Algae Attcak - please help!

[tarzan]

Hello out there!

Im having some massive problems with algae, and i realy would love you to see my specs through, and give me some advices on what im doing wrong. The tank is 1 month old.

Im getting green algae on the gravel, windows.. i can clean it, and the next day it's back! My Cryp's look like this and my swords are also getting massive algea on the leaves

Tank specs:
Size 90Gallon
Light: Low (60W), 12 hour a day
Plants: 2 swords + 2 small Cryptocoryns
Heat: 29c
PH: 8.0
Ms: 500MicroS
Nitrat: about 0.5
WaterChange: 1/6 every day + vacum gravel
Fish: 5 discus, 18 neons, 6 corys

Other: Root Fertilization for all plants, heavy-feeding with both flakes and frozen bloodworms (discus)

ANY advices would be perfect!!!

 

[William]

How about getting an algae eater?

 

[tarzan]

No thanx, not with my discus..

 

[madasafish]

Well, start with turning your lights off for more time each day. I've heard that 6-8 hours of light is advisable if you're having major algae problems. Your plants may suffer a bit...

Then, stop feeding your fish so much! If you say "heavy" you're probably over-feeding your fish. In which case, you should not feed them for a few days (3-4). They will survive. They are clearly producing too much waste, and excess food is building up in your tank. With all these nutrients, your tank is eutrifying!

Secondly, stop doing water changes so often. You're not giving your bacteria time to be established. That will help get rid of the excess Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates.

JustDIY (I think) advises using a diatom filter for such terrible cases of algae invasion. Think about buying, or see if you can rent, one from an LFS. That will clear the problem in just hours. That's the easiest solution...

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by Nitrate=0.5. Nitrate is usually measured in ppm, in which case you should have a reading around 20 or 30 (in the good range, below 40). It looks like you mean that Nitrite is at .5. Is this right? Do you have a test for ammonia and Nitrate, too?

Let me know if I'm telling you thinkgs you already know... But it sounds like you're allowing a huge amount of non-beneficial nutrients to accumulate in your tank. Light reduction, occasional gravel-vaccing, a diatom filter will all help. An algae eater is a good idea, but will not reduce your REAL, fundamental, problem--that you have too many nutrients in the tank.

 

[Allivymar]

I'm not sure what you mean about no algae eater because of the discus. If you are concerned because of Ph levels and temps, planetcatfish lists otocinclus as have a Ph range of 5.5 to 7.5 and a temp range of 21-26f; should be fine with the discus as well as the neons and corys (which actually need a higher Ph then otos). If the concern if them sucking on the discus, I've never heard of it being an issue with otos. Plus, they're small, peaceful and are great at eating algae off plants WITHOUT tearing up the plant. I have 2 in QT right now; cute lil guys (one is an inch long, the other is a little shorter and they won't get much bigger). I can't WAIT to add them to my planted tank; all my slow growing plants are covered in algae as well.

 

[Guest]

Do you know what your phosphate levels are?

 

[tarzan]

Well, im feeding heavy because Discus need alot of food

Can Oto's and discus live together? Will the Oto be able to live in 29c?

Dunno my Phosphate level, but im using PhosphateAcid to adjust my PH.

 

[Guest]

There is your problem then. High levels of Phosphate can and will cause algae problems. If you want to lower your pH you should use CO2. But I have to ask, if your tank pH is 8 after you adjust it what is it out of the tap?

 

[tarzan]

Hey Rex!

I've been using PhosphateAcid to get from pH8 -> pH 7.5. I've stopped with adding the acid now, but there might still be alot of traces in the water? Allthough i've had algae before adding acid..

 

[Guest]

You will need to test your water source. Many water sources in Europe have phosphates in the water.

Really though your algae problems are caused by a nutrient imbalance. Your light levels are pretty low and you have no CO2. So the only plant that is able to really do well in the tank is algae and it sounds like it does.

If you raised your light to around 2.5 wpg and added CO2 injection and added some (say 10 bunches) of fast growing stem plants I think your algae problems would pretty much go away.