ALGAE WARS

[J. Fisher]

I am a few months into my first planted tank. Everything seems to be going fine with the exception of the abundance of hair algae (green, brown, black). Short of adding any more fish, what would be your line of attack?

To this question the lfs guy answered "iron". So I was a good little customer, took his advise and bought Flourish Iron. It's not as though I don't trust the guy, I was just looking for a second opinion being a newbie and all.

Also, if adding iron helps to battle hair algae, could a hair algae outbreak be viewed as a possible iron defficiancy?

Thanks

 

[kagentx]

ehh... hmm correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe iron promotes algae. I would say Co2 is the answer. You have to provide us with some details of your tank. The size, lighting, method of Co2, dosage, and water parameters. Algae are usually caused by phosphate in the water, so you might want to buy a test kit to check the level which should be
.5- 1 ppm. Failure to balance light, co2, and nutrient might also be the cause. This is from my experience, others might give you more depth on your problem. Hope this helps!

 

[J. Fisher]

All of my tank parameters are there in my signature. I was refering to the 46g. The CO2 works great (29ppm) but it doesn't seem to have an effect on the hair algae

 

[J. Fisher]

Oh yeah, one thing I left out: In addition to the iron I began adding I have also been using Flourish on a regular basis.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

how heavily planted is your tank? Your tank should be really heavyily plante for the first few months with fast growing plants to help outcompete algae.

 

[mattrox]

SOme plant peole mention a nitrate-potassium balance..... perhaphs someone more knowledgable can chime in. Do you know that your NO3 and PO4 levels are?

 

[malkore]

All of my tank parameters are there in my signature.

Not all

Nitrate and Phosphate are missing, and those are the cause of algae. Iron doesn't cause algae...it's a trace nutrient.

You likely are low on Nitrate, and will need to dose potassium nitrate to keep levels up. But you need to know both NO3 and PO4 levels, and must maintain at least a 10:1 ratio between the two, to avoid algae.

Normal flourish is a good fert, but weak, and will nothing more than your trace nutrient fert for your tank (you have roughly 3wpg). Good for you on the CO2 though...once you get NO3 and PO4 in balance, the algae will fade and won't return if you keep up on nutrient dosing.

Flourish iron is a good iron fert. Dose it 3x a week, alternating with dosing flourish the other days (about a half capful).

 

[J. Fisher]

Yeah I certainly overlooked nitrate and phosphate. I do test nitrate but not as often as I should. I have never tested the phosphate level.

So I am looking for the proper balance of NO3 and PO4. That must be it because I have lots of plants and plenty of CO2.

Thanks everyone for the advise.