tanks pearling but i dont think its good

[Salty2freshy]

algee bloom running my lights to long need to cut back,but everything is pearling ,don't think its good either considering its coming off my rocks to!

 

[Salty2freshy]

 

[Salty2freshy]

 

[Rivercats]

If you put water in a white cup is it tinted green? That is an Algae Bloom (green water). Can you post a pic?

If you have a true Algae Bloom you can either do a 3 day total tank black out. No peeking. This will sometimes work but often if any algae is left in the water it can come back.

The other choice will kill the algae within a couple days. Many on this site use this UV sterilizer with very good results... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.

What size tank do you have? What lighting and bulbs are you using? How long are you running lights daily? Is the tank planted? Are you using CO2 or liquid carbon? What ferts are you using?

 

[Salty2freshy]

 

[Salty2freshy]

I have a huge uv light I use for me koi ponds .I was thinking of hooking that up!

 

[Rivercats]

That is not an algae bloom. That is algae a couple different types and the pearling is from lighting obviously running a long time.

So can you answer the questions above and also tell what your nitrate level is. That will give me an idea of what needs to be done to correct this. Some of the algae can be spot treated using Hydrogen Peroxide %.

 

[Salty2freshy]

If you put water in a white cup is it tinted green? That is an Algae Bloom (green water). Can you post a pic?

If you have a true Algae Bloom you can either do a 3 day total tank black out. No peeking. This will sometimes work but often if any algae is left in the water it can come back.

The other choice will kill the algae within a couple days. Many on this site use this UV sterilizer with very good results... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.

What size tank do you have? What lighting and bulbs are you using? How long are you running lights daily? Is the tank planted? Are you using CO2 or liquid carbon? What ferts are you using?

180 gallon
3 x 150 watt HQI
four 1 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps
Built in cooling fans
10,000K HQI Lamp
True Actinic 03 Blue Power compact lamps
turn on anywhere from 8:00 in morning till 8:00 or so at night
recently add black water exstract and
tetras Florapride
running homemade co2 yeast/sugar mix
nitrate was showing 0 in between 20 on the strip
nitrite 0

 

[Rivercats]

Forgot to add that a UV sterilizer won't help with this algae. The golden brown algae is diatoms which are self limiting and will go away after they use all the silicates in the water. Nerite snails are great for eating them. Diatoms are found in all new tanks. Then I see BBA, black beard algae along the edges of some plants.

 

[jetajockey]

That's a massive amount of light for FW planted, explains the algae pearling though.

 

[Rivercats]

I have a 220g 100% planted tank and only run 4x 39w T5HO bulbs with 3- 150w HID Metal Halides. You need to take off some of that lighting. I only also run my lighting 6 hours for the Metal Halides and 8 hours for the T5HO's.

Also DIY CO2 isn't effective in a tank that size IMO. You need to use pressurized CO2 with high light. Also what ferts are you using? You should be using dry ferts because the higher the light and CO2 the faster plants grow which means they need more ferts.

Here's some dry ferts info...

dry fert this $15 package is all you need and will last a couple years... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.html.



You need 3 dosing bottles found at the bottom of this page... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html.



This is a good thread about dosing PPS-Pro. Only read the opening post not all the comments after it.... http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/pps-analysis-feedback/39491-newbie-guide-pps-pro.html.



There are two things I do different from the article. First I use 3 dosing bottles as I split the macro nutrients for better custom dosing to the needs of the tank. Nitrates in one bottle, phosphates and potassium in one bottle, and micro's in the 3rd bottle. The other thing you'll notice the recipe calls for using MgSO4, magnesium sulfate, which you don't need if you have hard tap water with a Gh of 4 or higher.

 

[Salty2freshy]

here is a link to a short video I took you can see how bad it is!!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152028559934695&l=1818782345874449726

 

[Salty2freshy]

I have a 220g 100% planted tank and only run 4x 39w T5HO bulbs with 3- 150w HID Metal Halides. You need to take off some of that lighting. I only also run my lighting 6 hours for the Metal Halides and 8 hours for the T5HO's.

Also DIY CO2 isn't effective in a tank that size IMO. You need to use pressurized CO2 with high light. Also what ferts are you using? You should be using dry ferts because the higher the light and CO2 the faster plants grow which means they need more ferts.

Here's some dry ferts info...

dry fert this $15 package is all you need and will last a couple years... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.html.



You need 3 dosing bottles found at the bottom of this page... http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html.



This is a good thread about dosing PPS-Pro. Only read the opening post not all the comments after it.... http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/pps-analysis-feedback/39491-newbie-guide-pps-pro.html.



There are two things I do different from the article. First I use 3 dosing bottles as I split the macro nutrients for better custom dosing to the needs of the tank. Nitrates in one bottle, phosphates and potassium in one bottle, and micro's in the 3rd bottle. The other thing you'll notice the recipe calls for using MgSO4, magnesium sulfate, which you don't need if you have hard tap water with a Gh of 4 or higher.

thank you so much I have plenty of reading to do i see and thanks for the links and letting me now what i need to get!!

 

[Rivercats]

With the few plants you have you only need the 3 HID MH's run 6 hours daily. I have the T5HO's for very low lighting to extend my tank viewing a couple hours longer.