What kind of fish? How long has the filter been running?
Went from 1 wpg to 1.8, starting to see brown algae
Hi everyone,
So I have a 36 gallon tank that I was keeping low tech until I saw some nice lights on clearance( coralife PC 2 65 watt, one 10,000 K the other actintic) and decided to up to 1.8 wpg (from 1). I light for about 10hrs a day and then have a actintic at night( just until I go to bed). I have started to see a little brown algae.
I have not done CO2 injection as I was hoping not to have to do that yet (still a little overwhelming to me) but bought some excel and did my initial dose of that today. Am I going to have to do CO2 injections? I was thinking that 1.8 would be fine without. Any suggestions of anything else I can do?
I do not have any algae eaters in the tank as I have never had algae problem till now. The whole bottom is full with anubias and java fern on sides and back. Also I just got some corkscrew val a few days ago. Any suggestions or insight would be highly appreciated. TIA
So I have a 36 gallon tank that I was keeping low tech until I saw some nice lights on clearance( coralife PC 2 65 watt, one 10,000 K the other actintic) and decided to up to 1.8 wpg (from 1). I light for about 10hrs a day and then have a actintic at night( just until I go to bed). I have started to see a little brown algae.
I have not done CO2 injection as I was hoping not to have to do that yet (still a little overwhelming to me) but bought some excel and did my initial dose of that today. Am I going to have to do CO2 injections? I was thinking that 1.8 would be fine without. Any suggestions of anything else I can do?
I do not have any algae eaters in the tank as I have never had algae problem till now. The whole bottom is full with anubias and java fern on sides and back. Also I just got some corkscrew val a few days ago. Any suggestions or insight would be highly appreciated. TIA
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
Oh sorry, I have 8 guppies and 2 blue rams. Oh and I forgot I added some crypts with the corkscrew val. The filters have been running for over a year now. I did move a few months ago but I worked really hard to make sure that bacteria stayed alive. I took it down last and set it up later that night and kept it in aquarium water. All my levels check out. I have Nitrates:5, Nitrites: 0, Ammonia: 0 and PH is 7.2 (I know its high for rams but, I bought from local breeder who had them in 7.3) Any other info I forgot?
Get a couple of Otocinclus.
That's what I was thinking. I am just hoping it doesn't become bad. Is there anything wrong with my setup? Anything else I can do to make sure it doesn't get out of hand? Do shrimp help with eating algae? I have always had fish that would eat them, so I have never had any, or snails. Now, I am doing a community tank and was thinking about adding some.
Sorry no one has chimed in with more then "buy more fish to solve your algae issue" but IMO fish is usually the last things I think of to fix algae....
First off do you have a pic of this algae and tank at all? My guess its hair algae and probably related to more light. Algae usually pops up when there is an imbalace of light, fertilizer and available carbon. I would drop your photo period to 7-8hrs, do a 1-2 punch, and see if it comes back. Will take some time to equalize... Was your previous light 6500k color temp? My guess is it wasnt and changing to a 10000k might have a LOT more PAR causing your algae issue or just the fact its a higher wattage. Also, have you try dosing seachems excel at all? That would be another recomendation. Id try daily doses, helps with Algae and the plants. Finally you have to make sure you have the proper fertz to keep the plants happy so they can out compete the algae, but sounds like you may have as you already had this tank running for a while. So probably related to too much light.
Drop the photoperiod and/or raise the lights up a bit
First off do you have a pic of this algae and tank at all? My guess its hair algae and probably related to more light. Algae usually pops up when there is an imbalace of light, fertilizer and available carbon. I would drop your photo period to 7-8hrs, do a 1-2 punch, and see if it comes back. Will take some time to equalize... Was your previous light 6500k color temp? My guess is it wasnt and changing to a 10000k might have a LOT more PAR causing your algae issue or just the fact its a higher wattage. Also, have you try dosing seachems excel at all? That would be another recomendation. Id try daily doses, helps with Algae and the plants. Finally you have to make sure you have the proper fertz to keep the plants happy so they can out compete the algae, but sounds like you may have as you already had this tank running for a while. So probably related to too much light.
Drop the photoperiod and/or raise the lights up a bit
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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