Green spot algae

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roydooms

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
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How do you clean you plants with green spot algae? I use a glass razor to scrape them them off the glass because just using the brush won't do it or will require a lot of elbow grease. How do you deal with it on your plants? Mostly the stem plants..
 
Have you tried rubbing it off with your fingers? Be careful not to rip the leaves off the stem when you do this. I would try to figure out why you have GSA to begin with and go from there.
 
meegosh said:
Have you tried rubbing it off with your fingers? Be careful not to rip the leaves off the stem when you do this. I would try to figure out why you have GSA to begin with and go from there.

I tried before and I damaged some leaves. It is on my stem plants. I did some research last night and I think I have 2 factors that might be the cause of GSA in my tank. I have my lights on for 11 hours/day or my low phosphate. Its just that when I dose P it seems like I get more algae(not GSA). So I stopped dosing it. I'll give it another try and dose P again and see what happens and lower my "lights on" to 9-10 hours/day.
 
GSA and hair algae like phosphates. A full blackout for a couple days might do the trick. I would try reducing your photo period back to 8-10 hours a day.
 
BigJim said:
GSA and hair algae like phosphates. A full blackout for a couple days might do the trick. I would try reducing your photo period back to 8-10 hours a day.

Turn off the lights for a few days? How is that going to affect the plants? Turn it on only when feeding? I'll reduce my photo period to 8 hours a day.!

Should I dose phosphates or not? I just checked and it is 0ppm.

Thanks.
 
Turn the lights off for a few days and wrap the tank in an opaque blanket. It works on the same principle as chemo thereapy in that it should kill the bad stuff before the good.

You want to balance your nutrients. You want the phosphate levels to be 10% of your nitrate levels.
 
BigJim said:
Turn the lights off for a few days and wrap the tank in an opaque blanket. It works on the same principle as chemo thereapy in that it should kill the bad stuff before the good.

You want to balance your nutrients. You want the phosphate levels to be 10% of your nitrate levels.

Ok.

No feeding during those days?
 
You said you dose p - sometimes? What else are you dosing and how often? Sounds like a combination of your lights being on too long and a nutrient imbalance. What are your nitrates reading?
 
meegosh said:
You said you dose p - sometimes? What else are you dosing and how often? Sounds like a combination of your lights being on too long and a nutrient imbalance. What are your nitrates reading?

I jut got my new fertilizer order today from aquariumfertilizers.com. I got the MMN mix and iron chelate. Before that I dosed everything. All seachem brand. I stopped dosing phosphates and nitrogen a month ago. Dosing phosphate seems to contribute to algae growth. For the nitrogen, it's always between 5-25ppm. Before and after PWC.
 
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