The next phase of algae fighting for me...

Heatherfly · 01-08-2013, 02:31 AM

Hi everyone! I'm a learning tank keeper and I am facing a problem unique to me. I used to have a huge issue with hair algae, but keeping my DIY CO2 regular, staying on top of water changes, and using Flourish Excel has it pretty much defeated atm. I would like to stop using Excel at some point since it stunted a few of my plant species but it is just so effective against algae... Right now I face an odd brown fuzz growing at the base of my hairgrass.

Here's a picture of the tank taken a few minutes ago:

You can see the brown stuff most evidently on the right-hand side of the tank. It even pearls just like my plants do! Is that just brown algae? I lost my Oto a few months ago and he used to keep that stuff down so well I haven't seen it in this tank for a long time.

**plantbrain** · 01-08-2013, 04:34 AM

Get canned CO2, gas tank etc.

Master it, adjust slowly, use the pH/KH CO2 table to as a start point, then slowly adjust from there.

Heatherfly · 01-08-2013, 06:27 AM

Oh, I would love to! Aren't canned setups pretty expensive though? I'm a broke college student. Also, this tank is only 10 gallons. The DIY I have is pretty good. I have a drop checker in there... isn't that essentially the same thing as a pH/KH table? It usually stays from a "sufficient" to "over" level which is a pH 6.8-6.5 in a KH of 10, based on the directions for it.

01-08-2013, 02:31 AM	#1
Heatherfly Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 17	The next phase of algae fighting for me... Hi everyone! I'm a learning tank keeper and I am facing a problem unique to me. I used to have a huge issue with hair algae, but keeping my DIY CO2 regular, staying on top of water changes, and using Flourish Excel has it pretty much defeated atm. I would like to stop using Excel at some point since it stunted a few of my plant species but it is just so effective against algae... Right now I face an odd brown fuzz growing at the base of my hairgrass. Here's a picture of the tank taken a few minutes ago: You can see the brown stuff most evidently on the right-hand side of the tank. It even pearls just like my plants do! Is that just brown algae? I lost my Oto a few months ago and he used to keep that stuff down so well I haven't seen it in this tank for a long time.

01-08-2013, 04:34 AM	#2
plantbrain Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (232/100%) Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: The swamp Posts: 11,990	Get canned CO2, gas tank etc. Master it, adjust slowly, use the pH/KH CO2 table to as a start point, then slowly adjust from there. __________________ Regards, Tom Barr

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01-08-2013, 06:27 AM	#3
Heatherfly Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 17	Oh, I would love to! Aren't canned setups pretty expensive though? I'm a broke college student. Also, this tank is only 10 gallons. The DIY I have is pretty good. I have a drop checker in there... isn't that essentially the same thing as a pH/KH table? It usually stays from a "sufficient" to "over" level which is a pH 6.8-6.5 in a KH of 10, based on the directions for it.