Im having algae problems in my planted tank. I have this type of algae that is fuzzy looking growing on the leaves of my plants. I also know that I have hair algae as well in my tank. I have a 120 gallon tank. The lighting that I am using is a 4x65 watt compact and the light strip that came with my tank. I run both of them on a timer. I run a 12hr cycle on my lights, two hours of low light, and 10 hours of high light. And I practically have a well balance tank. My plants are doing very well, they are going a lot of roots, but they look ugly because of the algae that is on that leaves. How can I fix this problem.
Algae Problem In a Planted Tank
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Peyton
Aquarium Advice FINatic
IMHO IF, and thats a big if, you can find them, siamese algae eaters are the only thing that will eat beard/hair algae. I would say 1 for every 20 gallons. Also a good compliment of otto's are always a good idea at all around cleanup. I think 1 otto for every 10 gallons is a good rule of thumb. Again, IMHO of course.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
The cause of the algae is probably due to a nutrient imbalance. Your nitrates should be around 10-15ppm, and your phosphates should be around 1-1.5ppm. Also, you may want to dose Potassium, as that will help greatly in the plants uptake of the other nutrients. Are you running CO2?
The SAE's get to be five to six inches long. The Otos only get to be about 1 - 2 inches long. Oto's are harder to keep alive although the longer your tank has been established the better chance you have of keeping them healthy. Otos only eat brown algae whereas SAE's eat most types of algae - including beard algae.
Around here both fish sell for $2.99 - $3.99.
Algae is usually caused by over fertilization, too much sunlight or over feeding. Other than that someone with more experience with algae can comment as I'm learning myself.
Around here both fish sell for $2.99 - $3.99.
Algae is usually caused by over fertilization, too much sunlight or over feeding. Other than that someone with more experience with algae can comment as I'm learning myself.
That is one thing that I dont know is my nitrate levels because I still need to get a test kit for that and also for potassium. For fertilizing I use tropica master grow, but I only fertilize once a week with it. I also use kent freshwater supplement and I use that as directed. I not really familiar with the plant dosing so thats why I just use the liquid supplements and use them as directs. Im currently not running co2 right now, but Im going to be running a co2 injection system in the next 2 weeks. Also what will cause come leaves on a plant to have black spots.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
For the planted tank, the only test kits you should have are ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate. You could also get gh and kh to test your water hardness as well. But other test kits like potassium, iron, etc, are not good for our use, as at our levels that we need, they are very inaccurate. But the 2 most important ones are nitrate and phosphate. They should be at a 10:1-20:1 ratio.
Yea those are the two test kits i dont have. Do you think that when i get the co2 system hooked up to my tank that the algae will start to diminish, because i want to keep from putting more fish in my tank, and also do you think that i have the correct lighting on my tank that will work good with my co2 system.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
As for lighting, you are definitely in need of CO2. And for the timers, I would probably shift it a little more, 4 hours low light, and 8 hours high light. That may help a little as well. But for your algae problem, more than likely it has to do with nutrients. Either too much of one or another, or one drops out to 0 and gives the algae the advantage.
A couple more questions, how densly is the tank planted? What do you currently dose, and how often?
A couple more questions, how densly is the tank planted? What do you currently dose, and how often?
Black spots on the leaves of plants is probably BBA (Black Brush Algae). This is usually caused by low, fluctuating levels of CO2. Getting CO2 levels consistantly up above 30ppm will halt the spread of BBA. Overdosing Flourish Excel or applying it directly to the leaves of affected plants works well in removing the existing BBA. Otherwise you'll probably need to remove the affected leaves.
The Tropica Master Grow is a good Micro fert. The Kent Freshwater Plant Suppliment is another Micro fert. You really don't need to be dosing to different Micro ferts. I would recommend sticking with just the Tropica Master Grow. In addition to this you'll probably need to pick up ferts for Nitrates, Phosphates, and Potassium. Definately the Potassium.
While you're at you'll want to make sure that you have pH and KH liquid test kits. These will allow you to determine your CO2 levels, which is very important when injecting CO2. It's also a good idea to pick up Phosphate and Nitrate liquid test kits as LoneWolfBlue mention. Those are the core kits that are of benefit with freshwater plants. You can run a planted tank without them, but it requires have a much better feel for the cause of plant deficiencies, algae outbreaks, and other problems. Once you get a feel for your tank and aquatic plants in general, you'll find yourself testing a lot less often.
The Tropica Master Grow is a good Micro fert. The Kent Freshwater Plant Suppliment is another Micro fert. You really don't need to be dosing to different Micro ferts. I would recommend sticking with just the Tropica Master Grow. In addition to this you'll probably need to pick up ferts for Nitrates, Phosphates, and Potassium. Definately the Potassium.
While you're at you'll want to make sure that you have pH and KH liquid test kits. These will allow you to determine your CO2 levels, which is very important when injecting CO2. It's also a good idea to pick up Phosphate and Nitrate liquid test kits as LoneWolfBlue mention. Those are the core kits that are of benefit with freshwater plants. You can run a planted tank without them, but it requires have a much better feel for the cause of plant deficiencies, algae outbreaks, and other problems. Once you get a feel for your tank and aquatic plants in general, you'll find yourself testing a lot less often.
Hydrogen Peroxide
I just learned of this from a LFS that is really well educated and has tone of experience. But they suggested H2O2, Hydrogen Peroxide. Just a drop or 2 per 10 gallons. I'm trying it now, but it makes sense to me from my old chem classes. H2O2 in water will dissasociate to H2O and O whish doesnt seem that harmful. The free oxygen atom will oxidize the simplest single cell organisms first, like algae. I'm on day 2 and I already see the algae bubbling off as the oxygen attom binds to it.
I just learned of this from a LFS that is really well educated and has tone of experience. But they suggested H2O2, Hydrogen Peroxide. Just a drop or 2 per 10 gallons. I'm trying it now, but it makes sense to me from my old chem classes. H2O2 in water will dissasociate to H2O and O whish doesnt seem that harmful. The free oxygen atom will oxidize the simplest single cell organisms first, like algae. I'm on day 2 and I already see the algae bubbling off as the oxygen attom binds to it.
this may sound like a stupid question but is there a chart to determine how much co2 you have in your tank and i just want to get an opinion how do people feel about putting hydrogen peroxide in there tank to get rid of algae. Its not that i dont believe you jerman but i have fish in my tank that i dont want to take a chance of dieing because there are expensive and very fragile. What levels do you want your nitrates to be at.
Hydrogen Peroxide is an effective treatment against algae, however if used excessively it can harm plants and fish. Some have used as a dip much like you would with bleach, and have had similar results to bleach in that it kills algae but can also kill more delicate plants.
There are many charts out there for determining CO2. If you scroll down slightly in this link you'll find a chart. You could also download Chuck's Calculator which will calculate CO2 among other things. Or you could just use the following formula: CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * dKH * 10^( 7-pH )
Make sure to check the CO2 levels from some tap water that has been sitting for 24 hours or has been aerated for an hour to ensure that the above calculations are valid. If the tap water doesn't measure at approximately 3ppm, you have other buffers in your water which make measuring CO2 more difficult. If this is the case there are some other methods that you can use.
More conservative recommendations suggest 20-25ppm of CO2, most around here will recommend that you try for 30-35ppm instead. This seems to be much more effective at dealing with algae and has been shown to be perfectly safe for fish at even more elevated levels.
For Nitrate you will probably want to aim for 10-20ppm. It's recommended that you keep a 1ppm Phosphates to 10-20ppm Nitrates ratio. However as you gain more experience you can play with these numbers more and may find that a slightly different ratio works better for your tank. You'll want to dose approximately 20ppm Potassium over the course of a week.
There are many charts out there for determining CO2. If you scroll down slightly in this link you'll find a chart. You could also download Chuck's Calculator which will calculate CO2 among other things. Or you could just use the following formula: CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * dKH * 10^( 7-pH )
Make sure to check the CO2 levels from some tap water that has been sitting for 24 hours or has been aerated for an hour to ensure that the above calculations are valid. If the tap water doesn't measure at approximately 3ppm, you have other buffers in your water which make measuring CO2 more difficult. If this is the case there are some other methods that you can use.
More conservative recommendations suggest 20-25ppm of CO2, most around here will recommend that you try for 30-35ppm instead. This seems to be much more effective at dealing with algae and has been shown to be perfectly safe for fish at even more elevated levels.
For Nitrate you will probably want to aim for 10-20ppm. It's recommended that you keep a 1ppm Phosphates to 10-20ppm Nitrates ratio. However as you gain more experience you can play with these numbers more and may find that a slightly different ratio works better for your tank. You'll want to dose approximately 20ppm Potassium over the course of a week.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've used HP and got rid of some hair algae and BBA. My dosage was 2oz. in my 29G.
What dosage should i use in my tank for hydrogen peroxide. I have a 120 gallon. These are the delicate fish in my tank that i have and i want an opinion if it will be safe to put the hydrogen peroxide in the tank with these fish. I have two german blue rams, two bolivian rams, golden nugget pleco and a royal zebra stripe pleco.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
To be on the safe side, I probably wouldn't do more than 5oz, evenly spread out. Don't pour it in all in one spot. But do realize that it is hard on the system, can affect the fish and plants.
Plantbrain
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2006
- Messages
- 284
The best approach is not even consider H2O2, or other algae killers, rather, learn to grow the plants.
Then you have no more algae issues and the ones that are left, are easy to prune away after a some new growth of plants fills in.
Stop algae before it's covered everything in your tank.
If you keep having issues, you generally are not adding enough plant biomass when to start a tank or CO2.
Adding nutrients is a very straight forward process, adding CO2 is not always easy but most can get a hold of it by watching the plants and measuring.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Then you have no more algae issues and the ones that are left, are easy to prune away after a some new growth of plants fills in.
Stop algae before it's covered everything in your tank.
If you keep having issues, you generally are not adding enough plant biomass when to start a tank or CO2.
Adding nutrients is a very straight forward process, adding CO2 is not always easy but most can get a hold of it by watching the plants and measuring.
Regards,
Tom Barr
How do you measure potassium. What does a better job of eating all types of algae, siamese algae eaters or the otto's. For co2 system do people recommend a system that is use with a ph controller or a sytem that is used on a timer.
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