Brown algae in established aquarium

[jehenry89]

UGH! I have been battling brown algae in this tank as well as the tank I had prior to this and I am so sick of it. In the tank I had before this, I used a phosphate pad and it went away and kept my phosphates at a steady 1ppm. I made a post about it and everyone was like oh no, don't use those and that its an imbalance of something! So I took it out and BAM brown algae again. I have tried using a 5,6,7,8 hour photo period with no signs of it disappearing! I have tried lowering and higher nutrients. Everything I read said that it has to do with the silicates in hard water and water with high phosphate levels, my water tap water is 8.3ph and with phosphates off the charts. I really don't know what else to do and honestly, I am ready to just buy the darn removing pad again just to get rid of it. My lighting is a total of 107 watts with 2 t5 6500k watt bulbs. All the plants I have in the tank are Moderate - High lighting with the exception of my Java Fern and Nana Anubis

I want to know if there is ANYTHING I can do to prevent this darn algae without using the remover. Adding new fish is not an option for me at the moment.

My last readings were:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphates - off the charts (not dosing phosphates at all)
Ph - 7.0 (lowered with Co2)

Schedule:
50% water change 1x a week
1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
(10ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
Filter cleaning - 2x a month
Feeding - 4-5x a week


Please help me

 

[carlrtucker]

I'm assuming diatoms? Do you have a picture?

 

[Fresh2o]

Actually you are adding phosphates: KH2PO4 is Monopotassium phosphate.

I am not sure if the high phosphate level itself is the sole cause of the algae. Are you using a modified PPS Pro regimen?i I am using PPS Pro and was having the opposite readings for nitrate (80+) and phosphate (<1). I have had to double the phosphate dose and skip the nitrate dose.

My 3 PPS Pro contains:
Bottle #1
29g K2SO4 (Potassium Sulfate)
3g KH2PO4
20g MGSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate)

Bottle #2
33g KNO3 (Potassium nitrate)

Bottle #3
40g CSM*B (Trace elements)

 

[Rivercats]

Have you tested your tap water for phosphates? Some fish foods can also release phosphates. My guess is your tap water has a high silicate level. You should be able to get a report from your water supplier to see what levels are in it.

For now stop dosing phosphates until levels drop. Once your start redosing phosphates you might want to dose at a much lower level than your using right now.

If you have phosphates in your tap water you are either going to have to go to using a RO/tap water mix or go back to using a phosphate remover to your filter. Using a phosphate remover in a planted tank isn't a great thing to do but sometimes it has to be done. I've been keeping planted tanks at a very serious level since the 80's and found sometimes you have to do things that aren't the norm in order to fix certain issues. My guess since this is and has been an ongoing issue with several tanks your tap water is the problem. Also some types of substrate, such as certain sand, can release silicates into the water and cause diatom issues.

 

[jehenry89]

Have you tested your tap water for phosphates? Some fish foods can also release phosphates. My guess is your tap water has a high silicate level. You should be able to get a report from your water supplier to see what levels are in it.

For now stop dosing phosphates until levels drop. Once your start redosing phosphates you might want to dose at a much lower level than your using right now.

If you have phosphates in your tap water you are either going to have to go to using a RO/tap water mix or go back to using a phosphate remover to your filter. Using a phosphate remover in a planted tank isn't a great thing to do but sometimes it has to be done. I've been keeping planted tanks at a very serious level since the 80's and found sometimes you have to do things that aren't the norm in order to fix certain issues. My guess since this is and has been an ongoing issue with several tanks your tap water is the problem. Also some types of substrate, such as certain sand, can release silicates into the water and cause diatom issues.

Yes, my phosphates are off the charts out of the tap. I don't dose them at all into the tank however as someon said above, I do use potassium phosphate. Should I stop using that as well?

 

[jehenry89]

Actually you are adding phosphates: KH2PO4 is Monopotassium phosphate.

I am not sure if the high phosphate level itself is the sole cause of the algae. Are you using a modified PPS Pro regimen?i I am using PPS Pro and was having the opposite readings for nitrate (80+) and phosphate (<1). I have had to double the phosphate dose and skip the nitrate dose.

My 3 PPS Pro contains:
Bottle #1
29g K2SO4 (Potassium Sulfate)
3g KH2PO4
20g MGSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate)

Bottle #2
33g KNO3 (Potassium nitrate)

Bottle #3
40g CSM*B (Trace elements)

Sorry, I have never heard of that term before, can you explain to me what it is?