New Lights and Algae

[Noah0504]

After about a year of running my 29 gallon tank with the stock 17 watt light fixture, I finally decided to upgrade!

On a budget, I went with 2 24" Aqueon T5 Dual Lamp (long story as to why I bought the 24" and not the 30"). This is now giving me 56 watts of lighting.

My plants are thriving. The anubias I've had almost a year has sprouted a new leaf in one week and the ruffle plant I have seems to sprout a new leaf every other day! The only other plant I have in the tank is a crypt and a couple of Japanese dwarf rushes that never did too well (hoping that changes).

As you can tell, I now have quite a bit of algae growth over the last 2 weeks. I do have a CO2 system and I also started dosing with Flourish once to twice a week.

Starting this afternoon, I'm only keeping one light on. The light run for about 10-11 hours a day. I feed once every day or every other day. There usually isn't and food that isn't gobbled up and I have a pleco in the tank.

Just looking for some advice and guidance. Keep one light on until it rides its course? Do water changes affect it one way or another?

Thanks in advanced!

 

[aqua_chem]

Well, what kind of algae? A 10h photoperiod is a little on the longer side as well.

 

[Noah0504]

Well, I guess I'm not too sure. On the gravel line against the side of the tank it looks like brown algae. On the decorations in the tank and some of the plants, I'm seeing a greenish/black algae. On some of the plants it quite long.

How many hours a day do you recommend for the lights to be on?

 

[aqua_chem]

6-8h is usually good. Lower end if the tank isn't going strong, more if it's all doing fine.

That can either be diatoms or blue green algae (BGA/Cyanobacteria). Google both and tell me which it looks like.

 

[Noah0504]

I'll definitely change the timer to keep the lights on for about 7 hours.

From the looks of some of the pictures I saw, I'd definitely say my problem is BGA. However, some of what looks like is growing on the glass at the gravel line seemed to be diatoms. Bigger problem looks like BGA though.

 

[aqua_chem]

What's your filtration, nitrate levels, and water change regimen? Also, if you could get a pick on here, that would be very helpful.

 

[Noah0504]

I have the Aqua-Tech 30-60 (Aqua-Tech 30-60 Power Filter - Walmart.com).

From the test, it looks like the nitrates are about 20PPM.

I usually do a water change 2 a month, but lately have been doing them much more often due to a fish with ich. I've also had the temperature higher. Sorry for not mentioning this in the original post. I'm not sure if that would matter.

I can post pictures in the morning. Tank lights are off and I don't want to turn them on for just that.

I also plan on placing an order for plants soon (next day or so). Would this help or hurt the cause. I seem to see that heavier planted tanks don't succumb to algae as easily because the plants are using up the resources.

 

[Noah0504]

Sorry for the late reply with pictures, but here are two. You can see it's on my anubias and on my ruffle plant and crypt. It's mostly on the edges of the plant. In some places you can see it looks like hair a bit. Coming off the plant in stands.

Since I originally posted, I've decreased the amount of time the lights are on, kept CO2 injection and added some more plants to the tank. I'm hoping things will work themselves out. It hasn't gotten any worse and I plan on maybe trimming the leaves that got it the worst.