[panther685]

I have quite a few different types of algae in my tank.

I have brown algae on the glass, hair algae on a piece of lava rock i have, and BBA on the intakes of my HOB filters.

I see that all of the above have now migrated onto my plants and I'm wondering what would be the easiest way to clear it.

The plants I have are. Anacharis, java moss, ludwigia repens, Rotala 'Green, and one stem of Java Fern v. "Windelov" that has been taken over by brown algae. I really want this to survive being that I only have one stem (it was a freeby during a trade)

Here is the list of fish.

2 red eye tetra, 4 serpia tetra, 1 albino frog, 1 cory, 2 otto, 4 glo fish, 1 pleco(yea yea i know it'll get big)

I have read about using peroxide but i'm not sure how to do it. I have a 30gal tank. Do I just put the peroxide in a baby medicine squirter and squirt it on the plants? Will this harm the plants or fish? Also, do i have to dilute the peroxide with water before putting it in the tank?

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Hoppy]

You don't mention how much light you are using, and what type of lighting it is, T5HO, MH, PC, etc. Nor do you mention if you use CO2. Those are important considerations.

 

[panther685]

Sorry about that,

my tank is a 29gal

55w PC 6500k and added lunar lights from ahsupply. I have a timer 4hours in the morning then it turns off then 4 hours in the afternoon. I have lunar lights that run when main lights are off.

I have DIY c02 with a drop checker but i don't have any 4k solution so I really don't know how much co2 is making it to the tank. I don't have a gram scale to make my own so i guess i'll have to purchase some.

Also, my water is very odd which i'm not sure if it'll effect the co2 input.

My water peramiters are as follows (using test strips)
nitrate - 20
nitrite - 0
gh - 150 (hard)
chlorine - 0
kh - 300+
ph - 8.0 ish with c02

I hope this helps

 

[Ampatent]

Are you using liquid or test strips to get these readings?

 

[panther685]

"My water peramiters are as follows (using test strips)"

i have a liquid test kit that i have used to check the test strips, they are right

 

[Hoppy]

With such a high KH I wonder if you have some carbonate containing rocks or substrate in the tank.

I found 55 watts of AHS light to be a bit too much for a 29 gallon tank, and I had pressurized CO2 also. I ended up using a 36 watt bulb. Algae gets harder and harder to avoid as the light intensity goes up, and without good CO2, which you are very unlikely to have, it is just harder still.

If you can raise up that light a few inches it might help a lot. Then, you will either need to bite the bullet and get a pressurized CO2 system or go to multiple bottles of DIY CO2. Of course you also need to be dosing enough fertilizers so none of the nutrients is limiting the plant growth.

 

[panther685]

Here's the kicker, the high kh is like that out of the tap. Do you think lowering the kh would help get the co2 higher? Will filtering the water help to do this?

I was thinking of getting a PUR filter for my sink to filter out the water, do you think this would help at all?

I also have seen in camping stores where they sell filters that hook up to a hose, I would like to get one of these because it would be easier for me to fill my buckets outside rather than in the sink.

Also, i'm stuck with this light being that I just purchased it. My budget for this tank is over for the year according to my wife.

 

[Ariel301]

Some parts of the country have naturally high kH and gH. When I lived in Colorado, the gH of my tap water was through the roof. I had a saltwater LFS do some tests for various minerals and metals in the water from the sink...turned out I had 700mg of calcium per liter of water! I stopped drinking it for fear of getting kidney stones. No wonder my saltwater tank crashed the first time I did a water change! I moved it (20 long tank) from one area to the mountains of Colorado with the old water still in it, and the first water change killed everything alive in the tank!

I'm not sure what all the PUR filters take out...I use a Brita filter for my drinking water, but it doesn't really change the hardness of the water.

As for the lights, if you can't get a new one, you can get that one higher up from the water surface so more of it diffuses away from the tank. Maybe hang it from the ceiling or something? You could find some ways to raise it under the DIY board.