Algae Help

[daneek155]

I think this is hair algae and the one on the back glass is like a sheet of green.... can someone help me verify that this is hair algae and help me out with getting rid of it. its a med to heavy planted tank with pressurized co2.....i the light on it is a odyssea quad t5-ho but i am only running 3 bulbs.

heres what the timer is on.
1 6500k daylight and 1 5000k max plant growth i bought from petco 10hr
1 5000k max plant growth from petco that is on 4hr at midday.
so 2 bulbs are on 10:30AM-8:30 PM
and 1 bulb on fromt 10:30AM-2:30PM

i biult my own reactor out of pvc i got off you tube. i am at like 2 or 3 BPS....

 

[Leftysav]

That actually might be the dreaded bba on the lace plant!....horrible to get rid of. Best thing to do is get rid of that leaf before it spreads. Very difficult to maintain and control once it sets in.

 

[daneek155]

its on couple of the leaves... whats causing it.
my nitrates are really low. 0 to 5
phosphates are at 0. right now i am only dosing flourish comprehensive stuff.do i have a bad light setup??? nbot enough co2 or what

 

[Leftysav]

Well you def could use more trates. The lace plants consume a lot of nutrients and low co2 is a common problem with that, as well as low current but not nearly as big as the co2. Either get more co2 to it or reduce lighting. Something is off balance or it wouldn't be doing it. But I would get the infected leaves pruned off. But if that's not an option you could take it out and bleach dip for 2-3 minutes. Afterwards let it soak in some reg water with dechlorinator and take ur index and thumb and "scrape" the algae off. It will shock the plant but not kill it and will take a week or so to readjust after replanting.

 

[Leftysav]

How old are the lights? The spectrum could have dipped w age causing the algae to take hold.

 

[daneek155]

the light is 3 months old.... 2 of the max plant growth bulbs are 4 to 5 months old..... i just bought the zoo med bulbs in petco that said max plant growth and the other 6500k daylight bulb came with the light... is there a better light bulb set up than i have??? my water is kinda dark from driftwood and i do not have a glass lid..

 

[Leftysav]

Should be fine. I'd say blame it on not enough co2 and too much light for now. Just need to figure out the right balance or it will persist.