All kinds of algae ;0

[bkiggy]

40g all planted. Probably 10 plants. Have 15 Cory's, 2 USD cat, 12 Chela Danios, BN Pleco,, seems with in 2 weeks or so, Green Spot Algae, Green Hair Algae and Black Hair Algae has appeared. No CO2 system but I add Seachem Excel almost every night.
I do 50% WC every week.
PH 7
Nitrites 0
Ammonia +/- .25 prime gives false positive
Nitrates 30+/-
Tank been up and running 8 months.
Fluval 406 filter

 

[GNarnian]

How long do you keep your lights on? A long photo period tends to promote algae growth

 

[bkiggy]

9/10 hours 2 T5 6500k natural light

 

[GNarnian]

That's a lot of light for only 10 plants or so. My guess is that the lights are just on for too long. I know someone much more experienced in planted tanks will probably chime in here, but from my reading, I'd try cutting down the light time by 3 hours or so. A lot of people on here say to use Excel, which tends to kill off algae. Not sure if it would take care of all your algae problems though.

Hope that helps!

 

[Rivercats]

When dealing with algae only run your lights for 6 hours until it's under control. Then you can increase lighting to no more than 8 hours daily as long as algae stays away.

Using Excel at night won't help with anything. Liquid carbon needs to be added in the morning when lights come on so it can aid plants in photosynthesis and growth which allows the plants to use more nutrients from the water and help starve out algae. Liquid carbon also only stays in solution for 12-24 hours. How much are you adding to your tank daily? You might want to increase it to 1ml liquid carbon to every 5 gallons of water.

Another thing your nitrates are alittle high. Try getting them below 20ppm. I keep mine around 10ppm.

Lastly you can spot treat BBA and Hair Algae with Excel or Hydrogen Peroxide. You can pull up 2-3ml of Excel or Peroxide to every 10 gallons of tank water then slowly squirt the algae as close to it as possible. If using peroxide turn off your filter and lights for 15-20 minutes while treating. If you have alot you will have to do an area a day as you can only use the above amounts safely for treating. Also if you use Excel as a spot treater you need to count that as your daily dose and not add more.

 

[bkiggy]

The bottle said 1 cap for 10g , so 4 cap full at night. I will add 4 cap full during the day now - I also use Flourish fertilizer tabs in gravel and liquid

 

[aqua_chem]

Liquid carbon also only stays in solution for 12-24 hours

Seachem disagrees. I emailed them about this a while ago challenging the statement that there was a 12h half life. Glutaraldehyde, chemically speaking, is stable, so their should be a degrading half life without a biological or extrinsic chemical component. Specifically, I asked if bacteria were responsible for the half life.

My Email to them:

I'm writing to inquire about the nature of Seachem Excel's in-tank halflife. I've read from multiple sources that said half life is about 12 hours, but I'm wondering about the nature of it. Is the half life a result of the absorption by plants during their photocycle, an inherent instability of the molecule in the tank, or a result of interaction with the tanks ecology, specifically the native heterotrophic and chemoautotrophic bacteria. I ask because I'm wondering if dosing excel during a blackout will help eradicate the algae, or if the addition of excel during an extended dark cycle will only potentially harm inhabitants as it builds up due to a reduction in its breakdown.

Their response:

Thanks for the email and for your interest in Flourish Excel. I would first like to point out that Flourish Excel is not an algaecide, therefore, we cannot recommend it to be used in that manner. This is certainly a known side effect of the product when overdosed, and does not work on all species of algae.

They have to say this. If they advertised it as an algaecidal product, they would be subject to fairly harsh regulation, likely by the EPA or something.

Continued:

There is no instability of the molecule, so that is certainly not of concern. In a relatively "clean" (i.e periodic water changes) the primary mechanism is absorption by the plants. Furthermore, the reaction that takes place is a chemical interaction with other chemicals in the tank, not with bacteria. This interaction occurs much more rapidly than absorption by the plants. With that being said, at night or in the dark, plants will slow down their uptake, therefore, the Flourish Excel may build up slightly, however, this should not be an issue, and may even help with an algae problem if you have one. Again, we do not recommend overdosing the product, so if you choose to use it in this manner, please use caution.

Last sentence is also for compliance.

Buy yea, that surprised me. Certainly opens a can of worms regarding dosing, but it is probably time independent.



Also, you said you had T5... T5HO or T5NO? Who makes the fixture?

 

[Rivercats]

That's interesting as I was doing some reading on liquid carbons and can't remember if it was from seachem but it talked about how things like a higher bioload actually breaks down the liquid carbon faster. I'll see if I can find that as it was an interesting read.

 

[Rivercats]

Something else about the use caution when overdosing... on the Excel bottle it actually states "dosing may be slowly increased in high production aquariums". Yet it gives no actual guidelines. This is what actually prompted me to start increasing my dosage which has made a big difference. So I'm assuming with the crazy plant growth I get the plants are utilizing the extra liquid carbon.

 

[aqua_chem]

They don't give any guidelines on Flourish Comp for increasing dosing with larger plantload either. One sizes does not fit all.

 

[Rivercats]

Found one of the threads I read involving a Seachem rep. The most interesting part is the second statement by the rep clearly stating that factors such as organic bioload, plants, and other things which they did not list effect the breakdown and use of Excel. I noticed Seachem talks about Excel being available for 24 hours but it's based on testing on a very specific tank setting. IMO I really don't think Excel or Glut is available for 24 hours except under perfect "lab" conditions. I just think there are too many outside variables that can and do influence its availability time in the aquarium and it's different for each individual tank. Excel overdose on Change Day - Seachem - Aquatic Plant Central

 

[bkiggy]

T5 HO 6500K Coral life

 

[aqua_chem]

It's probably just a case of too much light - too few nutrients. BBA and GSA are both signs of insufficient nutrients (CO2 and PO4, respectively).

 

[bkiggy]

What's PO 4 ? To much or not enough

 

[aqua_chem]

Phosphate, not enough.

 

[bkiggy]

Got Nerite Snails to help eat algae and 5 new plants

 

[Old Scales]

Bkiggy,
Have you ever tested your Phosphate level? People in here have said It can be an issue with algae also. Rivercats, Aqua-chem, what's your feelings about Phosphates? OS.

 

[bkiggy]

I have never tested phosphate. I was always told algae grows when PO4 is to HIGH = nitrate high

 

[aqua_chem]

In my opinion, too little phosphate or too little nitrate is associated with more problems than too much. GSA with low phosphate levels is pretty classic and frequently observed. Likewise, BGA will hit you like a sack of potatoes if you let nitrate run out.


As far as too much? Unless you get to fairly large levels, it's probably not an issue. I honestly don't think that high nutrient levels are correlated to much of anything. In fact, when I have almost any algae, the first thing I'll do is increase nutrient levels.

 

[bkiggy]

Thanks aqua chem