ick algae!!!

[Guest]

Ok, when the green spot algae started growing on my terracotta pots i was thinking.. ok that's fine, it looks natural. When i got some on the sides i thought "no problem... it comes off with the mag float"
Well now i have this hair like algae growing everywhere... mostly on the plants. At first i thought it might be some overgrown roots but its growing on all the plants. Its green and hairy.

I have a 15 watt bulb on this 10 gallon tank. 1.5 wpg. I also have an aquaclear 30 going. It has all live plants and i fertilize with 5ml of plant gro about once a week... when i do my 50 percent water change.

you can see the stock in my signature of plants and fish. So my question is.. why this overabundance of algae??? I never get algae in my 55 gallon tank and i use the same water for both tanks. i even tried not dosing the plant gro for a while but that didn't help anything. So even though this is a low light tank set up.. do i need to add a co2 system??? What can i do?? I Have great algae eaters, 2 oto's, 1 bristlenose pleco... apple snails... or so i thought. ANy ideas?? HELP? LOL

 

[TankGirl]

You have a very heavy bioload for this tank, so I would say an overabundance of nutrients is the problem. I'd increase your PWC schedule to every other day, or reduce your bioload and add some fast growing stem plants to utilize some of the nutrients.

 

[Guest]

well i just did a 50% water change. So should i stop adding the plantgro altogether as well? If i am doing a water change every day to everyother day (it only takes about 10 minutes to do a water change since the tank sits right about the sink) Then its going to be almost impossible to fertilize.. LOL. The anacharis is a stem plant and its growing pretty good... ive heard it sucks up nutrients like crazy.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I think water sprite or some hygrophila species suck up nutrients,I guess faster than anachris.I have some water sprite and hygros in my 30 which is going through a bacterial bloom with high NH3,nitrites,and nitrates and I took out the water sprite to put in another tank and the tank water got cloudy and I just put it back in.The water is slowly clearing up with the help of the plants and large water changes every other day.HTH

 

[Guest]

well i don't have any ammonia or nitrites... i just tested my water... but my nitrates were up around 20-40.. and a few days ago they were like 5... so i guess i found my problemo... the tank is producing more bioload than the plants can take care of sooo i am going to up my water changes... gonna do 50% daily for at least a week.. or as long as it takes for me to see a decrease in the algae growth. Once that balances out i can go to every other day and eventually maybe twice a week... but if i continue to see problems then i will have to keep up with every other day to every day.

Should i continue testing the water every day or can i test it once a week even though im doing water changes so often? Cuz i usually test the water AFTER i do water changes.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Are you maybe feeding the fish too much?

 

[Guest]

Are you maybe feeding the fish too much?

well i don't think so since its always consumed pretty quick when i feed but it is a possibility. I will also try to underfeed this week and see if things improve... but im still leaving a zuchini slice for my oto and pleco because even though there is adequate algae i don't want them to starve ... however i will only put in one slice this week .. i usually put a slice in every other day.

 

[travis simonson]

I keep Africans with plants and have to say that they can poop more nutrients out than any ferts that I can give them. I've gotten down to feeding them once every-other day. Give that a shot and step up your filtration or weed out the big fish you don't want. It's one or the other

 

[TankGirl]

If you continue to have problems I would consider moving some of the fish out. I think you have enough fish for a 20 gal.

 

[Guest]

I keep Africans with plants and have to say that they can poop more nutrients out than any ferts that I can give them. I've gotten down to feeding them once every-other day. Give that a shot and step up your filtration or weed out the big fish you don't want. It's one or the other

The african's are in my 55 gallon... the 10 gallon is a completely different setup However the PlantGro add's iron and im not sure if i need that in the tank or not?

If you continue to have problems I would consider moving some of the fish out. I think you have enough fish for a 20 gal.

ah but that is a subject for a completely different thread I do not see algae as a threat to the fish's well being... merely a sign that as you said there is an overabundance of nutrients and that i need to do more maintenance. I see many people with very low bioloads that still have algae problems. The fish are all thriving. Bright colors, active and eating with no agression issues.

 

[Guest]

well with my water change yesterday and today i did another one.. about 70% of the water.. i just tested my nitrates and they are the color between 5 and 10 ppm which is good right? If i continue to do these daily water changes and my nitrates stay around 10ppm that should be enough to fertilize the plants but keep the algae down to a minimum.

I think the fish are enjoying the cleaner water!!! both of my oto's are gliding along the front of the glass... hopefully munching algae.. lol.