Cant Get It Right!

[julia298]

Hi all, was hoping people would be able to offer some advice on getting rid of the algae.

Ever since I upped my lighting, its been around. If I turn off extra lights it slows down, but I like my high lighting and the effects it has on the plants, and I am determined to get it right.

So here's hopefully all the relevant details:

50g tank.
2 x 30 w T8 arcadia (1 original 1 daylight)
2 x 55 W H.O. T5s
(3.4 wpg) Lights on 5 hr - 3hr siesta = lights on 5 hrs

CO2 injection running at just about as high as is OK for fish - pH 6.0 (normal pH without CO2 is 7.4)

EI dosing:
day 1: 50 % WC - bring nitrate back up to 20-30 ppm, phoshate 2 -3, add 10ml Flourish potassium.
day 2: add 15 ml tropica nutrition for trace
day 3: add nitrate, phosphate & K
day 4: add 15 ml tropica trace
day 5: add nitrate, phosphate & K
day 6: add 15 ml tropica trace
day 7: add nitrate, phosphate & K

Change floss in eheim 2026 every 2-3 weeks, dont do mcuh else to filter. media gets a rinse in tank water now & again

I know Tom Barr says most algae is CO2 related but I think CO2 is just about too high.Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Thanks

Julia

stupidly forgot to say tank is heavily planted, 60-70% of substrate planted

 

[JamesC]

Often knowing what the algae is will tell us what the problem is. Any chance of a photo or take a look at http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm and see if you can ID it.

James

 

[julia298]

I thought it was thread algae but it looks like the algae in the Oedogonium pic.

CO2 is stable and high, and although I don't remember to dose EI every day, I catch up the next day and I dont think I ever leave it long enough for any deficiencies.

 

[JamesC]

I take it the algae looks like a fuzz on the plants. You have a lot of light on your tank which does make it a lot harder to control but if you are determined to carry on with this amount of light then I'd reduce your photoperiod to a straight 8 hours as the siesta really doesn't do much at all. CO2 is the hardest thing to control at very high light levels and you really need to have some good way of measuring it. The best cheap method it the drop checker and 4dKH solution. Are you adding CO2 24 hours or do you stop it at night? It's not always the case because the fish looked stressed that CO2 must be high. You can have below optimal levels of CO2 and fish gasping if O2 levels are low. It's a good idea to have some surface agitation from the filter return to help O2 levels. CO2 stability is also very important.

I run my 46 gallon tank at 2.8 WPG of T8 lighting which I find is more than enough and will grow any plant I want. Any higher and it comes just that bit more difficult to control.

You really want to try and remember to dose when needed as stability is so important and having levels vary wildly does the plants no favours.

Do you know how hard you water is? Do you have lots of fast growing stem plants?

James

 

[julia298]

Thanks James

Yeah it's short green strands but as it grows it looks like the leaves are covered in green fur.

I turn the CO2 off during night and during the siesta (soon after lights off).

Ive measured my CO2 before by testing the Ph of water normally and then again with CO2 aiming for a drop in 1.0 pH to give me 30ppm. Please tell me if you think this is wrong, my PH drop is about 1.5 so my CO2 must be about 45ppm???
I try not to have much surface movement so mayb the o2 levels were low. My bleeding hearts were not happy, so I thought I'd better reduce CO2.

My waters Gh is 156 and KHis 107ppm when not running CO2. Not sure how to measure CO2 using these tho.

 

[danski]

i would try runnin it with the two h.o lights.that is if you get enough light penetration.how much macros are you dosing? what E.I routine are you following? the one i use only doses sun,mon,tue,wed,thur,fri,SAT no dosing with a reset on sun..maybe too many ferts could cause this. if you say your co2 is stable that is. do you do any gravel cleaning? and have you cleaned you filter recently? just wonderin
dan

 

[julia298]

i would try runnin it with the two h.o lights.that is if you get enough light penetration.how much macros are you dosing? what E.I routine are you following? the one i use only doses sun,mon,tue,wed,thur,fri,SAT no dosing with a reset on sun..maybe too many ferts could cause this. if you say your co2 is stable that is. do you do any gravel cleaning? and have you cleaned you filter recently? just wonderin
dan

I always gravel clean when I do WC. Ive put my EI routine at top. Igenerally keep nitrates between 20-30ppm and phosphates between 2-3ppm, and I add K Flourish about 10ml, sometimes less as my other ferts are potassium nitrate and potassium phospate, but I have no signs of K deficiency in plant leaves.
Dont really clean the filter. Just change the wool.

 

[JamesC]

It sounds as though your CO2 levels are probably OK. The 1 pH drop is not very accurate as it is so dependant on what the CO2 level is in the standing water. You should be turning your CO2 on about one to two hours before lights on as this enables levels to get up to optimum when lights come on. Also generally recommended to turn off about half an hour before lights off. If you want to carry on with your siesta then keep the CO2 on during this period. I'd also reduce the light period down to 8 hours so again for a siesta do 4 on, 2 off, 4 on is my recommendation.

Some surface agitation is good but it does use a bit more CO2. Your fish will thank you for it.

If I was in your shoes I'd drop the lighting level down as it's so much easier. You are driving your tank at high speed so it's needs lots of maintanace to keep going.

Often somebody tells me that they are heavily planted but when I see their tank it turns out to be what I'd call sparsely planted. You need lots and lots of fast growers.

HTH
James

 

[julia298]

Thx James.

I think I'll try leaving lights on for 8 straight hours an turning CO2 on 2hours before. and see if that works.
Why is it recommended to turn co2 off half hour before lights off?

Can i accurately measure CO2 with the GH &KH test kits?

 

[JamesC]

Why is it recommended to turn co2 off half hour before lights off?

You've normally got plenty of CO2 in the water by that time and turning off a bit early won't deplete levels by any significant amount. Also for people who run reactors, like me, it gives the chance for the small bit of CO2 that often builds up at the top to be dissolved. And it saves a bit on CO2.

Can i accurately measure CO2 with the GH &KH test kits?

Not really I'm afraid. Sometimes it works but there are variables in a tank that seem to greatly affect the result. By that method I was registering over 100ppm CO2 which should have meant all my fish would die - still going strong today.

James

 

[julia298]

Ok, thanks James.

Hope I can get it right, if not some lights will have to go.