Not the best of starts...

[Satsumas]

I am currently setting up my first high light - heavily planted tank and it's not going brilliantly at the moment.

The tank is a 20gal long with a 96W CF light fixture, Fluval 205 but no CO2 at the moment. I made a mistake when i bought the cabomba, hornwort and elodea to soak up the nutrients to prevent any algae outbreaks and not having the CO2 on and working.
I have no yeast either at the moment so i can't make a CO2 solution, there is some algae growing in the corner and on the heater but i could empty the tank and remove it all. Im guessing this is the best bet? so i'll do it when i have the CO2 ingredients.

Luckily i have no fish yet but the tank is cycled and i'd ideally want to remove all the algae, plan the hardscape and then add the plants - groundcover first.
There is a diatom outbreak which doesn't look particularly nice but i'm not too bothered about them as i hear they burn themselves out and algae eating fish like oto's should eat them.

I also should be dosing with ferts at this point shouldnt i?
With the 'weeds' i plan on keeping them healthy and soaking up the nutrients whilst i plant up with the plants i plan on keeping.

 

[Purrbox]

I would cut back on your lighting (both duration and amount) and not dose any ferts until after you get the CO2 in place.

 

[Sicklid]

One thing to understand, that I have learned is to make changes gradually... You can clean the algae, but then you will get it again. Be patient! Algae outbreaks usually dissapear just as fast as they appeared. Not all the time, but whatever the cause, if you do a total teardown just to clean a little algae you will make yourself crazy. PATIENCE... Correct the problem at hand: get your C02 going. I am doing my little 2.5 gallon planted and I have already gone through two outbreaks, one of diatoms and another of blue green algae. This is totally normal. Try a change in lighting as Purrbbox suggested... Or experiment with something else. The key is not to get discouraged.

 

[Satsumas]

Right, i've changed the lighting duration, i can't change the amount of watts over the tank.
I have a standard U.S plug and then a 2 pin adaptor which i don't know how to use and what it actually does!

The light is on for about 6-8 hours instead of 10, i hope that helps a little.

When i finally get hold of some yeast would it be best to take out the plants (the elodea and hygro's are covered in algae) clean them, then try to clean as much algae off the tank as possible? Then when i get the CO2 working the plants should steal most of the nutrients.

TIA

 

[Sicklid]

Definitely. Try a peroxide dip, that will knock the algae off of your plants. Look around this forum for ho to do it safely. Also, I have posted another thread here about a "siesta period" in which you turn your lights out briefly in the middle of your photo period, and supposedly that helps fight algae. I am still fighting an algae bloom, maybe we both should watch that thread. I am going to try it and I will let you know if it works. I know you want fast results, but that is not the name of this game!

 

[Satsumas]

Today i decided to clean up the tank as best i could. I started by cutting off the new and bright green shoots on the elodea and cabomba so i could replant them at the end.
Then i took out all the algae covered plants, thoroughly scraped the algae off the glass, heater and filter intake and powerhead.
After that i stirred up the gravel and done a big water change, getting as much of the algae on the substrate as possible.

I then planted all the little cuttings and i have 31 of them! The substrate is quite well covered now.
My biggest problem is the fact that i still don't have any yeast! As soon as i can get my hands on some i'll make up a solution.

The light is on for about 6-8 hours a day and i suppose that's all i can do with regards to keeping algae at bay isn't it?

I know that i will get another outbreak but at least i'm on top of it now and i'll try not to let it build up as bad as it was before.

 

[Sicklid]

I would try and get some excel. You can still use it after your c02 is up and running, it will supplement it...This way it's not a waste of money.