Newish Tank: First Signs of Algae, What Kind? and What to do?

1388 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by kalawai2000, Jul 28, 2012

Sarus

Discussion Starter · Jul 26, 2012 (Edited)

Tank, Lighting, and Filtration
Do!Aqua 60P (Approx: 16 gallons)
Rena Filstar XP2 (with Purigen, Filter Pads and Ceramic Cylinders for Bio)
2x18watt T8 bulbs on for 8 hours a day and mounted about 6 inches above the water. To be honest though I bought this light fixture in Japan at my LFS (I live in Japan right now) so I'm not exactly sure if it's really a T8. The diameter of the bulb in there now is 28 mm which is 1.1 inches. My understanding is that a T8 bulb should be 1 inch in diameter. This website (in english) has the bulb I'm using in case anyone knows what it is:

http://www.alpinelighting.com.au/products.htm

The bulb is the NEC FL20 SSEX-D/18-HG

No CO2 is being used as of right now (no excel either).

Water Parameters
Temp: 78 Degrees
PH 7.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

Fauna
10 Cardinal Tetra
2 German Blue Rams
3 Oto Cats
2 Amano Shrimp
1 Siamese Algae Eater

Flora
anubias
java fern
crypts
(H.E.L.P. Advanced Soil Substrate)

The tank has been setup for over a month now and I'm starting see some algae growing on the anubias. I pushed flourish tabs into the substrate around the crypts and then once a week dose with Flourish (probably underdosing quite a bit as I was nervous about algae). I wanted to see if anyone could identify what kind of algae it is and what I might be able to do about it. I know having 0 nitrates might be an issue but not sure what to do about it. I feel like the tank is well stocked with fish and should have some nitrates.

Here is a picture of the anubias, some pictures of the overall setup, and a close up of two different rocks with algae starting to grow.

Does anyone know what kind of algae is in these pictures? Is it more than one kind? The stuff on the first rock picture looks a bit different (maybe blue green?). I have a bottle of excel but haven't used it yet. Should I start dosing excel and would that hurt any of my plants?

Sorry for all the questions. This is my first planted tank so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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CatB

· #2 · Jul 26, 2012

not blue-green algae, looks maybe like green dust algae which is pretty soft and easy to get rid of... excel should be fine with your plants, i know vals and some other sensitive plants melt with it but i don't think any of yours. your otos, amanos, and SAE should eat it up though.

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Wasserpest

· #3 · Jul 26, 2012

Beautiful setup! On the Anubias leaf, looks like Green Spot algae.

Two thoughts... It is incredibly hard to have a tank that is totally void of algae. They are just a part of the system. The trick is to keep plants growing, which magically suppresses algae from taking over.

Which leads me to the second thought... For best plant growth, you will want to look into some macro (NPK) dosing. Zero nitrates are very possible in a tank that is well planted, and sooner or later that leads to a stop in plant growth and related algae problems.

Keep an eye on your plants... as long as they grow healthy new green leaves, they should be okay. Once you see pale/yellow/light green, smaller leaves develop, you know that you are in the deficiency stage, and algae will soon turn from lurkers to main actors.

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prbrianpr

· #4 · Jul 27, 2012

like other people says, its impossible of getting rid of all algae, still maybe some fast growing stem plant can help because all your plants are slow growing and dont suck up so munch nutrients.

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Vermino

· #5 · Jul 28, 2012

i personally like the look of dust algae on rocks. =)

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Sarus

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 28, 2012

Wasserpest said:
Beautiful setup! On the Anubias leaf, looks like Green Spot algae.

Two thoughts... It is incredibly hard to have a tank that is totally void of algae. They are just a part of the system. The trick is to keep plants growing, which magically suppresses algae from taking over.

Which leads me to the second thought... For best plant growth, you will want to look into some macro (NPK) dosing. Zero nitrates are very possible in a tank that is well planted, and sooner or later that leads to a stop in plant growth and related algae problems.

Keep an eye on your plants... as long as they grow healthy new green leaves, they should be okay. Once you see pale/yellow/light green, smaller leaves develop, you know that you are in the deficiency stage, and algae will soon turn from lurkers to main actors.

Thank you for the advice!

Would this be a good product to pick up for the macro ferts?

http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.html

It looks like it also comes with the micro ferts as well so if I start dosing the micro ferts from here I can stop the flourish correct? I'm glad you mentioned this because just today the large crypt in the back right of the tank had a leaf turn yellow. First one to turn yellow like that and up to this point it has been growing great. I forgot to mention it but I'm not using any CO2 on this tank yet although I'm eager to do so in the future.

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Vermino

· #7 · Jul 28, 2012 (Edited)

why not setup a DIY Co2 to your tank for a bit and see how you like it. Then maybe move on to pressurized if it promotes better growth and fights the battle of your algae problem. for the dust algae, I use an electric toothbrush on the hardscape to keep it clean (it agitates the surface enough) - even though your clean up crew should be feasting on it already! I cant comment on the fertz though, personally if algae is growing - doesnt that mean you have enough nutrients in the tank which is causing algae to grow? so dosing more would be a bad thing in my mind. But I could be completely wrong on the opinion or even your comment.

btw, beautiful tank =)

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