[vanostav61]

Hi everyone, for about a month I started seeing this stringy green algae getting entangled into plants. The algae is growing slowly and it's easy to clean by twisting around the tweezers, so it doesn't bother me too much but it makes me wonder if it's caused by some sort of deficiency.

The tank is a 75Gallon 1.5 years old, two Beamswotk DA Fspec 6 hours a day, CO2 pressurized, substrate Organic Pot Mix with sand cap, dosing DIY PPS Pro 1ml per 10 gallon macros and 0.5ml per 10 gallon micros daily, weekly 40% water changes.

 

[Mark Fisher]

How are your plants doing? Fast or slow growth?

 

[vanostav61]

It's kinda hard for me to say because this is my first planted aquarium and I don't really have a benchmark to compare. But I do believe everything is growing kind of slow to my expectations. For instance the dwarf sag carpet has been trimmed to ground more than a month ago and only by now it started looking like a carpet again.

How are your plants doing? Fast or slow growth?

 

[Edward]

..., DIY PPS Pro dosing 1ml per gallon macros and 0.5ml per gallon micros daily, weekly 40% water changes.

Hi
What recipe do you use, this one? Because it should be dosed per 10 gallon, not per 1 gallon. Any data on tap and aquarium TDS?

 

[vanostav61]

Yes, this is the recipe. I am sorry. I meant to say per 10 gallon, you are correct.

I also forgot to mention that the substrate is Pot Mix with sand cap (dirted).

I am attaching a picture of the whole aquarium for reference.

What recipe do you use, this one? Because it should be dosed per 10 gallon, not per 1 gallon. Any data on tap and aquarium TDS?

 

[Edward]

… it makes me wonder if it's caused by some sort of deficiency.

Hi
It can be found by either testing for NO3 with no-API test kit, and for PO4, before water change. If both are sufficient then change micros dose from 0.5 ml / 10 gallon to 0.1 ml / 10 gallon.

Or by changing macros dose directly from 1 ml to 2 ml / 10 gallon and keeping micros at 0.5 ml / 10 gallon.

 

[Karley]

I have a low tech tank, so with that caveat I'll share my experience with this same algae. I had an explosion of this a couple months ago and have managed to get it under control by reducing my light by about 30%, hand removal, and upping my water change schedule. The light reduction alone made a big difference. I also added more plants, which may have helped, but it looks like you already have a lot of big beautiful plants in there. I don't fertilize other than a couple root tabs, which started after this got established, and my testing parameters were stable.

From my observations, it definitely seems like light is a driving factor. I have a tall tank, and this algae will start to grow on the tips of the tallest plants, like the moneywort and temple plant. When I cut and replant them, the algae dies off. With the reduced lighting, it doesn't even begin to grow on the fore- and midground plants.

The only thing I'd say is to stay on top of it. I let it go for a while because I actually don't mind the aesthetic of a little of it on my driftwood, but it went crazy and really demanded a lot of management to reign in.

 

[vanostav61]

NO3 is between 10-20ppm, but PO4 seems to be no more than 0.5ppm, which is kind of low in regards to PPS Pro. I will try to dose some additional PO4 for a while and see what happens.

Hi
It can be found by either testing for NO3 with no-API test kit, and for PO4, before water change. If both are sufficient then change micros dose from 0.5 ml / 10 gallon to 0.1 ml / 10 gallon.

Or by changing macros dose directly from 1 ml to 2 ml / 10 gallon and keeping micros at 0.5 ml / 10 gallon.

Thank you for sharing your experience, but in my case I don't think the light is the problem. As I mentioned my light period is 6hr a day, which is already low. Besides the lights I have put me in Medium light range for a high tech. Also, interestingly enough the algae is actually growing at the bottom in the dwarf sag carpet. I don't see any on the higher plants. I tend to believe it's a nutrient imbalance but don't really know what I am missing.

I have a low tech tank, so with that caveat I'll share my experience with this same algae. I had an explosion of this a couple months ago and have managed to get it under control by reducing my light by about 30%, hand removal, and upping my water change schedule. The light reduction alone made a big difference. I also added more plants, which may have helped, but it looks like you already have a lot of big beautiful plants in there. I don't fertilize other than a couple root tabs, which started after this got established, and my testing parameters were stable... ... ...

 

[Edward]

Hi
The problem could also be accumulation. I would get a TDS meter from Home Depot or elsewhere, and check the difference between tap and the aquarium. The daily macros dose of 1 ml / 10 gallon with 40% weekly water changes limits levels up to 17.5 ppm NO3, 1.75 ppm PO4, 23 ppm K and 1.75 ppm Mg. So your measurement of 10 – 20 ppm is good, and 0.5 ppm PO4 is great, I wouldn’t be changing it. But I would change the micros to see if the algae goes away. The micros dose from 0.5 to 0.1 ml / 10 gallon a day changes the Fe limit from 0.88 to 0.18 ppm Fe. This change could help with the algae.

 

[vanostav61]

I have the TDS meter from HomeDepot. My tap is 180 and aquarium is 275. It dropped to 250 after a 50% water change.

Hi
The problem could also be accumulation. I would get a TDS meter from Home Depot or elsewhere, and check the difference between tap and the aquarium. The daily macros dose of 1 ml / 10 gallon with 40% weekly water changes limits levels up to 17.5 ppm NO3, 1.75 ppm PO4, 23 ppm K and 1.75 ppm Mg. So your measurement of 10 – 20 ppm is good, and 0.5 ppm PO4 is great, I wouldn’t be changing it. But I would change the micros to see if the algae goes away. The micros dose from 0.5 to 0.1 ml / 10 gallon a day changes the Fe limit from 0.88 to 0.18 ppm Fe. This change could help with the algae.

 

[Edward]

As long as it’s not rising all is good.

 

[allexx46]

This looks like hair algea of flavor Staghorn Algae. This specific algae needs Phosphate to flourish. Normally if you have fish, you get your PO4 from fish food and do not need to add any for your plants. I fought this Staghorn beast for more than a year and finally saw a post here talking about controlling Staghorn by removing Phosphate. I was not winning the battle so I bought some Seachem PhosGuard pouches and added them to my filter. With 2 weeks I saw the algae reduce and start to be eaten by my Amano shrimp. I have been changing the pouches every month now for the last 6 months. The Staghorn is still in the tank if you look, but it is well under control by my cleanup crew. This worked for me.

Good luck with this beast. It is horrible.