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204 Posts
I'm having some algae problems. First, my tank specifications and water parameters:
30 gallons
2 WPG (1 Hagen AquaGlow tube, 1 FloraGro tube)
ADA aquasoil substrate
DIY CO2
10 neon tetras
2 cories
2 Bolivian rams
1 oto
Ammonia and Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 ppm
pH 6.5
gH 3
kH 1
Phosphate 0
I've been dosing twice weekly with the recommended amount of Flourish, and every other day with Excel. I do a 30-50% water change once a week. The filtration is an AquaClear 70. I had been keeping the light on for 12 hours, but based on what I've read on this forum since the algae problem started, I've cut it down to 10. The tank is what I would considered well planted, in that I would find it difficult to add anything else. I have a lot of fast growing stem plants, as well as some plants like cryptocoryne and some swords. All of my plants have been growing like crazy since I started the tank. There didn't even appear to be an adjustment period for most of them, so as far as I can tell, the plants are very happy.
In the tank, I have two pieces of Malaysian driftwood. The driftwood was where the algae started, and for a long time it was confined to it. It started as what I'm assuming to be hair/fuzz algae. It grew almost exclusively on a certain piece of driftwood, and even now it stays mostly there (I think it recieves more light than the other piece). Two weeks ago I noticed that this same kind of algae had started to grow on a few of the highest reaching stem plants, on leaves right below the surface. It was easy to remove and by pruning the plants and replanting the tops a little lower, the algae doesn't seem to be getting problematic. I hope it stays that way, but any advice to ensure that would be appreciated. I also have some green spot algae growing on the glass and on a few of the older leaves of my tropica swords, but not enough to be bothered by between water changes.
So, the big concern I have is some blue green algae that started probably about three weeks ago. Originally, it was again confined to the driftwood, but this time grew on both pieces. I was a little worried at first, but it seemed to just grow in small amounts in a few spots. However, over the three week period, it has gradually increased. Other than the driftwood, it started growing on some pieces of ADA powersand that had ended up on the surface of the substrate after some maintenance (it's been there practically since I first set up the tank). It hasn't reached what I would consider epidemic proportions, but a few days ago I noticed that it had also started growing on some plant leaves. The last thing I wanted was to lose a bunch of plants to this algae, so I cleaned the algae off meticulously, did a water change and started using some Maracyn to kill the BGA.
But, I know it will come back if the cause of it isn't addressed. The problem is, I don't know the cause. I'm inclined to think that the idea of a lack of current is bunk. There is a moderate amount of current throughout the tank, except for maybe one corner where it's pretty still, but the BGA isn't even a problem there. Other causes I've read are high pH or kH, but obviously that isn't the problem in my tank since both are low, or poor water quality. If I have poor water quality, then it must be in areas I have no tests for, because as far as I know the above are all good. So, I'm left with the idea, based on what I've read on this forum, that it's due to a nutrient problem, but I'm not sure how to solve it. I'm far from being a chemist or whiz at math conversions, and every time I've read a website claiming to have a solution to algae in a plant tank by adjusting nutrients, my brain just kind of shuts down. So, I want to fix this, but I'm not so sure how to go about it. Any recommendations, or am I totally off base with this being a nutrient problem?
30 gallons
2 WPG (1 Hagen AquaGlow tube, 1 FloraGro tube)
ADA aquasoil substrate
DIY CO2
10 neon tetras
2 cories
2 Bolivian rams
1 oto
Ammonia and Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 ppm
pH 6.5
gH 3
kH 1
Phosphate 0
I've been dosing twice weekly with the recommended amount of Flourish, and every other day with Excel. I do a 30-50% water change once a week. The filtration is an AquaClear 70. I had been keeping the light on for 12 hours, but based on what I've read on this forum since the algae problem started, I've cut it down to 10. The tank is what I would considered well planted, in that I would find it difficult to add anything else. I have a lot of fast growing stem plants, as well as some plants like cryptocoryne and some swords. All of my plants have been growing like crazy since I started the tank. There didn't even appear to be an adjustment period for most of them, so as far as I can tell, the plants are very happy.
In the tank, I have two pieces of Malaysian driftwood. The driftwood was where the algae started, and for a long time it was confined to it. It started as what I'm assuming to be hair/fuzz algae. It grew almost exclusively on a certain piece of driftwood, and even now it stays mostly there (I think it recieves more light than the other piece). Two weeks ago I noticed that this same kind of algae had started to grow on a few of the highest reaching stem plants, on leaves right below the surface. It was easy to remove and by pruning the plants and replanting the tops a little lower, the algae doesn't seem to be getting problematic. I hope it stays that way, but any advice to ensure that would be appreciated. I also have some green spot algae growing on the glass and on a few of the older leaves of my tropica swords, but not enough to be bothered by between water changes.
So, the big concern I have is some blue green algae that started probably about three weeks ago. Originally, it was again confined to the driftwood, but this time grew on both pieces. I was a little worried at first, but it seemed to just grow in small amounts in a few spots. However, over the three week period, it has gradually increased. Other than the driftwood, it started growing on some pieces of ADA powersand that had ended up on the surface of the substrate after some maintenance (it's been there practically since I first set up the tank). It hasn't reached what I would consider epidemic proportions, but a few days ago I noticed that it had also started growing on some plant leaves. The last thing I wanted was to lose a bunch of plants to this algae, so I cleaned the algae off meticulously, did a water change and started using some Maracyn to kill the BGA.
But, I know it will come back if the cause of it isn't addressed. The problem is, I don't know the cause. I'm inclined to think that the idea of a lack of current is bunk. There is a moderate amount of current throughout the tank, except for maybe one corner where it's pretty still, but the BGA isn't even a problem there. Other causes I've read are high pH or kH, but obviously that isn't the problem in my tank since both are low, or poor water quality. If I have poor water quality, then it must be in areas I have no tests for, because as far as I know the above are all good. So, I'm left with the idea, based on what I've read on this forum, that it's due to a nutrient problem, but I'm not sure how to solve it. I'm far from being a chemist or whiz at math conversions, and every time I've read a website claiming to have a solution to algae in a plant tank by adjusting nutrients, my brain just kind of shuts down. So, I want to fix this, but I'm not so sure how to go about it. Any recommendations, or am I totally off base with this being a nutrient problem?