Free Floating Algae Issues :(

[reptileman]

     My 227l has been running now since late February early March. And about 2 1/2 weeks ago free floating algae started out of now where.
 
     My Filter is a Fluval 405 Canister Filter, with the regular 1st stage sponge, then 100 micron filter fibre in the bottom basket, then purigen and zeo-carb in the next, and the top 2 are loaded with bio media. The purigen was taken out sunday to be rechared after a month of being in the tank, after going through the process like the box stated it still smells like bleach/chlorine, help with that appreciated. I used Nutrafin chlorXchange as the dechlor as I do for all my tanks.
 
     The lighting was Reduced to 5 hours a day from 8. The lighting is 2 40w T8 Life-glo. Which is 6700K, 3255 Lumen, and 310 Lux.
 
     It is Stocked with 10 Kyathit Spotted Danio, 10 Neon Dwarf Rainbowfish, 6 Congo Tetra, 5 Petricola Synodontis, 3 Flying Fox, 1 Red Rainbowfish, 1 Boesemani Rainbowfish, 1 Turquoise Rainbowfish, 3 horned Nerites, and X pond snails. I plan on adding MTS to stir the sand, and some Corydoras Catfish, but that's beside the point.
 
     I do a 25% water change every other week, and clean the filter mats once a month, in tank water of course. I have started doing both these things every other day when the algal bloom came around.
 
     I have a small aerator (75l rating) on the tank in front of the filter output, i also have a Hydor Koralia circulation pump, with a flow rate of 425 gph. The Temp is 82F
 
     The tank is planted with a Crypt Wendtii-Bronze Motherplant, A couple asst plants from my old 75l when it was running, 2 Red Melon Sword, Quite a bit of Jungle Val and Crypt Spiralis, 2 Java fern daughters on driftwood, 4 moss balls ripped up and attached to various stones, and 1 intact moss ball.
 
     The substrate has root tabs in it, and I was dosing Seachem Flourish Excel every day, Flourish 5ml a week, and Flourish Iron 1ml a week, I stopped dosing all toghether day of algal bloom. My test strips have expired so i can't tell you the water parameteres. But last time I took them to work and used our liquid test kit (day of algal bloom) the ammonia and nitrite were = / < 0.5ppm, and nitrate was something like 10 ppm.
 
     I feed my fish once a day except for Fridays. They get frozen bloodworms once a every other day, they are pre-thawed so i can split it easily between my betta, and his shrimpy friends, my newt, and this tank. They get fed a pinch of Omega One Super Veggie, r Nutrafin Max with NLS community pellet mixed in, These alternate days for feeding. I also drop in one Hikari Algae wafer every Sunday.
 
     Hope this is enough info. I am desperate to get rid of it as it is in the living room basement (no natural light) and we watch TV down there so it's an eye sore. UV sterilizer is last resort, as I have just enough money to support my pet family, so not much extra for that. Would Excel have the same effect on free flaoting as it does BBA?
 
     All help is greatly appreciated, Thankyou.
 
 

 

[reptileman]

no help? oh well i'm going to try a full on blackout, i want to do 5 days, but i'm worried about my plants should i maybe just do 3... then again they are low light.....

 

[snazy]

Do you mean green water algae?
If yes, it's caused by ammonia and too much light. It may not be measurable ammonia, just spikes or very low trace levels that are undetectable on the test kit. It could be because you removed the purigen. It's media after all that reduces the organic load and in turn ammonia, but you shouldn't have needed to recharge it so soon? Mine is in the filter for months now and it isn't even brown. Seachem recommends using Prime to recharge purigen. Some dechlorinators are not suitable for it, as they can clog the pores(like Api stress coat) Soak it really well, in several dechlor doses. There should be no smell, otherwise do not put it back.
 
If that's the algae you are having, I'd say just leave it be,  because it absorbs the excess ammonia your tank is dealing with at the moment and once that's sorted, it should recede. Also, this algae is actually beneficial for the fauna and the plants won't mind it either. Other algae doesn't thrive when there's green water algae.
You say the tank has been running for about 2 months, which is about the time it takes for a tank to initially go through the nitrogen cycle so it's still new and very sensitive. It's enough taking out small amount of filter media to cause ammonia and algae bloom so careful at this early stage.

 

[reptileman]

i recharged the purigen because it was brown, i put it in there as before like in all my tanks i try not to use chemical media... i can hardly tell if my fish are alive, i do know my small guys are alive because theyre always at the top when feeding but when it comes to my large rainbows flying foxes and synodontis i just don't know, like its so green i can maybe see 5cm into the tank... i know it usually won't harm them but i have put lots of money into the fish for this aquarium. we talking 200$ per group of fish in most cases -___-. I already did a 30% water change, garbage bagged up the sides and front and put a big dark throw on it. That being said 3 or 5 days. i know my plants can deal with 3, would 5 be pushing they are all low light except for one of them... which i'm amazed is surviving in my tank lol....

 

[snazy]

Try 3 days to be on the safe side, but make sure you do a large water change after the blackout as you may have dead algae and ammonia spike. That's why I suggested leave it to go on it's own as it helps with the ammonia spike you are possibly having.

 

[reptileman]

please go here,  http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/418794-could-i-have-been-more-stupid-help-meee/
 
I say this because when this thread was written, I hadn't taken my ADD meds yet and told you guys what I wanted to here. I should have known better. Sorry for any confusion