# M***** f***ing algae!!



## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

Tank: 135
Lighting: 260w PC 6700k
Ferts: flourish comp 2x weekly, phoprheous 1x weekly, iron 1x weekly, potassium 1x weekly, excel every other day.

I figured the excel woudl help fight the aglae but holy hell, it seems its getting worse and worse.








Its not on my plants or my tank, its main focus is on the sand around where my e tenullus is. This stuff is extremly ugly and im starting to get a little flustered. Is this my tank just setteling in or do I have a serious issue to worry about? Give me some advise. Im almost to embarassed to post pics


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

What does it look like? May be embarassing but pics will help. CO2?


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## bobme (Feb 17, 2003)

add a UV filter?


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

bobme said:


> add a UV filter?


Thought that woudl only help with ffa?

Anyways, heres some pics


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> add a UV filter?


Thought that woudl only help with ffa?

Anyways, heres some pics
[/quote]

Looks like brown algae (diatoms) to me. It usually appears in a recently cycled tank. More of a nuisance than anything, but on white sand it is definitely problematic. The best thing I can recommend for quick results is using some filter media that removes phosphate AND silicate. Diatoms need the silicate to make their "shells". It usually will go away on its own, but how long depends on your tank. Adding some fast growing plants (most of your typical bunch plants) will help with excess nutrient removal as well.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

BioTeach said:


> add a UV filter?


Thought that woudl only help with ffa?

Anyways, heres some pics
[/quote]

Looks like brown algae (diatoms) to me. It usually appears in a recently cycled tank. More of a nuisance than anything, but on white sand it is definitely problematic. The best thing I can recommend for quick results is using some filter media that removes phosphate AND silicate. Diatoms need the silicate to make their "shells". It usually will go away on its own, but how long depends on your tank. Adding some fast growing plants (most of your typical bunch plants) will help with excess nutrient removal as well.
[/quote]

Tank has been cycled for months. Only had this problem just after I planted. Tank has been up for prob 5 months, planted for maybe a month. I have a ton of tenullus and more plants on the way this week. God this crap looks ugly


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> add a UV filter?


Thought that woudl only help with ffa?

Anyways, heres some pics
[/quote]

Looks like brown algae (diatoms) to me. It usually appears in a recently cycled tank. More of a nuisance than anything, but on white sand it is definitely problematic. The best thing I can recommend for quick results is using some filter media that removes phosphate AND silicate. Diatoms need the silicate to make their "shells". It usually will go away on its own, but how long depends on your tank. Adding some fast growing plants (most of your typical bunch plants) will help with excess nutrient removal as well.
[/quote]

Tank has been cycled for months. Only had this problem just after I planted. Tank has been up for prob 5 months, planted for maybe a month. I have a ton of tenullus and more plants on the way this week. God this crap looks ugly








[/quote]

Have you added any fertilizer, substrate, more light, fish etc...recently in addition to the plants? I don't doubt the plants brought it in, but they need a food source as well. What kind of sand is it? If brown algae on the sand is your only problem, you aren't in too bad of shape. One the tennellus takes over, you'll see less and less sand anyway


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

Its pool filter sand... silicate sand. 
I fertalize weekly. So ya ive added fertalizer, all the time. Nothing new tho since I started planting.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> Its pool filter sand... silicate sand.
> I fertalize weekly. So ya ive added fertalizer, all the time. Nothing new tho since I started planting.


Hmmm....well, the good news is it is brown algae and not another type. You can always churn it under when cleaning without too much mess or hassle. It should eventually get outcompeted by your plants. I still would try a silicate removing resin, although I'm not sure how effective that would be since you are using silicate sand, and that is most likely the source of your silicate problems.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> Tank: 135
> Lighting: 260w PC 6700k
> Ferts: flourish comp 2x weekly, phoprheous 1x weekly, iron 1x weekly, potassium 1x weekly, excel every other day.
> 
> ...


Hi Ex0dus!

Algea happens, that is for sure. Please hang in there! these problems come, are normal, and it is sort of a pain in the beginning. Especially when you are not used to seeing it.

And it is extra maintenance, not suitable for all hobbyists. Do you use any test kits? If so, what is your nitrAte, and phosphate reading?

Also, how many plants do you have? If you have few plants, it is safe to say that you should have more problems in the beginning.. getting your tank to balance out. That is the real issue..

Do you dose the excell according to the bottle's directions?

I do not advise everyone to maticulously check all water params endlessly, because it isn't necissary. But I do recommend taking water param checks in the beginning, so you can actually see how much your tank is using, and the time that it took. Lots of guys keep a log book on tht sort of thing.

Doing that gives you a nice understanding of what your tank wants, and how much. _Planting densely is, to me, a big part of getting the tank to settle in, and perform well without much issue_.

.5-2ppm phosphorous(phosphate) 10-25ppm nitrate.. keep us posted on your progress! the worst thing to do is give up, or get frustrated.. if you stick it out, and try to help your tank through it's rough stages, you will be heading down home stretch shortly..


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

Im not gonna give up. LOL, im in to deep, $$. To be totally honest dippy, ive never tested for phosphates. My nitrates are low







. I have to dose flourish nitrogen to get my nitrates to @ 10ppm or so. Im paranoid about the nitrate cause you always hear you want it as low as possible and now I WANT nitrates. 
Where can I get a phophsphate test kit? 
As far as excel is concerned, i do the beginner dosage reccomendation. 2.5 caps for my 135 every other day. 
I dose flourish comp 2x week as reccomended. 
I dose nitrogen 1x weekly as reccomended for beginner level. 
I dose potassium 1x weekly as reccomend for beginner level. 
I dose Phophates 1x weekly just under reccomended dose because of the algae outbreak. Before the bad outbreak I was dosing at beginner reccomeneded levels.

Right now I have approx 100x e tenullus narrow leaf, 30x american val, 2x some kind of anubus, 1x ozelot sword, several amazon swords. I just placed a order from aquatic plant depot for 30 more e tenullus (they have better stock MUCH BETTER), 20x america val, 3x crypt beketti, 4x4 section of micro chain sword, 40x dwarf sag and some other crypts i cant remember their names off hand as well as some ludwegia i forgot off hand.


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## Sanguinea (Feb 19, 2004)

I would buy $20 dollars worth of plants (atleast if you order from aquatic plant depot). I would get 5x hornwort, 5x anarchis, and 10 or so water lettuce. The hornwort and anarchis comes in bunches of 5-10 stems. These plants especially water lettuce are great for out competing algae for nutrients. Get the "frill" water lettuce if you can find it. You have a good sized plant list but not many fast growers and these plants will double you plant mass in the tank.


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

Unless you do a phosphates test i suggest you stop dosing...


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

husky_jim said:


> Unless you do a phosphates test i suggest you stop dosing...


Ive never seen a phosphates test kit anywhere locally. I guess I can place an order this week sometime. So should I just stop the phosphates or dosing in general? I thought 1 depended on the other?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> Im not gonna give up. LOL, im in to deep, $$. To be totally honest dippy, ive never tested for phosphates. My nitrates are low
> 
> 
> 
> ...


ya, don't be paranoid about dosing nitrates.. your plants will love you for it lol ..just don't go overboard, yaknow? 
I got my phosphate test kit at my lfs, I couldn't imagine it being too hard to find.. maybe bigals or drfostersmith has them too..
with a new tank,.. i like to test the water before every dosing. This really helps you understand where you are at, as far as things are being used up. For instance, if your nitrates were bottoming out before your next dosing, try upping the dosage a bit, and check it next time.

If you get all your nutrients balanced, and you do not beat out the algea, (after a couple weeks) try using a bit more excell. Sometimes that is the key


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