Which algae is this?

[ScottS]

It's my first planted tank (46 bowfront) and I thought the anubias would out compete the algae, but no luck.

Don't know how to fight it as I'm not sure what it is. It's mostly clumpy of all things. It has taken over the slate rock (yes, most of that green is vertically stacked and glued slate, it looked great new) and the leaves of the anubias

I have two useless clown plecos and just added otos this week. LFS also sold me a Flying Fox, Otherwise the tank is tetras and corys. They all hid on the other side of the tank when I brought the camera over.

I'm going to start by reducing the light exposure from the hood. I have a Current USA 36" Nova Extreme T-5 2x39W 10K/Freshwater fixture over the tank and no direct sunlight.

No ferts or supplements, just RO water to keep the tetras happy.

Phone camera, sorry for the quality:

 

[BlackMagic]

it look pretty nice with all that green

i think its just normal green algae. snails will do the job

 

[JohnPaul]

Anubias grow WAY too slow to outcompete algae. In order to outcompete algae you need something with relatively rapid growth. A big clump of something like java moss would work, as would anything like anacharis, penneywort, wisteria, hygro, duckweed, frogbit, maybe guppy grass, etc. But slow growers like anubias, java fern, and most crypts & swords are not going to soak up nutrients fast enough to put a dent in algae growth.

Now regarding the algae itself, the picture is hard to make out... how would you describe the algae? Is it soft or hard? Does it come off the slate easily or does it seem to be stubbornly attached? Is it powdery? Does it come off in sheets? etc.

EDIT: This link might help you identify it as well.

 

[ScottS]

That figures, I was trying a low-light, easy beginner plant tank, hence the anubias. I recently added a crypt as well. I had some corkscrew val in the corner, but I think I bleach dipped it too long in my paranoia over snails.

It's best described as clumpy. A siphon will pick some of it up off the leaves, but definitely not all. I'd probably empty the tank before I cleaned off a few of the plants!

I've seen that link and others and still can't figure it out. I do get a bit behind on water changes, as the tank is in my office and to change water, I have to take my 5 gallon jug to the store and buy RO water.

I'll grab a real camera and see if I can't get a better image. Thanks for helping.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Check out this thread...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/updating-the-wpg-rule-theory-69964.html

You get a lot more lumens per watt out of T5s. The old WPG rule is based on T12s, and T5's get about 1.5 to 1.75 times more lum/W. So your 39x2 = 78W of T5 actually is more equivalent to 120-135W, and in a 46g tank that is more like 2.6-2.9 WPG (equivalent) which is medium-high to high light level, so you're going to get more algae growth.

Also, 10,000K lights are pretty bright and (I'm guessing) came with the fixture for SW Reef growth, the plant growth bulbs are usually 5000K to 6500K. That might be contributing to your algae growth - which is pretty wild! I would cut your light cycle down significantly and maybe unscrew one bulb. Also make sure the tank is not receiving any direct sunlight.

The other thing that concerns me is that you're using RO water to do your water changes. While this is the norm for SW aquariua, it certainly is not recommended in a FW aquarium, because it is devoid of necessary minerals (they are added back in with salt in SW). It will cause more problems than it will solve (there is no buffer in RO water, so it is very unstable, and your pH will swing wildly). Just use tap water and add Seachem Prime after/during your PWCs - is it by far the most economical dechlor product.

 

[ScottS]

Just measured my phosphates, I'm showing not much if reading this right:

You can see where I scraped the rock with the edge of the siphon. It comes off, but not easily.

Here's a Crypt that is pretty new to the tank and you can see the algae starting to gather on the edge.

 

[ScottS]

Check out this thread...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/updating-the-wpg-rule-theory-69964.html

You get a lot more lumens per watt out of T5s. The old WPG rule is based on T12s, and T5's get about 1.5 to 1.75 times more lum/W. So your 39x2 = 78W of T5 actually is more equivalent to 120-135W, and in a 46g tank that is more like 2.6-2.9 WPG (equivalent) which is medium-high to high light level, so you're going to get more algae growth.

I've missed that discussion in my research, thanks!

Also, 10,000K lights are pretty bright and (I'm guessing) came with the fixture for SW Reef growth, the plant growth bulbs are usually 5000K to 6500K. That might be contributing to your algae growth - which is pretty wild! I would cut your light cycle down significantly and maybe unscrew one bulb. Also make sure the tank is not receiving any direct sunlight.

It was sold as a freshwater light from Nova, so I presumed it was okay. I was surprised it wasn't one 10k and one 6.5k when I received it though. Maybe it would be best to swap out a 10k for a 6.5k

The other thing that concerns me is that you're using RO water to do your water changes. While this is the norm for SW aquariua, it certainly is not recommended in a FW aquarium, because it is devoid of necessary minerals (they are added back in with salt in SW). It will cause more problems than it will solve (there is no buffer in RO water, so it is very unstable, and your pH will swing wildly). Just use tap water and add Seachem Prime after/during your PWCs - is it by far the most economical dechlor product.

Since I switched to RO, I've had great luck with the fish. I've had Cardinal Tetras last 5 years in almost strictly RO water. Once in a long while I'll add 1 gallon of bottled spring water to 5 gallons of RO water. Our tap is really hard water and the pipes in my office building are 80 years old. Now that I have plants, maybe 95% RO isn't as good of an idea. Keeping wood and RO in the tank has worked for me for years with Amazon region fish.

 

[ScottS]

Anubias grow WAY too slow to outcompete algae. In order to outcompete algae you need something with relatively rapid growth. A big clump of something like java moss would work, as would anything like anacharis, penneywort, wisteria, hygro, duckweed, frogbit, maybe guppy grass, etc. But slow growers like anubias, java fern, and most crypts & swords are not going to soak up nutrients fast enough to put a dent in algae growth.

Now regarding the algae itself, the picture is hard to make out... how would you describe the algae? Is it soft or hard? Does it come off the slate easily or does it seem to be stubbornly attached? Is it powdery? Does it come off in sheets? etc.

EDIT: This link might help you identify it as well.

Figures, I added a Crypt recently. I had some corkscrew val, but I think I bleach dipped it too long in my paranoia of snails one day taking over. Lost a Java fern the same way, but I see it must have spread as I have two small starts in the tank.

Makes sense though. I'll try Vals again and an Anacharis.