Algae problem

[drfu]

I have just noticed in the last few days an algae problem, never really have had one before so I'm a bit confused on two things:
1) what type of algae is it?
2) what caused it?

I did a 30% water change a couple of days ago, replaced the 100 ml bag of Seachem Phosguard, rinsed out all my media using tank water. Nitrates are around 20ppm, did not test for ammonia or nitrites as the tank has been running just fine for over 6 months.

So Then of course the obvious, how to fix it?

Set up:
33 gallon long, fluval 205 w/biomax, chemi pure, purigen, aquaclear 50 w/activated carbon, hydor wavemaker, 24" T8 powerglo on a 12 hour cycle, current usa 10"*2 led 453nm moonlight on 18 hour cycle, sand & gravel substrate.

Lots of live plants, 5 tetras, 2 otos, one big clown loach. Various mystery, nerite, mts snails
See attached picture for algae id.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

.

 

[andresdeo]

I'm no expert, but it looks like it could be cyano. Mostly because of the gel like consistency, but the photo quality could be better too. Cyano is usually a darker tone of green thought. Hopefully someone can tell you for sure.

 

[NanoJack]

Reduce lights to 6-8 hours.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Not sure what types of algae as I am not an expert on names. But solving problems to algae is pretty easy. 12 hour lighting is too long unless you have really low light. Lower the lighting period to 6-7 hours. Don't overfeed. Keep up the pwc's. You also want to get the nitrates down. You can also dose liquid co2 such as flourish excel. Or get a pressurized co2 setup.

 

[drfu]

Sorry,about the picture, iPad! But i think your id is correct, its a gel/slimy goo. So I'm going to start on doing 30% wc every second day, remove as much of it as i can each time.

Should i consider rinsing out all of my filter media with fresh conditioned tap water vs using old tank water? I was told this was a no no as i could cause a mini cycle?

Should i turn off my atnics completely as well as turn only running my day time lights for 4 hours?

 

[drfu]

I do have florish excel, i had stopped using it as i thought it might have phosphates in it? How much of it should i dose daily?

 

[FishCr8zy]

You should always have a little bit of phosphates. Modes the excel about once every 12 hours. Don't wash the media with tap water. Use your tank water because it will cause (as other people said) a mini cycle. The actinic lights should be fine. Just bring down the daylight lamps.

 

[FishCr8zy]

4 hours of light may not be good for some of the plants. I would lower the light time to 6 hours and go from there. Lowering from 12 to 4 may be too much of a shock.

 

[drfu]

Fish, thanks for the advice!

 

[Rivercats]

Unless you have an ongoing diatom issue you really shouldn't use any type of phosphate remover in a planted tank. Phosphate is a macro nutrient that plants need.

Liquid carbons do not contain phosphates and aid in photosynthesis and growth. Use them at a rate of 1ml liquid carbon to every 2 gallons of water.

It's hard to tell from the picture what type of algae you have but here is a good picture guide for you to look at and compare to the type algae you have.... James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide.

Run lighting only 6 hours daily or run it 3 hours, off 2, and on again for 3 or 4 hours. Using a siesta period works very well for algae control. You can also spot treat the algae with 3ml of Hydrogen peroxide 3% to every 1 gallon of tank water (unless you have delicate shrimp). Turn off filters, pull up the correct amount of peroxide and slowly squirt the algae. Leave filters off 20 minutes. Most algae begins dying off within 24 hours.

 

[drfu]

Great info, so its Rhizoclonium, so i have been dosing, though not over dosing, with excel so i hope that will take care of it.m o2 levels being low, will have to do some research on that!

 

[andresdeo]

Unless you have an ongoing diatom issue you really shouldn't use any type of phosphate remover in a planted tank. Phosphate is a macro nutrient that plants need. Liquid carbons do not contain phosphates and aid in photosynthesis and growth. Use them at a rate of 1ml liquid carbon to every 2 gallons of water. It's hard to tell from the picture what type of algae you have but here is a good picture guide for you to look at and compare to the type algae you have.... James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide. Run lighting only 6 hours daily or run it 3 hours, off 2, and on again for 3 or 4 hours. Using a siesta period works very well for algae control. You can also spot treat the algae with 3ml of Hydrogen peroxide 3% to every 1 gallon of tank water (unless you have delicate shrimp). Turn off filters, pull up the correct amount of peroxide and slowly squirt the algae. Leave filters off 20 minutes. Most algae begins dying off within 24 hours.

That is a very nice guide to keep at hand! Thanks for sharing. Hope you get yours under control OP.

 

[drfu]

So here is my water chemistry after my last water change @ 1pm:

Ammonia, not detectable
Nitrite, not detectable
Nitrate, somewhere between 5-20 ppm.....i hate API nitrate test kits, colours are too close!
Ph, somewhere between 7.6 & 7.8, again $&@ API colour cards!
Phosphate, .25-.50 ppm
Copper, not detectable
Kh, 6dKh or 107 ppm

Algae so far has not come back so i would say that Flourish Excel works as advertised so far, will update in a week just to make sure.