Algae help?

[okapizebra]

I'm growing quite a bit of BBA in my tank, and I was wondering if there was some way I could get rid of it. It doesn't wipe off easily and nothing seems to want to eat it in my tank...

It's a ten gallon tank with 2 10 watt CFL bulbs in the hood. Doesn't seem like it'd be too much lighting? Only 2 watts per gallon. In there I have an aquatic onion plant and quite a lot of anacharis.

I have 6 neons, two platies, a baby female betta(she's the size of the neons!), and five ghost shrimp (uhh, give or take a few, they're hard to count).

The tank has been up and running for around three months now. I still have plenty of my fair share of diatoms present in the tank. But not only that, I now have a forest of BBA settling in.

I try to keep the light off as much as I can but it's not on a timer so it's different everyday. I usually turn it on in the morning (somewhere between 8-10?) and turn it off in the afternoon at like 3ish, then it goes back on for a few more hours in the evening.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but wanted to include as much info as possible to see how I might be able to combat this algae. Please and thank you for your advice!

 

[okapizebra]

Anyone have some advice out there?

I've read that I may perhaps need to use some kind of carbon supplement or use CO2. Could this be a solution?

Should have put this thread in the planted section...

 

[aqua_chem]

Anyone have some advice out there?

I've read that I may perhaps need to use some kind of carbon supplement or use CO2. Could this be a solution?

Should have put this thread in the planted section...

I occasionally had baby growths of bba sprout up in my 10g with the same lights. The relationship between lights and algae is a little subjective. Under identical lighting conditions, one tank may grow algae and another not grow any. You might be on the unfortunate end of the spectrum.

Out of curiosity, how often do you do water changes. I've head people say that bba can be linked to high organic content as well as low co2/high light. Beyond that, you can try adding Excel directly to the bba, and continuing to dose it from there on out. Diy co2 is very practical on a tank that size too.

 

[KaylNeko]

Rooibos tea is supposed to do wonders against hair algae. It's helping some with the diatoms in my tank, too.

 

[okapizebra]

I usually PWC once a week or so. Maybe I should up my cleanings?

Would CO2 be better than excel? I've always been interested in it, but it seems so complex and hard. And I really know pretty much nothing about it. I'm pretty new to the planted world.

Tea sounds interesting. I'd be more interested in something that would help my plants, though, such as the excel. Doesn't the tea contaminate the tank water though?

 

[KaylNeko]

Nope. It'll change your tank color some, but it doesn't hurt anything, and has some health benefits besides helping control algae.

 

[aqua_chem]

Excel if spot treated will help kill the algae. Continued use may prevent the algae, but co2 very likely will. DIY CO2 isn't that complicated and can be a very useful skill in planted tanks.

Honestly, the tea thing sounds like bunk to me. I've never tried it, and I hate to do the whole 'knock it before you've tried it' thing, but I have never, ever heard of that before. Few little information is available online beyond "a guy I knew told me this works." The one actual experiment someone tried ended with a tank full of algae.

 

[okapizebra]

Yes, I was a bit hesitant on the tea idea. I'm not saying it does not work, but I think I'm going to take a different route. Thank you very much for your suggestion, though, I do appreciate it.

As for CO2; my interest in it since I've joined this forum has been increasingly growing on me. I may start out with the excel but if it doesn't do well, I may attempt to go into the world of CO2. I've heard of plenty of DIY using soda bottles and what not, but I really don't know where I'd store that. Could something like this work? I actually found this from someone on another thread. http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Nutrafi...?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1328915546&sr=1-1

It seems like it would be less bulky, and something my parents would be more keen on me having... I've heard of a lot of CO2 systems to be fairly pricey, but this one seems like a reasonable price. Could that mean it's not good?

 

[aqua_chem]

It's basically a diy system that's been prebuilt. The ladder diffuser is a good piece of hardware, but imo a bit bulky in tank.

 

[okapizebra]

Ah, okay. Would you suggest trying to excel first? Or should I just dive into CO2?