Controlling algae in a fluval spec

[Caliban07]

At one point I was dosing about 10 mL of half strength Metricide 14 per day with no ill effects to the amanos and otos. I did have to work up to that level over a few weeks. That was before I started using pressurized CO2. I only dose now when I see BBA.


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There you go. It can be done.


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[Delapool]

I'd hold out on 3ml for now. Whilst looking for that thread I've come across a few as far as toxicity is concerned and the consensus seems to be to stick to the recommended levels. It's obvious to me that, if you have a heavily planted tank the excel is broken down much faster and so adding more may be necessary but I'd hate to tell you to add more and then you have issues. Seachem also state that you should see positive, healthy growth by using the recommended levels. I'll leave it up to you to decide if you need more. You can observe your tank and look for changes.

Do you notice any difference in plants growth?

References:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...ty-decomposition.html#/topics/85626?_k=n7f9zl

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/flourish-excel-is-glutaraldehyde.170441/page-4

http://www.aquahobby.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=45544

http://www.barrreport.com/forum/barr-report/co2-enrichment/4356-glutaraldehyde

Seek out the posts by plantbrain. The reason for this Is because he has tested the stuff under lab conditions. Either that or he is endorsed by Seachem. I doubt it though.


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That's an interesting comment in the last post in the last thread of "A few chinese hobbysists have tried high concentrations of glutaraldehyde to kill both algae and fish infections. The algaecide effects were positive, but the antibiotic effects were controversial."

I haven't really found any use for it as an anti-septic. It should be but at double or triple dose (or say roughly 1 to 2ppm) it doesn't seem to achieve much.

 

[Stacey W.]

Following.
You can also try a break in your light cycle. It's like a plant siesta. Is sounds like imo depleting your CO2 quickly with your lighting you are using. I understand without getting to technical terms that excel may help with this problem(it hasn't for me). But by giving your plants a break and decreasing the demand on them, just give them a 2 hour break. In combination with decreasing your bioload you should see some results.

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[Barliman]

I'd hold out on 3ml for now. Whilst looking for that thread I've come across a few as far as toxicity is concerned and the consensus seems to be to stick to the recommended levels. It's obvious to me that, if you have a heavily planted tank the excel is broken down much faster and so adding more may be necessary but I'd hate to tell you to add more and then you have issues. Seachem also state that you should see positive, healthy growth by using the recommended levels. I'll leave it up to you to decide if you need more. You can observe your tank and look for changes.

Do you notice any difference in plants growth?

Thanks, pal, and thanks also for the links. I haven't noticed any difference in growth, but it's been less than a week. I'll stop at 3ml and see how things proceed from there. From research, I think my problem is either a) nitrogen shortage; b) carbon shortage; or c) both.

Death to algae,

 

[cherokeeluvr]

Been dosing for about a week now. Haven't seen any improvements, just more algae growing. I switched back to the stock led. It's soo much weaker, hopefully that'll stop the algae. It's not even fun having a tank when it's just an ugly mess :/


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[Stacey W.]

How about trying the siesta then and decreasing your bioload. I had great success with it. As I said excel didn't work for me.

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[Caliban07]

If excel isn't working then there are other factors that need addressing. By rights, liquid carbon should work provided your lighting is not too intense. Then you just need add non limiting nutrients. More often than not, when you have lots of algae you have to physically remove it before addressing the cause otherwise it can just keep proliferating. Flow around the tank would be another area to look at.

Failing all that, you may have to start injecting gas in to the system or stick with the small array of plants that can tolerate low co2 levels.


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[cherokeeluvr]

Update: With having the stock light on the tank and dosing, there is no more algae growing!


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[Caliban07]

Excellent! What and how have you been dosing?


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[cherokeeluvr]

Excellent! What and how have you been dosing?


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A couple ml of metricide almost daily. The algae is going away too, since my shrimp are able to keep up with it!


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[Caliban07]

Nice one ??


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