# algae problem



## pnut (Oct 19, 2005)

here is my me setup i id about 2 weeks ago










and now i have this growing










what king of algea is it and how do i get ride of it.. i did a water test and these are my results:

high Ph:8
PH:7.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10

i have about 50-75 watts/g of lighting which is on for about 11 hrs a day.

how can i stop it from growing..

thx


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

What size tank is it?

What type of sand is that and did you rinse it before you put it in?


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

is your tank 60 g or less?
and what ya using for fertz?


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## pnut (Oct 19, 2005)

cueball said:


> is your tank 60 g or less?
> and what ya using for fertz?


the tank is a 50 g with playground sand. which as been in there for over 1 year now. as for fertz im using Big al's multi-purpose plant food. i only put about 3 capfuls per week. as per the directions on the bottle it says 1-2 capfuls per 20 g.


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

have you chaged anythang differant in the last few weeks ??? using more fertz?? or mabe a differant kind?


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

Algae is due to extra nutrients being present in the water column in most cases... thus why a well planted tank has little to no algae in it as the plants are using up all of the available nutrients.

Have you removed any plants, spilled some ferts in the tank on accident, left a piece of food rotting, etc?


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

just add a bunch more plants thats all i can say


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

cueball said:


> just add a bunch more plants thats all i can say


You really need to be more specific with your posts... he would need to add more fast growing plants in order to help the situation if that is what he wants to do... if he just threw more plants in there like java fern and anubias it wouldnt help at all because those are slow growing and wouldnt absorb the excess nutrients as fast as something like hornwort or anachris would...


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## Round Head (Sep 26, 2005)

What are your nitrate and phosphate readings?
My suggestion is for you to get your elbows wet and pick out as much of the algae as you can.
And when you do the water change with the tank drained down and filters, powerheads, any current makers off, then target the hard to get algae with excel injection.
A lot of faster growing plants will help for sure.


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## Raul-7 (Sep 1, 2004)

Algae is caused by an imbalance of nutrients. Since most algae are less complex than plants and need lower nutrient levels they can quickly thrive where plants will suffer. They basically compete for most of the same things, increase your PO4 to 2 ppm, NO3 to 10 or 15 ppm. Add more CO2, that always gives plants the upper hand. Overdosing Seachem Excel is a great way to kill algae, it contains some sort of compund that kills algae.

How big is your tank? By the looks of it, it looks like BGA (cyanobacteria) which usually flourishes when NO3 is low. It can be killed using antibiotics (Maracyn I - gram postive) or by a blackout (by blocking out all light for 3 days).


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## pnut (Oct 19, 2005)

once again the tank is a 50g and water reading are as follows:

PH:7.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10

about 2 weeks ago i added about 6 new plants to the 3 that i had already and also redid the landscaping.. i did not empty the tank and only did about 5-10 g water change by the time i was done.

as for lighting i have upgraded the lighting to about 50 wpg from 25 wpg. and i have it running for about 10 hr/day. i dont really want to add any more plants for now as i am happy they way it is.

Rual-7 if it is BGA (cyanobacteria) like you say and turn the light off for about 3 days wouldnt it just grow back once i turn the light back on?? also what would C02 do to help. ppl say that you dont really need C02 unless you have a heavy planted tank and high wpg, which i dont.

im going to buy a bottle of that Seachem Excel today and stop using Big Al's Planet food (which i dont use much of). do an over dose of Excel and turn of my power head and remove as much of algae has i can. do i really need to turn of my filter?


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

ok sorry i posted a simple dumm ass post,,,, how bout water sprite can you get that ware you live?? it rocks ..... grows like crazy.. that would be your best bet for a plant i think


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Raul is on the right track. that is BGA. 
1.Gravel vack or otherwise manually remove as much of that crap as possible.
2. Black out the tank for 3 days. 
3. Get better waterflow thru the tank. 
4. Cut back your ferts

If all else fails repeat step 1 add step 5 and then go to step 2. 
5. Add Treatment of Erythromycin at 1/2 strenght.

also keeping a constant level of nitrates helps to keep BGA from comming back. you want a level of about 30-40ppm of nitrates.


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## pnut (Oct 19, 2005)

hi Blacksunshine, ok so will do that tonight.. remove all that i can and no light for 3 days.. as for fertz i will not add any for this week and the next...

now for the nitrates atm i have 10 ppm. how do i raise it to 30-40 ppm?


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Pnut said:


> hi Blacksunshine, ok so will do that tonight.. remove all that i can and no light for 3 days.. as for fertz i will not add any for this week and the next...
> 
> now for the nitrates atm i have 10 ppm. how do i raise it to 30-40 ppm?


Well here is the problem with using all in one ferts. you cannot douse specific needed nutrients with out pouring more of what you don't need.
To raise your nitrates you can either hold off on a waterchange and let it build up naturally. unless your plants are sucking it up faster then the fish can produce. in that case you will need to get a bottle of Seachem Flourish Nitrogen.

Now as for the other ferts. don't Stop adding them. Just cut back on the amount. it says 3 caps a week. Try 2. one on monday and the other on thursday.


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## Raul-7 (Sep 1, 2004)

Actually 10-20 ppm is the ideal range (30-40 ppm is a bit too high, especially since fish suffer at 50 ppm). BGA grows when NO3 is low, like 5 ppm or lower. For raising NO3 your best method is to buy KNO3 from Greg Watson and then adding it directly to the tank.

Go to www.aquaticplantcentral.com ; use the Fertilator available there. It will tell you exactly how much you need to dose in teaspoons to reach the desired amount.

When I said blackout, I meant total blackout. Like you must turn off your lights and cover the tank with newspaper or a large blanket to make sure no light from outside passes through whatsoever. Then leave it for 72 hours and it should be dead. Do a large 50% WC after that.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Good advice BS, and Raul

That is cyanobacteria, and it is a real pain. Low nitrates seems to be the reason for an outbreak of this nasty stuff, but the cause isn't known exactly.
But the 2 treatments would be 1) a total and complete 3 day blackout (but with at least 20-25ppm nitates in water at blackout start) 
the other treatment would be using an Erythromycin (antibiotic) treatment.

Keep those nitrates up! If you have some stump remover in your house, you can add a touch of that to your water. (it's just nitrate) or go to the lfs for some F nitrogen. Of course the gregwatson ferts are cheaper, but that is for ppl that are determined to have planted aquariums around for more than 1 year.
Hope that helps.. Others have said these remedies, but it is sometimes nice to get other feedback.


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## pnut (Oct 19, 2005)

thx for all the info guys.. just finnished covering the tank. and checked the nitrate again it is now at about 15-20ppm. so 72 hr of darkness and then??? i hope it will not grow back??

ill let you know in about 3 days. where im at..


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

did you vaccum as much out as you can? If you skip this step the black out might be pointless.


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