[Janelo56]

Hey guys!

I’m new to the hobby though I’m trying to learn everything day by day. Currently I’m having troubles as algae started to bloom on my hardscape. My plants are slowly dying,old leaves turning brown, and new growth being pale and twisted which made me conclude that they have nutrient deficiencies. Though even after having to conclude with that, I still couldn’t dose the amount that I need to as the green dust algae just takes up all the nutrients and spread a whole lot more. Though I try to brush and scrape the algae off every time I do a weekly 50% water change, my cleaning still can’t keep up with the algae growth.

 

[Plinkploop]

How long has the tank been set up? Have you been doing any testing? What type of substrate are you using?

 

[Janelo56]

How long has the tank been set up? Have you been doing any testing? What type of substrate are you using?

Its been setup since like 3rd week of april so 2 months, and I’m using lava rocks at the bottom then amazonia aquasoil on top. Haven’t done any water test yet as I don’t know which water tests I should get.

 

[Plinkploop]

Start up is a true PITA. In all honesty I would be testing for ammo, nitrite and nitrate to start. Make sure your tank is cycled. A good start would be to invest in a freshwater master test kit. It will give you the absolute basics- ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. This will get you through the first parts so you don't have to try to guess.

Have you been doing the water change schedule recommended for aquasoils?

 

[Janelo56]

Alright I’ll look onto those test kits. I’ve only had the algae problem recently like they started showing up 1-2weeks ago when I added a new 9w t5 grow light as I noticed that my plants were growing leggy and the old leaves were dying thus making me think that they are lacking of light. Although that did fix the leggy and the dying old leaves, I started to get the algae problem.

Yep, I’ve been following the guide on the tropica app but I just can’t seem to figure out the sudden algae growth

 

[Plinkploop]

Could have too much lighting since it's a recent start up. Might want to try to get through the start up period with either less intensity or shorter photo period. A lot of times it's only a matter of times before your plants are filling in enough to outcompete algae and algae settles down. Just keep consistent with ferts, water changes and maybe a little less light and hopefully it'll show some improvement. Good luck!!