Algae identification and advice

[Caliban07]

I think I have enough fish but I feel my light was set way too high, which was exhausting the c02 produced by them as well as ambient c02, I have my light turned way down now about 45-50% from 70-75%, is an Over flow filter a hob ? I have 2 hobs and a hydor 425 gph WaveMaker and a neo diffuser air stone

Yes, it draws what up through the media then spills over the surface of the water. I really rate them as they create some nice surface agitation with some gentle flow. Sounds like you have a lot going on there but tank size will say. I always found those wave makers to be way too powerful.

Yeah just turn the light down. It sounds like you have a decent amount of fish.

Heres a message from my uncle after a discussion about aquariums. This was a very long time ago.

‘Looking good Craig. I remember when I hadn't been married long Babs had a tank in Germany with tiger barbs and a few plants in. We returned after a year and you struggled to see the fish that had doubled in size because the tank was choked with the plants. Only care was her mum feeding the fish everyday! I'll be interested how yours goes on.

Good things happen when you leave things alone. Including the death of algae.

 

[Potluck]

Yes, it draws what up through the media then spills over the surface of the water. I really rate them as they create some nice surface agitation with some gentle flow. Sounds like you have a lot going on there but tank size will say. I always found those wave makers to be way too powerful.

Yeah just turn the light down. It sounds like you have a decent amount of fish.

Heres a message from my uncle after a discussion about aquariums. This was a very long time ago.

‘Looking good Craig. I remember when I hadn't been married long Babs had a tank in Germany with tiger barbs and a few plants in. We returned after a year and you struggled to see the fish that had doubled in size because the tank was choked with the plants. Only care was her mum feeding the fish everyday! I'll be interested how yours goes on.

Good things happen when you leave things alone. Including the death of algae.

Yeah it's the only thing I haven't tried yet tbh [emoji23], but I woke up today and my plants are melting back, I'm assuming from them adjusting from not having a water change

 

[Caliban07]

Yeah it's the only thing I haven't tried yet tbh [emoji23], but I woke up today and my plants are melting back, I'm assuming from them adjusting from not having a water change

Don’t worry. Just leave them. Takes a massive leap of faith to do it. At first i would do the odd little water change or top up with tap water but I always got this stringy filament algae. Not much, but then my ottos would be really fat the next day and the algae (I actually think it was more of a bacteria) was gone. I must have drove the guy’s who were getting me to try this nuts because I was always talking about nutrients I was missing and I need to add tap water to replace them etc but I stuck with it.

With your bioload i think your tank will do even better. I added lots more rasbora a while back and the plants responded by growing much faster, things do peter out again then tick over. Eventually your tank will denitrify and you will see the magic mulm I’m talking about.

People seem to think that because a plant is limited, it is unhealthy. That is not true. It just grows slowly.

 

[Potluck]

Don’t worry. Just leave them. Takes a massive leap of faith to do it. At first i would do the odd little water change or top up with tap water but I always got this stringy filament algae. Not much, but then my ottos would be really fat the next day and the algae (I actually think it was more of a bacteria) was gone. I must have drove the guy’s who were getting me to try this nuts because I was always talking about nutrients I was missing and I need to add tap water to replace them etc but I stuck with it.

With your bioload i think your tank will do even better. I added lots more rasbora a while back and the plants responded by growing much faster, things do peter out again then tick over. Eventually your tank will denitrify and you will see the magic mulm I’m talking about.

People seem to think that because a plant is limited, it is unhealthy. That is not true. It just grows slowly.

What do you do about kh dropping?

 

[Caliban07]

What do you do about kh dropping?

Nothing. I have soft water to begin with. I just don’t worry about it. Never tested it. I have shrimp and snails. No shell degradation and the shrimp malt just fine. The cherries have just laid eggs and I can see very tiny shrimp.

Trust your instincts. Forget what you have read for a while. Enjoy the tank. Watch colour and health of your fish. The plants will follow and the algae will eventually die away.

 

[Potluck]

Nothing. I have soft water to begin with. I just don’t worry about it. Never tested it. I have shrimp and snails. No shell degradation and the shrimp malt just fine. The cherries have just laid eggs and I can see very tiny shrimp.

Trust your instincts. Forget what you have read for a while. Enjoy the tank. Watch colour and health of your fish. The plants will follow and the algae will eventually die away.

Just do top Offs with my tap water? The tds of my tap is 32, kh 6 gh 6, phosphate 0.2-0.5, nitrate 5 max, ph 7.4 I'll have to read up On it while I attempt it, I worry cause I have rare rainbows I can't replace

 

[Caliban07]

Just do top Offs with my tap water? The tds of my tap is 32, kh 6 gh 6, phosphate 0.2-0.5, nitrate 5 max, ph 7.4 I'll have to read up On it while I attempt it, I worry cause I have rare rainbows I can't replace

Just keep your eye on them. I think you have a decent amount of oxygen. I wouldn’t top up with tap personally but you could. Try to resist over feeding them until the plants start coming back. The method is much easier starting from scratch but I had no trouble with my fish.

 

[Potluck]

Just keep your eye on them. I think you have a decent amount of oxygen. I wouldn’t top up with tap personally but you could. Try to resist over feeding them until the plants start coming back. The method is much easier starting from scratch but I had no trouble with my fish.

There's the catch I guess, I'll watch fish and do a water change if they get bad but I guess I'm Screwed if I can't cure them

 

[Caliban07]

There's the catch I guess, I'll watch fish and do a water change if they get bad but I guess I'm Screwed if I can't cure them

Sometimes you have to put things in to perspective. So far you have dosed, nearly every fertiliser salt you can, chemiclean and glutaradehyde and never questioned it [emoji846]

 

[Potluck]

Sometimes you have to put things in to perspective. So far you have dosed, nearly every fertiliser salt you can, chemiclean and glutaradehyde and never questioned it [emoji846]

Oh I know, I didn't do dry salts except equilibrium which did have an adverse affect on 2 tetras, I watched a few videos last night on how the process goes where instead of nitrification you aim for denitrification, which is instead of the bacteria releasing nitrate it turns nitrate into nitrogen gas via lack of o2, not sure if this is your method or not but I'll read and watch more videos on it today.

 

[Caliban07]

Oh I know, I didn't do dry salts except equilibrium which did have an adverse affect on 2 tetras, I watched a few videos last night on how the process goes where instead of nitrification you aim for denitrification, which is instead of the bacteria releasing nitrate it turns nitrate into nitrogen gas via lack of o2, not sure if this is your method or not but I'll read and watch more videos on it today.

Partly it is yes. All stable tanks with a good biofilter will have areas within the tank with low enough oxygen levels to make this happen. This is a natural process. To remove nitrate nitrogen from the system and it is why natural biotopes and unpolluted rivers have undetectable levels. Thats what the system strives for, so when it is directly added back in to the aquarium it can’t be desirable and in my experience its certainly not required to have plants grow healthily. They’re fine on the small constant trickle of ammonia and the small consistent trickle of co2. The biofilter and the plants share these nutrients. The bacteria break fish food and fish waste down to plant usable nutrients. This is why its so important not to disturb them and this process.

 

[Potluck]

Partly it is yes. All stable tanks with a good biofilter will have areas within the tank with low enough oxygen levels to make this happen. This is a natural process. To remove nitrate nitrogen from the system and it is why natural biotopes and unpolluted rivers have undetectable levels. Thats what the system strives for, so when it is directly added back in to the aquarium it can’t be desirable and in my experience its certainly not required to have plants grow healthily. They’re fine on the small constant trickle of ammonia and the small consistent trickle of co2. The biofilter and the plants share these nutrients. The bacteria break fish food and fish waste down to plant usable nutrients. This is why its so important not to disturb them and this process.

Ahh okay, well I don't have a place by me that has RO water but they do have distilled, but I did get a gallon of distilled once and it had crazy ammonia levels so I'm trying to figure out how to top Off.

 

[Caliban07]

Ahh okay, well I don't have a place by me that has RO water but they do have distilled, but I did get a gallon of distilled once and it had crazy ammonia levels so I'm trying to figure out how to top Off.

You could try rain water if you can collect enough. If you live in a rural area it may have the potential to contain nitrate but just check.

 

[Potluck]

You could try rain water if you can collect enough. If you live in a rural area it may have the potential to contain nitrate but just check.

It's winter [emoji23]

 

[Caliban07]

It's winter [emoji23]

Throwing it down here. Lol

 

[Potluck]

So I guess what I'm getting at is what do I use to top off the tank, it isn't snowing, it isn't raining just cold lol.

 

[Caliban07]

So I guess what I'm getting at is what do I use to top off the tank, it isn't snowing, it isn't raining just cold lol.

Use a bit of tap if you have no choice. If you do it regularly and don’t let the water line drop too much you should be ok adding little bit at a time.

 

[King Fisher]

Look for water labeled purified drinking water. Read the small print, it usually says purified by reverse osmosis. I live in a small rural area in the middle of nowhere and it's sold here.

 

[ZxC]

Brewers, Wine shops, hardware stores, look around, some should have some RO for sale. $2.00 - @2.50 per 5 gallons around me.

 

[Potluck]

[emoji22] That's expensive lol, I have a dem 55 gallon [emoji23]