brown hair algae new tank (PICS)

howard · 01-06-2013, 08:18 PM

This is my first high tech tank. I thought I had all my bases covered when starting this a month ago, but algae hit it bad right after setup. It started on the driftwood so i thought it would go away, it just got worse though. Algae in this tank has consisted of brown hairy looking algae, green dust algae and green dots on the glass. I do 3 water changes a week and plan to do so till the algae is gone. During the water changes I clean out as much as possible on the plants, rocks, wood, and glass. Next week my algae crew is going in 20 amano's, 10 nirite's and 4 oto's. I added some old media from another filter to help with the cycling this week so hopefully no deaths and I'll be able to get my money's worth out of them.

I think my problem lies with my EI dosing. In my last setup I was using 1/4 dose. On this set up I have been sticking to the 1/4 to 1/2 the recommended dose, the plant mass is still rather low.

So what would you guys do? Am I missing something what's putting the system out of balance?

TANK SPECS
3 weeks old
Lighting: 2x24w T5HO 1x18w T8 for 8 hours
Filter: ehiem 2217
Co2: misting

howard · 01-07-2013, 12:47 AM

Update. Now I have also found a few very long fine green stings.

ChadRamsey · 01-07-2013, 12:36 PM

ok you have Rhizoclonium and thread algae. Both are common with new tanks. I actually just got control of the same two issues myself.

Here is what i found that worked:

1) I manually, EVERYDAY without fail, removed as much as possible.
2) HIGH co2!!!! (maybe the most important step), mine comes on 30 min before my HIGH lighting.
3) I dose excel 2x the daily reccomended dose about 2 hours BEFORE my co2 comes on. DAILY!
4) IE dosing of ferts, this is a MUST! Both of these algaes are due to low nutrients
5) Nerites, amanos, and ramshorns. (in a 125g i have 5 nerites, 10 ramshorns(ATM), and 22 amanos)

I have very little of either algae types now.

howard · 01-07-2013, 07:22 PM

Chad thanks for the reply. I bumped up my EI dosing and will keep up with the algae cleaning. I have 2L of excel I'll have to start dosing again. For some reason I thought excel wouldn't do anything with the high amount of co2 I'm running. The algae so far comes up easy when I manually remove it, so I should be able to keep on top of it.

happi · 01-07-2013, 08:59 PM

this algae is common in new tanks, it will eventually start to fade away. just hang in there, remove manually till then.

01-06-2013, 08:18 PM	#1
howard Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: franklin, ohio Posts: 73	brown hair algae new tank (PICS) This is my first high tech tank. I thought I had all my bases covered when starting this a month ago, but algae hit it bad right after setup. It started on the driftwood so i thought it would go away, it just got worse though. Algae in this tank has consisted of brown hairy looking algae, green dust algae and green dots on the glass. I do 3 water changes a week and plan to do so till the algae is gone. During the water changes I clean out as much as possible on the plants, rocks, wood, and glass. Next week my algae crew is going in 20 amano's, 10 nirite's and 4 oto's. I added some old media from another filter to help with the cycling this week so hopefully no deaths and I'll be able to get my money's worth out of them. I think my problem lies with my EI dosing. In my last setup I was using 1/4 dose. On this set up I have been sticking to the 1/4 to 1/2 the recommended dose, the plant mass is still rather low. So what would you guys do? Am I missing something what's putting the system out of balance? TANK SPECS 3 weeks old Lighting: 2x24w T5HO 1x18w T8 for 8 hours Filter: ehiem 2217 Co2: misting Last edited by howard; 01-07-2013 at 12:48 AM.. Reason: more info

01-07-2013, 12:36 PM	#3
ChadRamsey Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (44/100%) Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Canton, Ga Posts: 1,156	ok you have Rhizoclonium and thread algae. Both are common with new tanks. I actually just got control of the same two issues myself. Here is what i found that worked: 1) I manually, EVERYDAY without fail, removed as much as possible. 2) HIGH co2!!!! (maybe the most important step), mine comes on 30 min before my HIGH lighting. 3) I dose excel 2x the daily reccomended dose about 2 hours BEFORE my co2 comes on. DAILY! 4) IE dosing of ferts, this is a MUST! Both of these algaes are due to low nutrients 5) Nerites, amanos, and ramshorns. (in a 125g i have 5 nerites, 10 ramshorns(ATM), and 22 amanos) I have very little of either algae types now. __________________ 125g High Tech 55g Low Tech 20L CRS Tank There are 2 types of people on this forum. Those that have algae, and those that lie and say they don't.

01-07-2013, 08:59 PM	#5
happi Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (20/100%) Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 2,290	this algae is common in new tanks, it will eventually start to fade away. just hang in there, remove manually till then. __________________ Happi's Ultimate Fertilizer http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=179668

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01-07-2013, 12:47 AM	#2
howard Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: franklin, ohio Posts: 73	Update. Now I have also found a few very long fine green stings.

01-07-2013, 07:22 PM	#4
howard Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: franklin, ohio Posts: 73	Chad thanks for the reply. I bumped up my EI dosing and will keep up with the algae cleaning. I have 2L of excel I'll have to start dosing again. For some reason I thought excel wouldn't do anything with the high amount of co2 I'm running. The algae so far comes up easy when I manually remove it, so I should be able to keep on top of it.