Help Please

[Underwurlde]

Algae are more efficent and advantageous than plants for just about everything. This begs the question as to why plants can thrive at all! The answer is that when plants get a foothold, they chemically impair algae. However, it is the same with algae, if aglae get a foothold it too can chemically impair the growth of plants (indeed some kinds of algal chemical inhibitors are also toxic to certian spieces of fish!). Also, fast growing plants will suck up all the nutrients from the water (but there will still enough IMO, for algae to exist, if it is already there).

So, to combat algae, one must first get rid of it and then stop it coming back buy planting lots and lots of plants - include fast growing weeds in the makeup of your plants and bosh, algae = no more. Of course to make plants grow, you first need more light, THEN CO2 and THEN fertz. (No point having excess ferts if no lighting / CO2).

Question: What & how much were you dosing?

As above therefore. to me, it's a bit wierd that you were dosing and yet had no CO2 or Execel.

GL

Andy

 

[kris Dearman]

hi i have the same problem at the mo had it b4 and i found tht its feeding of the exess food so i got a good cleaner and reduced the amount i feed them it seems to work it dosent go completely it never will because its a free living organism so you can only slow it down bear that in mind and keep an eye on it the alga is one of the hardest living things to kill off but it is a good food for the cleaner fish they do like a bit of vegetation every now and then

 

[Dave Spencer]

Why did you cut back on your dosing regime? All this will do is adversely affect your plants and make matters worse. Light is just about the only thing you can deprive algae of as a means of control.

You should find that getting your CO2 stable at 30ppm and dosing Excel for the time being should get rid of it.

Dave.

 

[backtotropical]

Algae are more efficent and advantageous than plants for just about everything. This begs the question as to why plants can thrive at all! The answer is that when plants get a foothold, they chemically impair algae. However, it is the same with algae, if aglae get a foothold it too can chemically impair the growth of plants (indeed some kinds of algal chemical inhibitors are also toxic to certian spieces of fish!). Also, fast growing plants will suck up all the nutrients from the water (but there will still enough IMO, for algae to exist, if it is already there).So, to combat algae, one must first get rid of it and then stop it coming back buy planting lots and lots of plants - include fast growing weeds in the makeup of your plants and bosh, algae = no more. Of course to make plants grow, you first need more light, THEN CO2 and THEN fertz. (No point having excess ferts if no lighting / CO2).

Question: What & how much were you dosing?

As above therefore. to me, it's a bit wierd that you were dosing and yet had no CO2 or Execel.

GL

Andy

Thanks Andy, i've cut back as much affected plant as possible. You could hardly tell it's there now, but i can still see little bits. To answer your question i was dosing Tropica Plant Nutrition Liquid Fertilizer once per week. I wasn't running CO2 because i've only been in planted tanks for a couple of months and didn't know i needed it yet.Ok. I think i've got it. So if i go back to

4 x 54w Plant Pro T5s for 9 hours per day?
Stable CO2 infusion
Dosing TPN once or twice per week

Is this what i should be doing? Bordering on EI method. All i dont have is designer substrate.
Should this get rid of the remaining algae by allowing my plants to flourish, or will i need Excel to kill it?Cheers

hi i have the same problem at the mo had it b4 and i found tht its feeding of the exess food so i got a good cleaner and reduced the amount i feed them it seems to work it dosent go completely it never will because its a free living organism so you can only slow it down bear that in mind and keep an eye on it the alga is one of the hardest living things to kill off but it is a good food for the cleaner fish they do like a bit of vegetation every now and then

Cheers Kris, i will try reducing feeding a bit too.

Why did you cut back on your dosing regime? All this will do is adversely affect your plants and make matters worse. Light is just about the only thing you can deprive algae of as a means of control.You should find that getting your CO2 stable at 30ppm and dosing Excel for the time being should get rid of it.Dave.

Hi Dave, I suppose i cut back on dosing because i didn't know any better and it seemed like the right thing to do.

Again, i'm still playing with the CO2 to get levels right, do you think i need Excel or should increasing light, CO2 and ferts (in that order) do the job?

Thanks

Backtotropical

 

[Underwurlde]

Wait untill you have STABLE CO2. This is very important. I would dose 2x to 3x per week. EI does NOT rely on a 'good' substrate, designer or not. If you are injecting or DIY'ing CO2, then there is no need for Excel. Just ensure there is plenty of fast growing plants in there & by that I mean >50 to 70% coverage.

GL

Andy

 

[backtotropical]

Thanks Andy, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[backtotropical]

OK. I added Excel yesterday as it doesn't seem to be clearing up. Fingers crossed.

I'll try to keep CO2 as steady as possible. Does that mean leaving it on at night?

Cheers

BTT

 

[nry]

Co2 at night is not essential, keeping it stable throughout the entire lighting period is - if you use a solenoid to control CO2 on/off states then I would have it come on ~2 hours before your lights and go off just after your lights. This ensures CO2 can build up sufficiently before lights come on rather than have it build up during lights-on - building up during lights on is 'unstable' as far as plants and algae go.

 

[backtotropical]

OK. 6 months on from the last post and i still have that damn algae hanging around my tank.

I've recently stripped the tank of plants as i'm re-scaping and i'd like to get rid before starting planting again.

Will Flourish Excel kill it? If so, can anyone advise how to do it as it didn't work when i tried it before.

I now have pressurised CO2 running 24/7 so CO2 is no longer a problem.

Thanks

BTT

 

[backtotropical]

BUMP!

 

[mrapoc]

Have a look at this mate

Im currently in my own battle with BGA amongst others - ive had it for yonks too

Bought some Excel off ebay for £11 and im dosing daily whilst blackout

I think yours may do with some

 

[backtotropical]

Thanks mate. Thats definitely the stuff, BBA.

I've got steady 30ppm CO2 now (although i didn't before and thats what caused it) so i'll try overdosing Excel.

Can anyone tell me exactly how much to overdose please? Also, will a blackout assist, and if so, how long should i black out for?

Thanks again

BTT

 

[mrapoc]

Thanks mate. Thats definitely the stuff, BBA.

I've got steady 30ppm CO2 now (although i didn't before and thats what caused it) so i'll try overdosing Excel.

Can anyone tell me exactly how much to overdose please? Also, will a blackout assist, and if so, how long should i black out for?

Thanks again

BTT

For my BGA im blacking out for 5 days. No food, normal dose of Excel.

Before blackout do 50% change and remove as much as possible. Black for 3-5 days depending on how hard you want to hit the algae. Dont feed fish - move any ill fish before blackout. Feed once b4 blackout. Err

Dose the excel daily. After blackout do another 50% change removing any dead algae.

Im gonna keep dosing excel daily until i get a co2 system

 

[backtotropical]

THanks again. Your help is very much appreciated.