Green Algae Growth - Must Get Rid

[sophos9]

All,

Firstly I would like to apologise to all those who have tried to help me for asking the same old question again and again. I've spent a stupid (I mean stupid) amount of hours researching algae and I've got so much conflicting information that I'm possibly doing more harm than good at the moment

I need some help finding a plan and sticking to it otherwise I'm gonna end up wrecking all the good work I've done, I've been starting macro / micro dosing then stopping, just dosing micros then not dosing etc

So please put me out of my misery and help for the last time on a plan...

Tank:
40 UK Gallon (48 US Gallons)
Pressurised CO2 (PH6.6 & KH3 gives 26ppm - also verified with the 24hr PH test)
1.56WPG (5 on, 2 off, 5 on)

Stock:
15 Tetras
Clown Loaches
Otto's
BN Plec, L260 and Clown Plec
American Flag Fish

Plants
Approx 120 fast growing stems
Wisteria
Vallis
Elodia
Crypts

Algae
Green fuzz algae (growing on glass)
Green beard algae (growing on plants and structured background)

My substrate is a combo of laterite, tetra substrate pro and floropol. I have Flourish, Flourish Excel, KNO3 and K2SO4 (was starting the EI method)

Now the burning question
What should I be doing to obtain good growth with little algae please

 

[Themuleous]

Right if it were me, you've not got enough light to be doing EI, if you could add another tube that would help then full EI would be needed. If you can't add another tube I would think about reducing the lighting say to 1.5WPG or poss a bit lower. Either way I think you right bang in the middle of high and low light. Chose one then do the things necessary for that method.

Sam

 

[sophos9]

Hi mate,

Thanks for the thought provoking reply. The light rule is for US gallons right? If so, I have 75w of light to 48 US gallons providing 1.56wpg... I cannot add another 25w tube as there is not enough room at the front of the Juwel Vision, would have to upgrade to T5 (?) which sometime in the future (not yet) when I get better at this stuff I will do.

So this means I have a Low Light set-up, do I need any micros and how best can I rid the algae?

 

[nry]

I have 1wpg and CO2. If I have lights on for more than 7 hours algae starts to develop on the plants. I tried the 5-on/2-off/5-on etc etc to no avail. I figure that the lighting hours people talk about are a guide: they will not work for everyone and each of us needs to find our own balance of light vs algae vs CO2 vs fertilisation. Initially I would cut down lighting to ~6 hours and see how it goes. Keep everything else the same. If it works fine, if not then try changing something else, but only change one thing at a time.

Personally I find that my nerite snails help tremendously in reducing overall algae build-up on plants and glass. Way better than my shrimps did though my tank is not big enough for plecs and I have never tried otto's.

 

[sophos9]

nry, good point...

So if Algae growth consists of 3 main variables, water, light and nutrients, I should experiment with each variable in turn whilst keeping the rest constant.

So if I keep the following constant, I should be able to see what's happening?
CO2 - 26ppm
Water change - 25% per week
1 glass clean per week (before the water change)
No micros
No macros
Same feeding routine

Anyone think of any more? What effect does temperature have on algae growth? Oh and what parameters should I check with the local water company?

 

[Themuleous]

Sorry my bad, yes its a low light tank.

You probably wont need to dose marcos, just trace weekly I would think.

FYI it'll take several weeks for you to notice a change in the tank when you change one thing, so be patient (says he, Mr Impacient! ) poss a bit longer in a lower light tank.

Sam

 

[sophos9]

FYI it'll take several weeks for you to notice a change in the tank when you change one thing, so be patient (says he, Mr Impacient! ) poss a bit longer in a lower light tank.

Patience... oh no!

So this is the latest in my definitive list of things to do:

CO2 - 26ppm
Lights - 5 On, 2 Off, 5 On
Water change - 25% per week
1 glass clean per week (before the water change)
Micros - Flourish Excel 2 x Weekly
No macros
Same feeding routine

With the rate that the algae grew in the last few days its pretty quick to know when you got things wrong!! Do you think that adding the macros would have produced way too many nutrients which fuelled the algae growth?

 

[Themuleous]

Sounds good

 

[sophos9]

Great!

What do you think about temperature and algae growth, my tank always sits around 27c - heater never has to come on!

 

[Themuleous]

Its likely not make a difference, there is a type of algae for every situation, the hot springs in the US are close to boiling but you get algae in those.

Sam

 

[sophos9]

Great... Will give it a go!

 

[sophos9]

Bah, I want to jump in and clean the tank and stuff!

Reading some reviews and stuff on Flourish Excel, should I be dosing once per day?

 

[Dave Spencer]

OK, here is what I think.

There is no need for you to dose as per EI if you don`t have >2WPG. Your plants will not be growing at a sufficient rate to use them. You might find with your fish load that they are providing sufficient N and P. This could mean that your plants may need a source of K seeing as you will not be dosing EI, something like Ferka K (sorry, I only do EI at the moment, so i can`t be sure). Continue to dose trace as per the bottle instructions (is Flourish Excel trace? I am not sure, once again).

Some people overdose Excel due to its anti algae properties, but I have never done this, so more advice from elsewhere would be appreciated. It does remove hair algae apparently, but watch your invertebrates.

Provided you have a sufficient healthy, growing plant mass, then this is your greatest means of beating algae. Therefore, always try to think of what is best for your plants. Keep dosing, lighting and CO2 levels stable. Your algae responds far more quickly than your plants and takes advantage of these changes.

I had a bit of hair algae when I started my tank, but I just kept removing it by winding it around a bottle brush when there was enough, and removed any plants that were badly affected (Egeria densa). All the time, I made sure my plants had whatever they needed.

I suspect that you have not had enough plants in from the start, and you are going to find out that removing established algae is going to be harder than preventing it in the first place. Stick with the hard work and believe that what is good for your plants will ultimately be bad for your algae.

Dave.

 

[sophos9]

Dave, thanks for the reply - appreciate it!

Looking at the Seachem site, I think you may be right. Flourish is for trace whilst Excel deals with the iron reducing and bio carbon. I don't have any inverts in the tank. Yea you are totally right, I did not have nowhere near enough and now with that combined with me throwing macros in and the issues with CO2, the algae has taken hold!

I think I'm getting somewhere though...

CO2 is stable (totally since the leaking mess )
Lighting is stable

So far then:
CO2 - 26ppm (stable and targeting 30ppm)
Lights - 5 On, 2 Off, 5 On
Water change - 25% per week
1 glass clean per week (before the water change)
Micros - Flourish 2 x Weekly
Algae A$$ Kicking - Flourish Excel 3 x Weekly
No macros
Same feeding routine

Just a quick question on dosing micros, when should I dose? I presume morning before the lights come on...?

Many thanks

 

[Dave Spencer]

I tend to dose when I remember, which is generally before lights on. Provided that your plants always have the micros they need, dosing during the middle of your photoperiod should be OK.