Algae explosion after flourite...What happened?

[dj_orka]

I have had a heavily planted tank with high/med and low light plants. I used Regular Gravel and a planted+ Led from Finnex with twice a week dosing of Flourish. After 2 months It was growing properly and never had algae growth.
last week I changed the gravel and redid the whole tank and put full fourite black as substrate. GEEEEZ 1 week later I can see Algae starting on the substrate, plant leaves, drift wood. I have 12 sherry shrimps and 2 SAE but {mod edit because we are a family site} happenned... I am regretting investing on the flourite because I had regular stable growth on regular gravel. I wanted to bring it up a notch by using flourite but I am guessing its a mistake ?
By the way. its a 25G tank with finnex planted+ 30'' and 11 hours of light. Same setup as before. Only thing that changed in the tank is the flourite I put instead of regular gravel.
I have no Co2 but I put Flourish Excel every 2nd day.

 

[Rivercats]

By changing the substrate you most likely caused an ammonia spike. That combined with such a long photoperiod most likely was the root of your algae problems. What type of algae are you seeing? Can you post a picture? For starters only run lights 6 hours until algae is gone. Then every couple of weeks you can increase the photoperiod by 30 minutes at a time. Stop and back lighting down 30 minutes if algae starts growing. I can tell you from experience that when you upset the balance in a tank that has run a long time algae free you will usually create algae issues until you can get the tank balanced again. I did this in my 220g almost a year ago and it took many months to get it back in balance.

Something else that will help is dosing a liquid carbon daily at a rate of 1ml for every 2 gallons of water. If you have delicate fish or shrimp then up the dosage slowly. You can also use Metricide 14 Day Solution. A gallon bottle costs around $20-27 shipped, is twice the strength of Excel, and is very economical to use.

 

[Old Scales]

Sorry about the algae. First thing is reduce your lights to 6 hrs. The fluorite has upset your nutrients balance. Also Excel needs to be dosed every morning before the lights come on or very shortly after. It only stays in the water about 24hrs. Inconsistent carbon level will greatly encourage algae growth. Until the fluorite settles in you could try doing an extra WC each week for about a month. Also don't skimp on the excel. It has mild algae inhibiting features also. Watch your shrimp though. I would research Excel's effect on them. Try and hold your Nitrates to no less than 10ppm to 40ppm and keep phosphates up to about 1-2ppm. Hope this helps. OS.

 

[Old Scales]

Ha! River you beat me too it. Glad to see you kicking! Love ya, Brian.

 

[dj_orka]

1ml per 2 gallons That sounds like an awful lot.

Here is what it says on Seachems dosage : Directions
On initial use or after a major (> 40%) water change, use 1 capful (5 mL) for every 40 L (10 gallons*). Thereafter use 1 capful for every 200 L (50 gallons*) daily or every other day. Dosing may be slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL.

 

[flitabout]

Ignore what the bottle says I dose my tanks at 1ml per gallon.

 

[flitabout]

And like everybody else said up it slowly.

 

[dj_orka]

Thanks Guys... I will dose everyday.up until I go on vacation.

 

[dj_orka]

I have 30$ worth of Shrimp. wont it kill them ?

 

[Brookster123]

I have 30$ worth of Shrimp. wont it kill them ?

what kind? My sons have seemed to grit and bare the excel, though I hardly see them anymore, could be my gbr scaring then into hiding so reasons are still undetermined. Snails don't mind it either.

 

[dj_orka]

Cherry Red shrimp and other colored variants.

 

[Rivercats]

Excel dosing directions are not a one size fits all. Liquid carbon is affected by amount of lighting, bio-load, and the amount of plants, especially fast growing ones. The higher those are the more liquid carbon is needed. I've done a lot of research and experimenting with liquid carbon. I've found even low light tanks benefit from higher levels. It helps the plants utilize the available light better IMO. I've used very high doses for long periods of time without problems. My fish even spawn in these tanks. As for shrimp many don't tolerate higher dose. In the case of shrimp I advise people to start with a low dose and slowly every 2 or 3 weeks increase the dosing slightly. Watch the shrimp with any new dosing amounts. Liquid carbon only stays in solution 12-24 hours. If you check the Excel bottle it even states more may be needed in high production tanks.

 

[dj_orka]

Thanks for the tips guys. I will start dosing daily at 2ML per day (25gallon) and i'll see how it goes.