Hi Tech CO2 + EI Dosing = Some Growth and A Lot of Algae

[Atl300zx]

I have the pressurized CO2 with a pH Monitor and have been using the 40-60 gallon EI dosing routine in my 55 gallon tank with 4.72 wpg. I have my pH controller at 6.2 as advised by the forum. Where my CO2 saturated water flows into the tank, my wisteria is growing immensely but it still showing signs of deficiencies such as droopy tips. Most of the other plants are growing, just slowly. I still have issues with Black Brush Algae and now have issues with what i think is hair algae. I will provide pics when i get home. I have some test equipment so if you need some results to give advice, let me know. I want to make adjustments so that i dont have these issues.

TIA.....be looking for pics shortly.

 

[Plantbrain]

You have issues with CO2, pH controllers do not mean you can set and forget the CO2.

BBA is always a sign of CO2 issues, hair algae appears a bit later/sooner at times with lower CO2 + high light.

EI rules out the nutrients, that leaves the CO2.
If you do large water changes, how do the plants pearl after the water change?

If plants do better nearest the CO2 output, that's also a sign of CO2 issues, Wisteria is a weed, it should grow very fast with CO2/light and nutrients.

Are you adding GH?

Why do you have so much light?
Reduce it by 1/2 and then only for 10 hours.
That will reduce the CO2 demand and make the tank much easier to manage.
Then address the CO2 issue and prune out all the algae.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Atl300zx]

Here are some more updates with pics.

I also have to clean the glass weekly as it is getting covered by the same algae that is being shown on the Lutea below.

What should i be doing to control my CO2 since the controller isnt enough?

I never notice pearling......

How would one add GH? I just follow the EI schedule.

So first thing i should do is reduce my light down to 130 watts and reduce to 10 hrs? (currently at 260 watts for 12 hrs)



4 weeks ago:

Tank Now:

Wisteria (growing very well, but has hair algae? and some deficiencies):

Sword (Recovering, but still showing BBA)

Lutea (Has Hair Algae I believe...is this what it is?)

Glosso (Old planted Glosso died, but new growth is appearing)

Crypt (Seems to be doing ok, has same hair algae on it)

BBA still Running Rampant

Algae all over the place

Setup Pics - see how it returns all the water in one spot, should i do something to disperse it??

 

[Purrbox]

Your tank is very sparsely planted. You need more plant mass so that the plants can out compete the algae.

 

[An t-iasg]

That is why you're not seeing any pearling - not planted heavily enough. Pearling occurs when the water column is saturated with the oxygen that the plants are giving off. When saturation occurs, any more oxygen that is released by the plants just collects on the leaves since it can no longer dissolve in the water column. You don't have enough plants (yet!) to saturate your tank. (That's a beautiful angel!)

So - reduce your lighting as suggested. Do you have a bubble counter on your CO2? After the lighting is reduced, wait a few days, and then see if the algae is still growing. If it is, turn up the CO2. I say to wait before turning it up because the reduced lighting may be a better match for the current CO2 setting. But if necessary, increase your bubble rate. Aim for a CO2 level in the range of 25-30 ppm, or a bit higher if your fish are not stressed. You can turn the CO2 back down later as the algae dies off, but keeping it at a steady 25-30 ppm is usually best. You can use your KH and pH readings to determine your CO2 level:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

Here's my CO2 setup in my tank: (scroll down for my pictures)

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=96383

Your tank will be different because it's bigger, but the end result is the same - creating a CO2 mist thoughout the tank. Hope this helps!

 

[Angry the Clown]

FWIW, I had almost the exact same problem as you. I fixed it by adding two powerheads to increase the CO2 circulation to the bottom of the water column. Most of the algae was gone in a matter of days... and the growth was explosive YMMV, good luck!

 

[Plantbrain]

You need like 1 this many plants.

You added a ton of light, you have CO2 and a controller, but no plants!!!

All you will get with high light/CO2 and very few plants will be algae.
More plants= better.

EI is for fully planted tanks, not 5-10% planted.
No, they will not grow in a few weeks, you need to add lots of plants from day one. Pack them in there.

Otherwise you get algae.
Your CO2 might be fine, but I doubt that the light/CO2/nutrients are okay because the plants generally will do very well even if there's not many.

Add some activated carbon/zeolite into the filter.
Dose, add CO2 and make sure you have enough but do not gas your fish either(turn it off at night).

Regards,
Tom Barr

Edited by An t-iasg to disable smilies