A New-b Algae

[colzboppo]

Greetings all - am new to this forum and joined because of all the excellent advice i have read through. So let's see if you can help me with my problem. OK
I have a 15Gal Tank Lit with 30 watts of lighting(ie.2w/Gal)
Trouble is, im getting persistently bad algae problems, Staghorn and furry green algae most commonly. However a new Algae has developed which exists entirely on the surface of the water - and is impossible to get rid of completely at water changes, coming back within 3 days and 'freezing' the flow of the water on the surface.
I feed my fish in moderation - once a day, with either flakes/bloodworms/occasional mosquito Larvae.
I use CO2 injection, and have 4 Amazon Swords, an Echindorus broad leaved plant, and a crinum Calamistratum.
The excess Algae in my tank is starting to get me down. Any sound advice?

 

[Terry]

Hi there colzboppo, welcome to Aquarium Advice.

Let start at the beginning, What are your water parameters ie... Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, and how long do you have the light on each day.

 

[colzboppo]

The Lights are on for 10 hours a day, I don't know my Ammonia or Nitrate levels but last time i checked the nitrite was at 0. I do a 40% water change every week, a gravel wash weekly with the syphon, thoroughly every fortnight, and run an internal filtration pump(ie. not the undergravel type). The water is probably pH 6.5/6.8 and quite soft.

 

[Terry]

Hi colzboppo,

Is you tank getting any direct sun light.

 

[colzboppo]

Hia Terry!
Sun in Manchester? haha!
Well It did get maybe an hour of direct sunlight on the rare occasionan of a clear sky sunset during the Summer, but alas the problem has persisted past this brief appearance from direct sunlight gracing my tank.

 

[TankGirl]

Okay, you have plants, and CO2, but how are the plants growing? In the presence of adequate nutrients and CO2, those plants ought to be growing like gangbusters and not giving algae a chance. If there are some missing nutrients, then the algae can get the nutrients out of the water easier than the plants can. That is the trick. Once plants can suck the nutrients out of the water first the algae will die off.

You will need to measure your nitrAte, since the plants need that, and they also need phosphate and potassium, among other things, like iron, so do you dose any fertilizers?

After that long diatribe, it occurred to me that since this is growing on the surface, is there any chance it is duckweed? Sometimes tiny bits come in on new plants and once it gets a foothold it is relatively difficult to eradicate, and it will grow on the surface only. What does it look like on close inspection?

 

[colzboppo]

Hia Tank Girl - cheers for all the help so far.
Here goes: I use a potassium/iron liquid aquatic fertilizer and the substrate is a mixed size medium bog standard gravel.
The algae on the surface is just like a very thin film, but manages to cut about %5-10 of the light out. how annoying. :x It can be temporarily displaced by an airstone on full whack, but causes the stuff to float down in little bits and eventually rot. so it is definitely NOT duckweed.pesky as it is. it comes back week on week.

I have a feeling that someone is gonna suggest a new substrate(with iron), substrate based fertilizer to re-balance the nutrient war in the plants favour. Which means re-rooting all the plants, rehousing the fish temporarily, and re-cycling the tank. Oh what fun. Any easy quick fixes instead?

 

[Terry]

Hi colzboppo,
I have been looking around a bit for you and found this, It is out of the Tropica Aquarium Plant Book, hope it helps.

THE AQUARIUM OWNER'S FIVE WORST ENEMIES.

There are about 30,000 different types of algae that are known of. The great majority of them are so rare or microscopic, that they are never seen. If an aquarium is invaded by algae, they are almost always one of the five types below.

GREEN ALGAE
This is caused by microscopic single-celled plankton, which can re-produce so rapidly that the water appears green. These green algae requires almost the same lighting and nutrient conditions as plants.

FUZZ ALGAE
This is green algae which forms a furry light green layer of fine threads on stones and leaves. The threads grow up to 3 cm long, then snap off and often continue to live as freely floating threads.

THREAD ALGAE
This is green algae which forms colonies of threads between the plants. Large colonies can be removed with a rough surfaced stick.

BRUSH ALGAE
This is red algae, but the name is misleading, since they are most familiar as blue-black threads up to 2cm long, which grows from the tips and edges of leaves. Red algaeare less dependent on light than green algae, because they are able to absorb curtain organic nutrients from the water.

BLUE GREEN ALGAE
This can absorb light like green algae as well as organic nutrients from the water like red algae, they often form tangled bluish green rafts without any visible structure, and smells of earth.
There are many different species in each of these categories, but can be identified and kept down in very simular ways.

THE AQUARIUM OWNERS MOST USEFUL WEAPONS

Algae are a pest, and therefore several chemical remedies have been produced, which promises a good result. Often,however, they damage the plants as much as the algae, and do not remove the cause of algae growth, so the pest is likely to attack again. The only reliable method is the patient use of natural,biological remedies. Here you can see what remedies are available, but you will have to try them out to find the right combination.
Large quanities of fast growing plants i.e. Hygrophilia, Egeria densa, Valisneria and Echinodorus Bleheri, take the nutrients from the algae. Cheratophyllum and Stratoriotes give off a substance which inhibits the growth of algae. Floating plants like Riccia and Pistia are useful when light is the cause of algae growth. Adding CO2 promotes the growth of the plants at the expense of the algae.
Make sure there is a good balance of fish and plants and avoid overfeeding. You could also keep fish that eat algae i.e. Crossocheilus Siamensis, Octoinclus affinis and Poecilla, if possible together with Japonica shrimps and Apple snails.
Replace 50% of the water each week if you have trouble with algae, Light up the aquarium for a maximum 0f 10-12 hours a day. Longer than this will not benefit the plants but will encourage algae growth. Avoid sunlight altogether, just half an hour of sun light each day is enough to make algae grow uncontrollably.
Always bear in mind that even a very slight change in the aquarium may tip the balance in favour of the algae and you will have to try all over again. That is part of the challenge of this hobby.

There you go colboppo, sorry it went on a bit but i hope it helps.

This info was taken from TROPICAL AQUARIUM PLANTS and you can get more info from there web site www.tropica.com

 

[colzboppo]

Thanks all,
I think what we all can learn from this if we don't want ANY Algae
Do NOT allow ANY direct sunlight onto the tank
Do NOT overfeed your fish (once every other day?)
Maintain a good Cleaning regime to remove detrius from your tank
Buy fast growing plants to out compete algae for light + nutrients
Buy fish that will naturally consume algae (i've been told Rosy Barbs like staghorn/thread conversely)
8O and keep a close eye on your tank, remember its all a balance.

Now I'm off to sweep the flood of algae out of my tank yet again.

 

[TankGirl]

If there is a way to create disturbance at the surface of the tank that will keep this film from being able to collect. That might be done with a bubble wand or a powerhead.

 

[urville]

i would skim it off the surface.
yes how are your plants growth?
whats your lighting like?
whats important with co2 is to keep all your levels at a equal and relative amount imagine it like a mixed drink for a metaphor. the photosynthesis needs to get drunk to work. but it needs to have mixed drinks of equal parts nutrients, co2, and light. if you put 5 parts light to 5 parts co2 and only 1 part nutrients it'll never get mor drunk than than the one part of each because you only had one part of nutirents. doe sthis make sense? so the other 4 parts of light and co2 are causing an algal bloom to use up the excess your plants wont. this is one way nature deals with this problem in its own way. it could also be phosphates although thats mostly hair or fuzz or whateevr of the 9000 names it has..
i do not suggest new substrate. dosing fertilizer with iron will work just fine. i suggest making double sure you've provided these plants with ALL the necessary parameters including ph and hardness.
once your talking co2, you "SHOULD" be also automatically be talking strong light and healthy fertilizer, unless your bio load already supplies much of this
i see you have 2 watts per gallon, but what kind of light? what kelvin is it? 6500? and what is the spectrum is it strong on the red? theres a possible algae causing problem. How about blue spectrum? any?
how are you diffusing the co2 and at what rate? whats your level of co2? who makes your fertilizer and how often do you dose it and in what amounts?
this all makes a HUGE difference.
OH YEAH, one last thing i can think of right now...
do you venturi or airstone regularly, i mean i saw that you used it to displace the surfce but planted tanks dont really need aeration period. it will take all that co2 your putting in out through the gas exchange. same question about wet/dry. do you use wet/dry filtration if so it's eating up your co2 and highly oxygenating your water.
i'll ponder some more