[workshopper]

Hey.

I have 20 g tank. 4*15w Fluorocent lights.
BBA is on the gravel and on plants leaves.

KH 3
PH 7.0-7.2
NO3 about 1 or even 0
NO2 0

I use DIY CO2 with aquatiqmagic diffuser.

Lights are on about 7 hours.
Should i take one bulb off to reduce algae growth?
Should i add any ferts to increase plant growth?

Thnks 4 your help !

 

[Bri]

Your lights seem ok, although 7 hrs of lighting doesn't seem to be enough. Is the tank heavily planted? Also, do you have a dosing regime? If so, what is it?

 

[Finch_man]

You should dose excel into the effect area of the plant.

 

[workshopper]

I don't dose any ferts.
I can't buy excel, because none of our country shops can't order them thanks to European union rules orsmting. My tank aren't heavily planted atm. but soon i hope i can buy more plants.

 

[Digsy]

At 3 wpg, your DIY CO2 may not be sufficient. So, perhaps cutting down on the light might help if you can't increase your CO2 either by going pressurized or adding Excel. I just finished a few week bout with BBA and got rid of it by following everyone's suggestions to increase my CO2 output (I have pressurized) and supplement with Excel.

 

[fishymatty]

In my 20g with co2, ferts and 3.5wpg I had a bad bba problem until I put some otto cats in there. In both my planted tanks I have a clean up crew of otto cats. They are the best at cleaning up algae. Do your self a favor and get otto cats.

 

[workshopper]

I have 3 ottos, but they can´t handle the algae. I think that i should upgrade DIY to pressurized co2 system. Also my NO3 is 0, maybe fertz will increase plant growth and BBA will dissapear?

 

[Digsy]

You really don't have to go pressurized, if you don't want to. Just supplement your DIY CO2 with Excel. Check the stickied thread in this section for more info. It worked like a charm on my 12g nano. I had no intention of springing for pressurized on such a small tank and I think if you're able to supplement, you'll be fine.

 

[workshopper]

Zomg! Yesterday I bought new test kit. Before I tested the water with JBL 5 in 1 easy test kit(it is bad test kit) . I bought special No3 test kit and it shocked me. My no3 is 10 .

 

[workshopper]

Okay.
Today im going to set up my pressurized co2 system. My ground gravel is covered with BBA, how can i remove BBA on gravel or should I get new gravel ?

 

[Finch_man]

If your tank is cover with bba its a good idea to start all over and use very hot water to kill the bba... Injecting co2 might not kill all of the bba but limit the growth of bba.

 

[retoid]

BBA is hard to get rid of. Once its started growing it will stay there for a long time. If you tank is covered in it, I would suggest getting rid of most of it by hand and or starting over if its not to much trouble for you.

You can also, make sure you are getting the right amounts of nutrients, co2 and light in your tank, find a balance and then buy some amano shrimp. They will eat it but it will still take a long time for you to even notice its being eaten. BBA is very hard to remove from objects and most fish wont eat it. I guess SAE will eat it aswell, I have no experience with them, only amano shrimp.

Check out Rex's guide aswell. http://rexgrigg.com/Algae1.html

I hope you get it all worked out. Expect a good amount of time before its cleared though.

 

[workshopper]

Hey!

If BBA turns gray if its dieing?

 

[agdavis]

I don't dose any ferts.
I can't buy excel, because none of our country shops can't order them thanks to European union rules orsmting. My tank aren't heavily planted atm. but soon i hope i can buy more plants.

buy some Excel of ebay or aquabid

 

[Mauser101]

A good resource for algae IDing.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_algae.htm