# PLS PLS HELP!!!!!!!!



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

So over the past cpl weeks/and water changes this has been a constant struggle. I can not get rid of the algae no matter what I do; and it isnt just one type. This crap just grows, and grows, and willllllll not die. I have tried everything I possibly could think of. /does anyone have any ideas or solutions of what I can do?? Any help is greatly appreciated. These are just some pictures to show what I am talking about.......


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

My guess would be something in your tap water is feeding the algae, if you are doing water changes and its getting worse then thats most likely the source.

Have you tried a couple day black out on the tank?

What is your filtration and tank size?


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Yea I did a complete black out for about 10 days........It got rid of all the cyanobacteria I had. I have an eheim cannister 2217 rated for 159gal and an old fluval 304 cannister rated for i think 70 gal. I am also in the process of finishng up my DIY sump.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Yea I did a complete black out for about 10 days........It got rid of all the cyanobacteria I had. I have an eheim cannister 2217 rated for 159gal and an old fluval 304 cannister rated for i think 70 gal. I am also in the process of finishng up my DIY sump.


I would say STOP your vigerous water change schedule, and see if things get better or worse. I would also see if you can contact the city health dept. and find out more information about your water at the tap. Things like iron, phosphates etc etc will all feed algae.

Get that sump done asap, and it should help tons!


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

what if i decrease the water changes and it gets worse?


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> what if i decrease the water changes and it gets worse?


Then you know your tank is under filtered, and the problem is accumulating between water changes


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Trim the dead leaves on the sword. They won't grow back, at least they never did for me. The plants wont accumulate as much of the brown algae if they are growing. I seem to get that stuff a lot on newer tanks. What kind of sand is in the tank?

The fuzzy crap on the wood is just a type of mold. It's harmless, sometimes it will go away, and sometimes it will come and go. It's a fairly common problem with drift wood.

What do you have for lights on that tank? Any CO2? Judging form where the green algae is accumulating (right down the center of the sides and half way down the front and back) there is a lighting issue too.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Ægir said:


> Trim the dead leaves on the sword. They won't grow back, at least they never did for me. The plants wont accumulate as much of the brown algae if they are growing. I seem to get that stuff a lot on newer tanks. What kind of sand is in the tank?
> 
> The fuzzy crap on the wood is just a type of mold. It's harmless, sometimes it will go away, and sometimes it will come and go. It's a fairly common problem with drift wood.
> 
> What do you have for lights on that tank? Any CO2? Judging form where the green algae is accumulating (right down the center of the sides and half way down the front and back) there is a lighting issue too.


The sand is just pool filter sand... nothing crazy or special. I also have 2 36" x 5-1/2" Freshwater; 78 watt Nova Extreme lights. THey are on a 10 hour a day light timer. and I do not have CO2.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Trim the dead leaves on the sword. They won't grow back, at least they never did for me. The plants wont accumulate as much of the brown algae if they are growing. I seem to get that stuff a lot on newer tanks. What kind of sand is in the tank?
> 
> The fuzzy crap on the wood is just a type of mold. It's harmless, sometimes it will go away, and sometimes it will come and go. It's a fairly common problem with drift wood.
> 
> What do you have for lights on that tank? Any CO2? Judging form where the green algae is accumulating (right down the center of the sides and half way down the front and back) there is a lighting issue too.


The sand is just pool filter sand... nothing crazy or special. I also have 2 36" x 5-1/2" Freshwater; 78 watt Nova Extreme lights. THey are on a 10 hour a day light timer. and I do not have CO2.
[/quote]

I would cut your lights back to 8 hours... and maybe think about making a DIY co2 system with sugar and yeast when you get the sump running.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

ok..... I know nothing really about CO2 and I am lost when it comes to sugar and yeast DIY CO2. What is that all about. I will try the 8 hr light cycle.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> ok..... I know nothing really about CO2 and I am lost when it comes to sugar and yeast DIY CO2. What is that all about. I will try the 8 hr light cycle.


DIY co2 reactors are simple, you take a 1 liter pop bottle and make a hole in the lid the size of a piece of rigid air line (the hard clear plastic tube) put a 1" piece of rigid airline in the hole, and super glue it in place. You want about 1/4" sticking out the top. In the bottle you will put 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of yeast... you can buy yeast at the grocery store for cooking bread, its activated yeast i believe. Now you fill the water bottle 2/3 the way up with warm water (not HOT!). shake the yeast/sugar/water mixture up some, and put it somewhere behind your tank. Now take a piece of flexible airline, slip it over the rigid airline on the cap of the bottle, and put the other end near a canister intake, the bubble tube for a powerhead, anything to chop up the bubbles and disperse them in the water.

When you setup your sump, i would put the bottle under the stand, and the tube near the intake of the return pump so its chopped up and sprayed into the tank above.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Ægir said:


> Yea I did a complete black out for about 10 days........It got rid of all the cyanobacteria I had. I have an eheim cannister 2217 rated for 159gal and an old fluval 304 cannister rated for i think 70 gal. I am also in the process of finishng up my DIY sump.


I would say STOP your vigerous water change schedule, and see if things get better or worse. I would also see if you can contact the city health dept. and find out more information about your water at the tap. Things like iron, phosphates etc etc will all feed algae.

Get that sump done asap, and it should help tons!
[/quote]

Where are you getting the info?
DId I miss something?

1-What size tank?
2-how many and what size fish?
3-Frequency of water changes?
4-Chemicals used?

If you have both of those canisters and what seems to be only 3 P's in about a 55 that should be more then plenty of filtration.
304 is rated for a 70 gallon tank and Eheims is rated for up to a 159 gal tank.
Thats more then enough if you only have 3 P's and you do weekly water changes.

If I'm wrong then I'm brain dead tonight.

I have a sh*t load of brown algae in my 10 Gal tank..I think its due to lights on too frequsently and the Eco complete.
I have no plants in it right now just Cons.

SkunkBud is right though...water quality could be an issue.

Thats why I have a whole house water filter to hopefully handle all those little issues.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

notaverage said:


> Yea I did a complete black out for about 10 days........It got rid of all the cyanobacteria I had. I have an eheim cannister 2217 rated for 159gal and an old fluval 304 cannister rated for i think 70 gal. I am also in the process of finishng up my DIY sump.


I would say STOP your vigerous water change schedule, and see if things get better or worse. I would also see if you can contact the city health dept. and find out more information about your water at the tap. Things like iron, phosphates etc etc will all feed algae.

Get that sump done asap, and it should help tons!
[/quote]

Where are you getting the info?
DId I miss something?

1-What size tank?
2-how many and what size fish?
3-Frequency of water changes?
4-Chemicals used?

If you have both of those canisters and what seems to be only 3 P's in about a 55 that should be more then plenty of filtration.
304 is rated for a 70 gallon tank and Eheims is rated for up to a 159 gal tank.
Thats more then enough if you only have 3 P's and you do weekly water changes.

If I'm wrong then I'm brain dead tonight.

I have a sh*t load of brown algae in my 10 Gal tank..I think its due to lights on too frequsently and the Eco complete.
I have no plants in it right now just Cons.

SkunkBud is right though...water quality could be an issue.

Thats why I have a whole house water filter to hopefully handle all those little issues.
[/quote]

The tank is a 150 gal, i looked at previous posts


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Ægir said:


> ok..... I know nothing really about CO2 and I am lost when it comes to sugar and yeast DIY CO2. What is that all about. I will try the 8 hr light cycle.


DIY co2 reactors are simple, you take a 1 liter pop bottle and make a hole in the lid the size of a piece of rigid air line (the hard clear plastic tube) put a 1" piece of rigid airline in the hole, and super glue it in place. You want about 1/4" sticking out the top. In the bottle you will put 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of yeast... you can buy yeast at the grocery store for cooking bread, its activated yeast i believe. Now you fill the water bottle 2/3 the way up with warm water (not HOT!). shake the yeast/sugar/water mixture up some, and put it somewhere behind your tank. Now take a piece of flexible airline, slip it over the rigid airline on the cap of the bottle, and put the other end near a canister intake, the bubble tube for a powerhead, anything to chop up the bubbles and disperse them in the water.

When you setup your sump, i would put the bottle under the stand, and the tube near the intake of the return pump so its chopped up and sprayed into the tank above.
[/quote]

I wouldn't have guessed an 78w light would hurt on a 70g tank, but







I run a 1/2tsp yeast and 1.5cup mix of sugar and yeast in my 10g. That will run for a couple of weeks. For a 70g I doubt you can over due it on co2. I would run 1.5-2 cups of sugar and up to a table spoon of yeast. That will probaly run for 5-6days. All my diy co2 systems are done with a 1/2g whiskey bottle.

I had the best luck with drilling the hole a bit small, cutting the airline tubing at an angle, and jerking the tube through the hole. Never leaked on the 3 or 4 bottles i did it to. Make sure it's a good clean hole. No glue or silicon is needed.

If there is only 78w of light, I'm not sure that is the issue, but I have been surprised before.


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Your tank , is it positioned where its hit by the sun anytime during the day ?
I see you have plants , Do you use any Plant Ferts containing iron ?

I wouldnt necessarily say your tank is underfiltered , although it is a possibility. I would be leaning more towards Undercirculaton,
IMO a Powerhead Positioned towards that corner would get rid of it , also Cut Any ferts Your Using and Get that SUMP done. if underfiltration is your problem than this will definetly cure that.

Your Lights could also be a big contribution ,

GL


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

I think I know the answer now ,

Ever go to a Pet Shop and see those ALGAE covered Hydrosponge Filters sitting in the tank with an Air Pump line Fed into it ?
Coincidence ? No definetly not. I speculate that the Oxygen being pumped into the water is culturing the Algae life .

I Noticed in Your Picture You have an Airstone Bar across the middle of the Back of the tank , an Air Stone In the Back Right. If Your tank had sufficient circulation you wouldnt have that problem around the Air Stone / Bar outputs , there is a way to fix this.
MagnaFloat. Get a good one and clean Your tank. It appears that you dont really have much room to get back there , but if you Cleaned it with a Magnet and Got a Good current with a properly positioned powerhead and Take Your internal Filter and Put it at the water line so it creates more surface stimulation.

this will work ...

try it


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I have a 150 gal, and I have 2 of those light strips........so its a hair over 1 wpg. 40% water changes every 5 or so days, I used to use Seachem Flourish but I stoppped when this algae crap happened. Other than that the occasional salt dosing, prime, and thats it.

I also only have the 3 RBP's in there. They are about 5 1/2 inches, the big one is about 6 /12.

As per the DIY yeast. There are 2 kinds of yeast dry activated and then the activated yeast that comes in little squares and they are refrigerated. Which one do I use? I will def be setting up a DIY CO2 when I cna get the sump up. I will be getting the plumbing for it today so certainly this weekend.

The tank is in my basement on the complete opposite side of any windows. I have a powerhead but I feel that the current is way too strong. Its the ac 110 and it actually moves the sand around and creates divots and crap. I also feel my P's freak out as well.

That is the only little air stone that I have. It is just that tiny square. I thought that if the water was oxygenated that is good.


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## thedude8 (Oct 6, 2008)

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

good link for algae


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

I use Red Star active dry yeast, and its not in little squares. It can be found at any walmart.


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

Ægir said:


> Trim the dead leaves on the sword. They won't grow back, at least they never did for me. The plants wont accumulate as much of the brown algae if they are growing. I seem to get that stuff a lot on newer tanks. What kind of sand is in the tank?
> 
> The fuzzy crap on the wood is just a type of mold. It's harmless, sometimes it will go away, and sometimes it will come and go. It's a fairly common problem with drift wood.
> 
> What do you have for lights on that tank? Any CO2? Judging form where the green algae is accumulating (right down the center of the sides and half way down the front and back) there is a lighting issue too.


The sand is just pool filter sand... nothing crazy or special. I also have 2 36" x 5-1/2" Freshwater; 78 watt Nova Extreme lights. THey are on a 10 hour a day light timer. and I do not have CO2.
[/quote]

I would cut your lights back to 8 hours... and maybe think about making a DIY co2 system with sugar and yeast when you get the sump running.
[/quote]

I would just use a big c02 fire extinguisher if your gonna go c02, they will last much longer, and much less hassle. You will never have a "algea-less" tank, but the way too fight it is by getting a balance in your aquarium nutrients, i would also try and get some plants that feed heavily on excess nutrients, this will stop the algea from getting what it needs and it SHOULD stop growing.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Do you have any recommendations as to what type of plants those might be?


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

65galhex said:


> Do you have any recommendations as to what type of plants those might be?


You Answered Your own Question HEX , I was waiting for you to say " SEACHEM FLOURISH " Its perfectly Normal for algae to happen.
Now I Believe Your Tank has an Overdose of Seachem , or did at one point. Something in Your water is Helping Keep the Iron , preserve it in essence , which is why You will notice that water with Higher levels of iron seem Brownish and Your plants eventually start to take on some of those characteristics , Hence why it turns brown and DOESNT die.

Get Rid of Your Plants , I believe they are Your source of Iron , Which is good for Your plants , but not good in General As you have found out. You have an algae problem now.

Heres the plain

Forget Seachem , Just use your lights . Clean Algae with a Magnet Float. Get Rid of Plants . Get more Circulation with a powerhead and Finish Your sump.
if all of this combined doesnt solve your prob , I would be very suprised.

P.S Keep up on the water change sched and glass cleaning and your prob will be fine.

I dont even clean my glass because i never get algae , I dont use Iron , only fake plants.

cheers


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Ægir said:


> Yea I did a complete black out for about 10 days........It got rid of all the cyanobacteria I had. I have an eheim cannister 2217 rated for 159gal and an old fluval 304 cannister rated for i think 70 gal. I am also in the process of finishng up my DIY sump.


I would say STOP your vigerous water change schedule, and see if things get better or worse. I would also see if you can contact the city health dept. and find out more information about your water at the tap. Things like iron, phosphates etc etc will all feed algae.

Get that sump done asap, and it should help tons!
[/quote]

Where are you getting the info?
DId I miss something?

1-What size tank?
2-how many and what size fish?
3-Frequency of water changes?
4-Chemicals used?

If you have both of those canisters and what seems to be only 3 P's in about a 55 that should be more then plenty of filtration.
304 is rated for a 70 gallon tank and Eheims is rated for up to a 159 gal tank.
Thats more then enough if you only have 3 P's and you do weekly water changes.

If I'm wrong then I'm brain dead tonight.

I have a sh*t load of brown algae in my 10 Gal tank..I think its due to lights on too frequsently and the Eco complete.
I have no plants in it right now just Cons.

SkunkBud is right though...water quality could be an issue.

Thats why I have a whole house water filter to hopefully handle all those little issues.
[/quote]

The tank is a 150 gal, i looked at previous posts
[/quote]

Skunk your right then..more filters in my opinion as well.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Jon87 said:


> Do you have any recommendations as to what type of plants those might be?


You Answered Your own Question HEX , I was waiting for you to say " SEACHEM FLOURISH " Its perfectly Normal for algae to happen.
Now I Believe Your Tank has an Overdose of Seachem , or did at one point. Something in Your water is *Helping Keep the Iron *, preserve it in essence , which is why You will notice that water with Higher levels of iron seem Brownish and Your plants eventually start to take on some of those characteristics , Hence why it turns brown and DOESNT die.
*
Get Rid of Your Plants , I believe they are Your source of Iron* , Which is good for Your plants , but not good in General As you have found out. You have an algae problem now.

Heres the plain

Forget Seachem , Just use your lights . Clean Algae with a Magnet Float. Get Rid of Plants . Get more Circulation with a powerhead and Finish Your sump.
if all of this combined doesnt solve your prob , I would be very suprised.

P.S* Keep up on the water change sched* and glass cleaning and your prob will be fine.

I dont even clean my glass because i never get algae , *I dont use Iron *, only fake plants.

cheers
[/quote]

Kinda confusing, But im going to throw this out there: If there was an overdose in Seachem the problem would be sorted out with the water changes, (unless you are adding a full dose every time you do a water change?) Iron isnt the only thing that causes algae growth... there are 1000 other causes

If there was no overdose, or the seachem dosing is on schedule, then your tap water could be adding Iron, phosphates, nitrogen etc etc etc causing the growth... and thats going to compound with every water change.

Plants also need bio-available carbon source, typically from CO2. You could dose Flourish or another additive, or make a CO2 reactor with yeast to boost the levels. THAT AIRSTONE and surface agitation are allowing CO2 to escape the water column lowering the existing levels so you should take that out, and not have any powerheads or returns near the surface of the water.

I dont recall if you ever stated what spectrum of bulbs you have, but i ran into problems with old bulbs, and ones more in the red end of the spectrum.

Heres a better plan: 
Find out if your tap water is causing the problem through the city, or try water changes from another source.
Get a source of carbon (CO2 or Flourish)
Trim the dead leaves.
GET THAT SUMP RUNNING
Wait and see if the problem gets better or worse
Adjust plan if necessary

Hers a pic of my old planted tank... nothing special ODNO light fixture, and a 1 ltr CO2 reactor, dosing Flourish, and excel every other week. The main difference is lighting, i was at about 3wpg.


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Ægir said:


> Do you have any recommendations as to what type of plants those might be?


You Answered Your own Question HEX , I was waiting for you to say " SEACHEM FLOURISH " Its perfectly Normal for algae to happen.
Now I Believe Your Tank has an Overdose of Seachem , or did at one point. Something in Your water is *Helping Keep the Iron *, preserve it in essence , which is why You will notice that water with Higher levels of iron seem Brownish and Your plants eventually start to take on some of those characteristics , Hence why it turns brown and DOESNT die.
*
Get Rid of Your Plants , I believe they are Your source of Iron* , Which is good for Your plants , but not good in General As you have found out. You have an algae problem now.

Heres the plain

Forget Seachem , Just use your lights . Clean Algae with a Magnet Float. Get Rid of Plants . Get more Circulation with a powerhead and Finish Your sump.
if all of this combined doesnt solve your prob , I would be very suprised.

P.S* Keep up on the water change sched* and glass cleaning and your prob will be fine.

I dont even clean my glass because i never get algae , *I dont use Iron *, only fake plants.

cheers
[/quote]

Kinda confusing, But im going to throw this out there: If there was an overdose in Seachem the problem would be sorted out with the water changes, (unless you are adding a full dose every time you do a water change?) Iron isnt the only thing that causes algae growth... there are 1000 other causes

If there was no overdose, or the seachem dosing is on schedule, then your tap water could be adding Iron, phosphates, nitrogen etc etc etc causing the growth... and thats going to compound with every water change.

Plants also need bio-available carbon source, typically from CO2. You could dose Flourish or another additive, or make a CO2 reactor with yeast to boost the levels. THAT AIRSTONE and surface agitation are allowing CO2 to escape the water column lowering the existing levels so you should take that out, and not have any powerheads or returns near the surface of the water.

I dont recall if you ever stated what spectrum of bulbs you have, but i ran into problems with old bulbs, and ones more in the red end of the spectrum.

Heres a better plan: 
Find out if your tap water is causing the problem through the city, or try water changes from another source.
Get a source of carbon (CO2 or Flourish)
Trim the dead leaves.
GET THAT SUMP RUNNING
Wait and see if the problem gets better or worse
Adjust plan if necessary

Hers a pic of my old planted tank... nothing special ODNO light fixture, and a 1 ltr CO2 reactor, dosing Flourish, and excel every other week. The main difference is lighting, i was at about 3wpg. 








[/quote]

After reading into it , Ægir is right it seems Checking Your tap for phosphates and if thats the case (most like is) than You will have to use phosphate remover in your tank. Providing Your tank isnt in direct sunlight and such.

Forget what I said about removing the Plants, Apparently they Feed off the same nutrients that the Algae do. the more plants the less likely you are to have algae.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Jon87 said:


> After reading into it , *E Girl (I think ) is right it seems * Checking Your tap for phosphates and if thats the case (most like is) than You will have to use phosphate remover in your tank. Providing Your tank isnt in direct sunlight and such.
> 
> Forget what I said about removing the Plants, Apparently they Feed off the same nutrients that the Algae do. the more plants the less likely you are to have algae.





















Ok, Anyways... Aegir is the name. Definitely not a girl

And its not just checking the tap for phosphates, its EVERYHTING.

And its not only the amount of plants you have, its the plants being able to absorb everything with no excess. The excess is what fuels the algae growth... whats left in the water after the plants are done, or that plants arent using.

If the plants use it all, before the algae you win. 
If the plants use most of it, or the algae is better at transforming that to growth, you loose.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

This is actually awesome....my problem clearly sucks, but I think there is a lot of good info in this thread. I do need to check the tap water. We had quite a bit of snow today good ole northeast but I am hoping to get to home depot byt the end of the day to finish the sump. I also think more plants are in order and then today I will be doing a water change and cleaning up everything as best I can; ie: trim dead leaves, scrape glass, etc.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

Ok, Anyways... Aegir is the name. Definitely not a girl

lol

as in tidal bore if yes I like it

also you mentioned adding salt( why?) I read that salt "melts/is bad for" plants making them weak and weak plants actually leak out nutrients into the water


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Ok, Anyways... Aegir is the name. Definitely not a girl
> 
> lol
> 
> ...


Aegir, as in: Clicky "The king of the sea", who threw huge parties and made beer for the gods.

I dont recall talking about salt in this thread, but dont have time to look back and read all of it... we were talking about SUGAR to make CO2 reactors earlier.

Lots of salt is bad for plants, through osmosis the plant will loose its water to the salt water... The cell membrane of the plant will eventually pull away, known as plasmolysis, which is when the cell is selectively semi-permeable and wont allow salt in, but will allow water out. Small amounts of salt (for treating fish) will have little effect


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

The overflow is up and running. I just did a water change. I scrapped the edge of the glass with a razor and I have trimmed all the dead leaves. Here is what it looks like so far and then a pic of my scared guys.

oh and as for bulbs I have the stock ones that came with the fixture: 2- 10,000k and 2- Freshwater.....(whatever that means)


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Looks good man! the 10K bulbs are fine, i will do some research on the spectrum of "freshwater" wtf ever that means. If the bulbs are over a year old, they should be replaced

What did you do with your other filters? You should put all the media from them in the top of your sump to seed the new media and not have another cycle. How about some pics of the sump and more about it?

Now we wait and see if things clear up!

OH and, you should definately check what happens to your sump/overflow when the power goes out (unplug your return pump and wait) if the sump is going to overflow you can plug it back in but... there might be some back-siphon problems to address


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

10000k will help grow plants too. Freshwater spectrum has always been between 6200k and 6500k when I was looking at lights. I know they arent going to be under 5000k or over 10000k, and that's all that basically matters for plants.

And I think the salt thing came from the close to the beginning of the thread where he said he dosed salt sometimes. I have know idea how much salt it takes to kill plants. So I will just say to practice caution when adding salt to a planted tank.

Also, crt+f opens a page search in firefox and chrome. I donno about IE, safari, or and of the other browsers. It's hand sh*t when searching a web page.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Thanks guys.......I am excited that things are looking good now. For the sump basically what I did was I found some simple directions onlnine (melves reef) and then kind of made up my own thing from there. I had a minor leak in the tank I built- in the bubble trap- so the glue is actually still drying. in the mean time I am just using an old 10 gal tank. Tomorrow I will switch the 2. I have an eshoppes overflow rated for 1600gph and a magdrive 1200. The new sump should be about 25 gallons, roughly.
As for the other filters I disconnected the fluval- it cam with the tank it it was effin shite. I still have the eheim running.

This week when I have some more time I am going to post a write up for others to read and to just get an idea of what I did. I will be posting it up in the T&E section and hopefuly otheres will have recommendations or ideas on how to either improve or copy for themselves.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Plowboy said:


> 10000k will help grow plants too. Freshwater spectrum has always been between 6200k and 6500k when I was looking at lights. I know they arent going to be under 5000k or over 10000k, and that's all that basically matters for plants.
> 
> And I think the salt thing came from the close to the beginning of the thread where he said he dosed salt sometimes. I have know idea how much salt it takes to kill plants. So I will just say to practice caution when adding salt to a planted tank.
> *
> Also, crt+f opens a page search in firefox* and chrome. I donno about IE, safari, or and of the other browsers. It's hand sh*t when searching a web page.












as for the salt thing... i found it later, but i would just stop it all together, unless treating the fish for ich or something else. Its something like 1 tbsp per 5 gals is nearing toxic for most plants, but some are adapted to brackish water and can tolerate it FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME. thats the key here, only when needed.

And for your overflow and sump, looks good! I would take a 5 bal bucket (or the 3 drawer rubbermaid organizers work great!) and make a drip tray for the top, fill it with bio balls and or scrubbies, a cleanable filter pad on top, put it in the larger section. and call it good!

Also combining those drains without increasing the size on the output will cause a backup in the drain... it may still flow clean or may "chug" when you set it up


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I do have the bucket setup and everything in the tank now. I have bio balls and filter floss. Its working well.


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Ægir said:


> After reading into it , *E Girl (I think ) is right it seems * Checking Your tap for phosphates and if thats the case (most like is) than You will have to use phosphate remover in your tank. Providing Your tank isnt in direct sunlight and such.
> 
> Forget what I said about removing the Plants, Apparently they Feed off the same nutrients that the Algae do. the more plants the less likely you are to have algae.





















Ok, Anyways... Aegir is the name. Definitely not a girl

And its not just checking the tap for phosphates, its EVERYHTING.

And its not only the amount of plants you have, its the plants being able to absorb everything with no excess. The excess is what fuels the algae growth... whats left in the water after the plants are done, or that plants arent using.

If the plants use it all, before the algae you win. 
If the plants use most of it, or the algae is better at transforming that to growth, you loose.
[/quote]

Sorry Buddy , no Fun intended , i corrected that literally 2 minutes after it was posted.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

Ægir said:


> 10000k will help grow plants too. Freshwater spectrum has always been between 6200k and 6500k when I was looking at lights. I know they arent going to be under 5000k or over 10000k, and that's all that basically matters for plants.
> 
> And I think the salt thing came from the close to the beginning of the thread where he said he dosed salt sometimes. I have know idea how much salt it takes to kill plants. So I will just say to practice caution when adding salt to a planted tank.
> *
> Also, crt+f opens a page search in firefox* and chrome. I donno about IE, safari, or and of the other browsers. It's hand sh*t when searching a web page.












as for the salt thing... i found it later, but i would just stop it all together, unless treating the fish for ich or something else. Its something like 1 tbsp per 5 gals is nearing toxic for most plants, but some are adapted to brackish water and can tolerate it FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME. thats the key here, only when needed.

And for your overflow and sump, looks good! I would take a 5 bal bucket (or the 3 drawer rubbermaid organizers work great!) and make a drip tray for the top, fill it with bio balls and or scrubbies, a cleanable filter pad on top, put it in the larger section. and call it good!

Also combining those drains without increasing the size on the output will cause a backup in the drain... it may still flow clean or may "chug" when you set it up
[/quote]

I melted all my plants when treating my old community tank for ich with salt, they do grow back though

I use to be really big into plants b4 but they are a lot more work: adding CO2 or liquid carbon, macro + micro nutirents, iron, contralling phosphates,reducing/eliminating surface agitation, trimming, 10-12 hour light cycle and algae up the ying-yeng if you dont control all the variables

my sanch dont like bright lights at all therefore I no longer keep any plants, although a well planted tank is a thing of beauty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uafmRtpK7T0...PL&index=46

cheers


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

I skimmed the other posts but here is my take.

-Your lights are too bright. Those single reflector T5 lights are good and bright.
-The brown diatoms on your sand will go away in a few week when your filters get established.
-Pull off the white stuff on your driftwood. It will go away after a while. Most likely caused by bacteria or a mold.
-The plant looks like it has a nutrient deficiency of some sort, either Nitrate or potassium.

-There are a couple things about the green algae.
A) could be caused by your lighting or a lack of nutrients (either phosphates or low CO2 and poor water flow) 
B) Leave it alone until it turns brown then scrape it off.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

You could try flourish excell as i think its helps against black hair algae and others. A big bottle of 2L is about 30-40$ and might be worth it if you plan on more plants. Ive used it on my 125 and it helped rid algae and encourage growth, however it will harm some plants.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I wouldnt bother with co2 for that level of plants though unless you plan on adding alot more. diatoms should go away in time.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I havent gotten to look into CO2 yet as I most likely wont do it for quite some time.......I am curious about the flourish excel.


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