I'm Green, But Not With Envy

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talenzmeier

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 10, 2003
Messages
126
Location
St. Paul, MN USA
Greetings Fellow Aquarists!

I am in the midst of doing battle with my first algae bloom and I need your wise counsel. First, I have the ubiquitous green algae that discolors my water and I also have string algae that has attached itself to my plants.

Here are the facts as of last evening:

Tank: Oceanic 37 gallon Show

Filtration: Currently an Emperor 280 and a brand new Fluval 304. I'm running both simultaneously.

Livestock: 7 Danios, 12 Neon Tetras, 4 Cardinal Tetras, 4 Gouramis, 4 German Rams, 1 Gold Nugget Plecostomus, and 1 Dwarf Angelfish (the Angelfish was put into the tank on Wednesday).

Plants: 2 Amazon Sword Plants, 1 Annubias, 4 Pygmy Chain Swords, 6 Rotala Indica, and 6 Anubias Frazeri. The plants have a Coralife fluorescent lighting system, 28 inches and 65 watts. Up until this past weekend, the light was running for 12 hours a day. I have since cut it back to about 7 hours per day.

Here’s the latest chemistry: pH = 7.25, NO3 = 5.0 (Nitrate), NO2 (Nitrite)= < 0.3, PO4 (pH) = 1.5, KH = 7, GH = 13 The Nitrate and Phosphate testing equipment is from Red Sea and the rest is from Tetra

For the last week or so I have been using Kent Marine’s pH Minus to try and bring the pH below or around 7.0. Interestingly, the pH is always lower in the morning than in the evening.

I have a gravel substrate.
 
Well the best method seems to be taking away light. Turn off all tank lights, cover tank with towels and leave for a few days. Shouldn't do too much harm to your plants but the algae is much simpler. Also stop feeding the fish for a few days and of course do a water change. Algae blooms are generally the result of too much nutrients so figure out if you can reduce the amount of regular feeding you do. Light is the catalyst that will set off the chain reaction so you might also be giving too much light.

But a lot of people find that they get algae blooms using pH adjusting chemicals. A natural way of brining the pH down would be peat filtration or else using CO2 in your tank, which of course the plants will love.
 
IMHO, I'm guessing those phosphates are the source of the algae bloom. I've read elsewhere when PO4 rises above 0.03/4 ppm algae rears its ugly head. Are you putting in fertilizer for the plants? If so, theres your source.

Just out of curiousity, whats a "dwarf angel"? I keep angelfish, and none of the big breeders sells anything like that. That being said, I do have an angelfish which has not grown past quarter size, but I attribute that to a genetic deformity and would never breed him (tho he is absolutely adorable).
 
I agree, don't use chemicals if you don't have to.

Use CO2, peat or driftwood (the real kind) ... driftwood works slowly, and might discolor your water, co2 and peat work quickly and should be watched closely.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/co2-narten.html

there's a good article to get you started on CO2

As you add CO2 to your filter, you will notice your PH drop over the course of 8 or more hours (if it drops faster, you're adding too much co2) ... my co2 addition has taken my ph from ~7.4 to ~6.8, which is a bit more than I'd wanted, but my 'generator' is fresh, so I'm hoping it will 'simmer down' the next few days.

another method to control your PH is to use RO water - walmart here sells RO water for 39 cents a gallon, I've seen some fish stores charge as much as 75 cents/gallon. You mix the RO with your tap water until your batch shows the PH you want.
 
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=3250

Green Water Cure! Diatom filtration see the above link. If you don't have a magnum at your disposal, contact your lfs and see if they rent diatom filters. your green water will be gone in less than 1 day, I guarantee it.

The string algae is another matter. The fact of the matter is, it isn't any one element that causes algae blooms, it is an IMBALANCE of nutrients that causes it.

The link glmcell gave you to theKrib will get you to a site that can explain nutrient balancing far better than I can.

One other thing I firmly believe, the addition of co2 to your tank should enable your plants to utilize nutrients before the algae can, thus reducing algae blooms.
 
talenzmeier:

Saw your same question on WetWebMedia's daily Q&A. Didn't believe us? *grin* Actually, I'll often post a question in a couple of forums just to broaden my knowledge base. Was kinda neat to realise I was reading a question I had responded to elsewhere tho.

Btw, I see Ananda asked the same question as I. What IS the dwarf angel? Were you able to find out?
 
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