# Algae Bloom



## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Why do I have one and how do I fix it? its a 75g planted with 112 watts of lighting.


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

you can try a blackout..leave the lights off
also a uv or a diatom filter would work


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

It cause by your plants!...take some plants out and do 30-40water change every 3 days...Also go to walmart or LFS get "Algae Destroy" and put some in your tank after water change. Hope this help you.

Also leave your light off until it gone.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

an algea destroyer will kill my plants though won't it?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY said:


> It cause by your plants!...take some plants out and do 30-40water change every 3 days...Also go to walmart or LFS get "Algae Destroy" and put some in your tank after water change. Hope this help you.
> 
> Also leave your light off until it gone.












Algae blooms are not caused by plants...

You have either an overabundance of nutrients, lights, or both. You also may actually be low on certain macronutrients that plants need to outcompete algae.

Since it is a planted tank, I'm moving this to the planted tank forum so Dippy and his boys can help you figure out the root of your problem.

They will need to know what kind of lighting you have, how many hours it is on, dosing schedule, and CO2 supplementation (and how many plants/what type). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then now is the time to learn!


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

*HOLD UP*

what kind of algae are you dealing with?
Post up a pic or describe it the best you can.
Certain types of algae react to different problems or conditions in your tank and thus can be eliminated in different ways.

Also...post up what your water params are, lighting, types of plants and what kind of ferts you are dosing if any....


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## Steelrain (Apr 22, 2006)

A diatom filter will clean up a bacteria bloom in a few days, I'm not so sure about a algae bloom, I think UV sterilizer would help though.

If you could borrow a diatom filter from a friend or something it wouldn't hurt giving it a try, but I wouldn't go out an buy one...


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

dude....dont go buy anything until you know what you're dealing with


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Ughh

Please listen to Flashover
We don't even know what type of algea you have yet. No one can help you properly until we know exactly what you are dealing with. That is, what algea you have, and then how you are running your tank.


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

when i read algae _bloom_ i instantly thought of green water


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## D*ROC (Nov 21, 2005)

i also have a algea problem.....its a brownish color tho


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

> i also have a algea problem.....its a brownish color tho


Sounds like Diatoms








Not hard to get rid of-- water changes, manual removal, keeping the filter clean should render it useless in about 3-4 weeks


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Ok my tank is crystal clear. I bought some algae control stuff made by tetra. It really worked well. I had green water and did a large w/c and have been cycling my lights for about 4 hours on, 2 off and then back on to kill off the macronutrients (or maybe its micro) anyways, I also took some plants out, put them in the 30 gallon, and bought a used super-bright PC light with 65W bulbs in them. The guy at the LFS sold it to me for the price of the bulbs since I do so much business with him. I also bought a maxijet 1200 powerhead and turned it on at night when the lights were off and added some air to the water, when i woke up the tank was clear and I turned the air off and left to ph running for circulation.

Dippy, you are the aquascaping/plant god, am I doing things correctly?

Also, my 10 gallon is going fully planted soon.


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

platinum1683 said:


> Ok my tank is crystal clear. I bought some algae control stuff made by tetra. It really worked well. I had green water and did a large w/c and have been cycling my lights for about 4 hours on, 2 off and then back on to kill off the macronutrients (or maybe its micro) anyways, I also took some plants out, put them in the 30 gallon, and bought a used super-bright PC light with 65W bulbs in them. The guy at the LFS sold it to me for the price of the bulbs since I do so much business with him. I also bought a maxijet 1200 powerhead and turned it on at night when the lights were off and added some air to the water, when i woke up the tank was clear and I turned the air off and left to ph running for circulation.
> 
> Dippy, you are the aquascaping/plant god, am I doing things correctly?
> 
> Also, my 10 gallon is going fully planted soon.


lol...you dont "kill" off macro or micronutrients..they arent living organisms.
You simply reduce or add them to the tank in order to give your plants the advantage over algae. Any time you see algae you have an imbalance of something...and only by correcting that imbalance do you solve the problem

Here you did a water change...and i think you reduced your photoperiod....thereby removing excess nutrients and cutting off a light source....good job. I dont think you completely killed your green water problem and i think it'll be back unless you figure out how to balance it.

Post up your params, dose schedule, lighting (watts and type), plants, size of tank. etc etc etc......We need to get the whole picture

Further....if i read that correct you bought a 65 watt pc fixture for a 30 gallon tank? 2.5 watts per gallon basically requires c02 infusion. If not then you will be posting this same thread in like a week or two asking why you have the worlds largest algae farm growing in your 30 gal.

Ill answer your 10 gal questions in your other thread...


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

There are many ppl here with planted tanks that are doing great with them, and understand how they run well.








But flash is right. That is good the green water is gone, but I would much rather use a diatom filter, or a UV filter to cure the problem. Then you don't have to uproot all the plants because you are treating your tank with something that harms plants.
And it is good to learn how to balance a planted aquarium so that you can stop an algea problem, or prevent it from starting.


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