Hair or Stag or BB?

[Yankee]

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if this is the start of hair, stag, or BB algae?

I am ei dosing a 10 gallon tank (pressurized CO2 [on 1 1/2 hrs before lights] Aquatic Life T5 HO 2x 18W Bulbs for 6 hours), moderate Nitrates because its the end of the week, but otherwise 0 Ammonia and Nitrite. The algae started when I got my new lights. My CO2 is cranked up and I have extremely soft water (if hardness matters). I plan on implementing a GH booster when I do my water change tomorrow.

Any ideas how to get rid of it? I am going to try the 1-2 H2O2/Excel treatment tomorrow before my water change.

Here it is:

[creekbottom]

"The algae started when I got the new lights"

Take a bulb out, that is crazy high light for a 10 gallon. Not sure what algae it is though.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by creekbottom

"The algae started when I got the new lights"

Take a bulb out, that is crazy high light for a 10 gallon. Not sure what algae it is though.

According to EI this shouldn't matter with a large stock of plants that I have and the photoperiod is at 6 hrs. Before I got this outbreak I had 2 20W CFLs. It seems to be slowed down now, but if I ID it I can try removing it a little more effectively. Seems like it spiked because the plants needed to adjust to the new lights.

[DarkCobra]

Hard to tell for sure, but looks like fuzz algae.

Originally Posted by Yankee

According to EI this shouldn't matter with a large stock of plants that I have and the photoperiod is at 6 hrs.

EI makes no such guarantee, seems you've misinterpreted something.

Excessive light intensity stresses plants, even at relatively short photoperiods. A stressed plant is unhealthy, even if it appears to be growing fast, and likely to grow algae. I see what appears to be val, crypts, and swords in your pictures - all of which will grow at low light levels, and are easier to stress.

2 x 20W CFLs over a 10G typically provide medium-high light, enough to grow anything. Despite a lot of the light being lost with CFLs. Poor reflectors, poor directionality so light escapes the tank sides instead of being thrown down, and the spiral shape itself causes much light to be absorbed by the bulb.

T5HO has none of these problems, and produces a lot more light per watt. Way too much light in this tank, unless the bulbs are significantly elevated.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by DarkCobra

Hard to tell for sure, but looks like fuzz algae.



EI makes no such guarantee, seems you've misinterpreted something.

Excessive light intensity stresses plants, even at relatively short photoperiods. A stressed plant is unhealthy, even if it appears to be growing fast, and likely to grow algae. I see what appears to be val, crypts, and swords in your pictures - all of which will grow at low light levels, and are easier to stress.

2 x 20W CFLs over a 10G typically provide medium-high light, enough to grow anything. Despite a lot of the light being lost with CFLs. Poor reflectors, poor directionality so light escapes the tank sides instead of being thrown down, and the spiral shape itself causes much light to be absorbed by the bulb.

T5HO has none of these problems, and produces a lot more light per watt. Way too much light in this tank, unless the bulbs are significantly elevated.

I appreciate the elaboration! How would 1x18W fair better, then? I have DHG, Val, Crypts. java fern, and anubias in this tank. Would this 18W still give me the speed of growth I have right now? Also, how does fuzz hold up to H2O2? It's an aquatic life t5ho freshwater fixture with 1x18w 6500k and 1x18w rosette and is about 5" above the tank on its stands.

[DarkCobra]

Less light, less growth. Not a 50% reduction in growth though, as your plants weren't able to use that much light anyway.

Try it and see. Use whichever bulb looks acceptable on its own, which will probably be the 6,500K. Make sure you still get a decent light distribution, if it's too uneven from front to back, you may find going back to the CFLs preferable.

Fuzz is a bit resistant to H2O2 in my experience, but it can be killed with it.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by DarkCobra

Less light, less growth. Not a 50% reduction in growth though, as your plants weren't able to use that much light anyway.

Try it and see. Use whichever bulb looks acceptable on its own, which will probably be the 6,500K. Make sure you still get a decent light distribution, if it's too uneven from front to back, you may find going back to the CFLs preferable.

Fuzz is a bit resistant to H2O2 in my experience, but it can be killed with it.

Great! Yeah I highly doubt it'll be a 50% reduction in growth, I was getting decent growth with the 20W CFLs and most of the light was escaping out of the sides. Should I reduce my EI Dosings as well? I'm dosing for a 10-20g.

[DarkCobra]

EI dosing could be reduced, but it doesn't need to be; unless you have a high fish load also contributing to nutrient levels.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by DarkCobra

EI dosing could be reduced, but it doesn't need to be; unless you have a high fish load also contributing to nutrient levels.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately the T5 fixture won't operate without both bulbs in there. How much does duckweed reduce lighting? I live in Oregon and we have plenty of duckweed in our steams. I was thinking about keeping some in there to reduce the amount of light that hits my tank.

Also I performed your H2O2/Excel method today and I must say thanks a lot for posting that! I already see it dieing off and the rest is still reacting (bubbling). I will be taking the cories out and deploying another Otto mid week.

[DarkCobra]

Hmm. I take it there's no going back to the CFLs?

I've grown duckweed in the past and liked it (most do not). But have not used it for light control. I suppose it will work if you can keep the right amount, and also keep the current from pushing it all to one side.

There's always old tricks like putting a layer or two of window screen under the bulbs.

Great to hear the "one-two" is working for you. In a few days when you have the final result, and if you have the time, I'd love it if you add a write-up of the experience to that thread.

[Yankee]

Originally Posted by DarkCobra

Hmm. I take it there's no going back to the CFLs?

I've grown duckweed in the past and liked it (most do not). But have not used it for light control. I suppose it will work if you can keep the right amount, and also keep the current from pushing it all to one side.

There's always old tricks like putting a layer or two of window screen under the bulbs.

Great to hear the "one-two" is working for you. In a few days when you have the final result, and if you have the time, I'd love it if you add a write-up of the experience to that thread.

Yeah the CFLs are long gone. Good news is my algae is going away slowly. Bad news is the excel partially melted my Val (to be expected). I won't be dosing that anymore. I'm going hiking this weekend to find some duckweed to cover up some of that light so the algae doesn't return. I will do a write up on your method this weekend!