bballsosh
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have lots of green algae on rocks and my driftwood how do i get rid of it and why do i have it?
Green algae on rocks
- Thread starter bballsosh
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Hoovercat
Aquarium Advice Freak
Could you be more vague?
bballsosh
Aquarium Advice Activist
Greenish algae on my rocks thats what it is
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
This place gives me a great laugh sometimes.
I think what hoovercat was trying to say is could you please provide more specifics about your tank?
Size of tank.
Amount of light including watts and duration of time lights are on.
Planted/not planted.
Do you add ferts.
Age of tank.
Nitrate levels.
A photo of the algae is often helpful too.
fish 'n' fries
Aquarium Advice Freak
And if you can't post a picture...what's the algae like beyond green? Is is slimy sheets or hairs or spots or something else?
bballsosh
Aquarium Advice Activist
its green spotty types of algea on the rocks but its no where else in the tank.
Specs:
10 gal
ac filter
36 watt catalina fixture 8-10 hrs a day
ada as
red sea co2
Plants:
Hc
dwarf hairgrass
Specs:
10 gal
ac filter
36 watt catalina fixture 8-10 hrs a day
ada as
red sea co2
Plants:
Hc
dwarf hairgrass
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
I had something that sounds similar. After I started on an EI schedule with ferts from [b][url]http://www.gregwatson.com[/b][/url] it went away really quick. Do you do regular water changes?
What all this is leading to is that it seems that there are all kinds of algae just waiting to grow if a nutrient drops out or gets too high. You have enough light to enhance this behavior.
I know that the math makes it look like you have 3.6 watts/gallon but that formula seems to change on small tanks. Even so, you do have quite a bit of light. It would probably be worth while getting on some kind of fert. dosing schedule.
What all this is leading to is that it seems that there are all kinds of algae just waiting to grow if a nutrient drops out or gets too high. You have enough light to enhance this behavior.
I know that the math makes it look like you have 3.6 watts/gallon but that formula seems to change on small tanks. Even so, you do have quite a bit of light. It would probably be worth while getting on some kind of fert. dosing schedule.
bballsosh
Aquarium Advice Activist
i just did a water change and have started dosin flourish ferts so i will see if it goes away. But is there anyway to remove it off the rocks since it looks ugly?
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
Only one way that I know of. It takes you and a scrub brush 
Hoovercat
Aquarium Advice Freak
First step would be to remove the affected rocks, etc. and give it a good scrub with diluted bleach. Rinse until the slickness of the bleach is gone then soak in water with declorinator before putting them back into the tank, algae side down.
Once that is done (you were removing spores and decreasing the amount of algae to fight) make sure all nutrients are available (N,P,K, CO2, trace and light) and the algae will die off.
Likely an excess of PO4 is the cause of the algae you're experiencing BTW.
Once that is done (you were removing spores and decreasing the amount of algae to fight) make sure all nutrients are available (N,P,K, CO2, trace and light) and the algae will die off.
Likely an excess of PO4 is the cause of the algae you're experiencing BTW.
Actually, many people have shown that it's only deficiencies that cause algae and not excesses. Phophates often gets a bad rap as causing algae when it gets to high, but is most likely that some other nutrient has bottomed out causing the Phosphate to build up. It's that other nutrient that bottomed out which is the real cause.
With 36watts over this tank, you likely have somewhere between medium and high light. There are a lot of variables including the bulbs in use and the quality of the reflector. Either way the recommended dosing on the Flourish bottles is going to be too low for your setup. You'll need to dose based on target PPM instead.
Test results for Nitrates, Phosphates, KH, and pH would be very helpful in pinpointing your problem.
With 36watts over this tank, you likely have somewhere between medium and high light. There are a lot of variables including the bulbs in use and the quality of the reflector. Either way the recommended dosing on the Flourish bottles is going to be too low for your setup. You'll need to dose based on target PPM instead.
Test results for Nitrates, Phosphates, KH, and pH would be very helpful in pinpointing your problem.
