 1-1.5wpg depending on your tank size (in US gallons?).

 

[kreativ]

30 Gallons

 

[nry]

Okie dokie - in my opinion? You really need to lower those lighting levels. 1.5wpg on a tank that size is more than enough. Go beyond that and stable CO2 is essential, something that would be hard with a larger tank and a DIY setup. You'd also need much different fertiliser methods for high light/CO2 which again suggests you might need to consider the Estimative Index as described in the pinned thread - high light and CO2 means the plants will strip all nutrients from the water very quickly, namely N, P and K (nitrogen, pottasium and phosphate) - Flourish does not provide any (or nothing worthwhile) of these, and the liquid N,P and K options from SeaChem are very expensive.

 

[kreativ]

yeah i know, i order all those fertz like two days ago, there dry fertz by the way. Can i keep those 4.4 wpg and get a pressurized co2?

 

[frozenbarb]

Yea get Pressurized this will control it. With Pressurized you could Stable it any time you want til you get the balance