Black algea

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

I have a problem with black algae and also now since adding co2 I am getting an almost slimy green algae on my plants.

I am running I have the 48" aquatic life T5 HO light fixture with lunar LEDs. Timer controls, 420/460, 10,000k(whatever. That means) I am running 1 bulb natural white T5 HO 6000k freshwater lamp. And 1 bulb roseate T5 HO 650nm. The 2 bulbs run at the same time. I just bought the new bulbs 4 months ago. I don't run the 2nd set of bulbs. But I do run the moonlight just because I like it. Would you add more light or keep it at the same. I leave the lights on 12 hours a day.

My algea has started to pearl but has seemed to start attaching to some other plants.

Today I turned my timer on my light to see if that would help they now turn on from 11am (its barely getting light in my front room) till 9pm.
Heres my question: would you move the timer to even shorter time? Would you remove the wood that seems to have the worst problem I have included a picture of the wood.

My co2 I have turned up to 2bps.

I posted this in the wrong forum before I hope I can get some answers here.

Ok no idea couldn't get photo to post

 

[fort384]

Photo is showing up ok. Can you get a closer pic of the algae though?

Is it black brush algae? The algae on the dw looks like cyano or BGA almost...

I would recommend cutting the light back to about 7 hours for awhile.

What size tank are we talking about?

What kind of co2 system are you running, and what kind of ppm are you getting with CO2 (or what is your pH and KH testing at)?

How are you running the system? Is it on the same timer as the lights? Or is it DIY?

How long has the tank been setup?

What is the stock?

Ammonia, nitrates, nitrites?

Is the tank near any natural day light sources, and if so, how much natural day light is the tank getting per day?

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

<b>I've responded behind your question<b>

Photo is showing up ok. Can you get a closer pic of the algae though?

<b>No I took out all of my hardware and cleaned it last night. Including the infested wood. I brushed it off and rinsed it and put some hydrogen peroxide on the wood and it ate the algea. and bubbled and fizzed.<b>

Is it black brush algae? The algae on the dw looks like cyano or BGA almost...
<b>I think the stuff green that shows up in the corner is from too much natural light. Ii just scraped and vacuumed over there. When vac'ing the algea was thick and gross and barely would go up the tube.<b>

I would recommend cutting the light back to about 7 hours for awhile.
<b>Ok I'm trying to figure what time is best to have them turn on and off at. Maybe you can help me figure out.<b>

What size tank are we talking about?
<b>72 gallon bow front<b>

What kind of co2 system are you running, and what kind of ppm are you getting with CO2 (or what is your pH and KH testing at)? <b>I'm running a pressurized Co2 with a regulator. My water was perfect last week I'm bringing it in for a reading today toaee what they say. I brought it in and the said perfect across the board. I didn't get numbers of what the kh and ph was, they knew I had co2 going and said it all looked good<b>

How are you running the system? <b>I plug it in and unplug at night. I'm bought a timer today for the co2. Should I have the co2 timed the same as my lights?<b>

How long has the tank been setup? <b>I've had the tank 4.5 years and tried plants unsuccessfully for That time. I bought my co2 system in the end of June 12 I have it set up to 2bbps<b>

What is the stock? I have 1 yellow lab, 1 phantom green Pleco, I mystus cat, a breeding pair (lol) of kirbnese 5 1.5" babies and some few week old babies floating around in there<b>

Ammonia, nitrates, nitrites?<b> said they were all great. I had my own testing kit and lost the cards and
You know all that stuff<b>

Is the tank near any natural day light sources, and if so, how much natural day light is the tank getting per day? <b>The sun starts at about 2pm is strong till sunset. I've contemplated moving the tank but seems like a lot of work lol<b>

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

Had my water tested

Perfect across the board

 

[rkilling1]

Perfect across the board

That doesn't tell us anything.

What ferts are you dosing?

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

That doesn't tell us anything.

What ferts are you dosing?

Sorry, I will remember to ask for the numbers next time I ago. Or invest in another kit to measure at home. I am dosing flourish liquid once every few days. I would love some really great help. To get my planted tank going correctly. Also I asked other questions about my lighting times and leaving the co2 on that I would love some help with. If I don't seem very knowledgeable rkilling1 it's because I'm not when it comes to plants and co2. That's why I'm here to learn.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

Hi I went and bought the API Master Test Kit here are my readings as of right now...

Nitrite NO2= 0ppm

Nitrate NO3= 0ppm

Ammonia NH3/NH4= 0ppm

Ph = 7.6 seems a little high

Let me know if I need another kind of test kit to get some other thing.

 

[aqua_chem]

0 nitrates is a huge problem for high light setups. Its probably whats causing your BGA. I highly recommend you invest in some dry ferts (should be ~$25). Your other algae issues may be side effects of the fert situation

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

0 nitrates is a huge problem for high light setups. Its probably whats causing your BGA. I highly recommend you invest in some dry ferts (should be ~$25). Your other algae issues may be side effects of the fert situation

What kind of fert would you suggest? Currently I am doing the flourish I don't think I've been dosing that correctly either.

Do the dry fert just go into your tAnk or do you put them under the gravel?

 

[aqua_chem]

You dose them directly into the water. As fast as recommending one, I recommend you get a complete package of micros and macros.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

The roots are growing like crazy. Is that normal. I'm trying to think of my LFS sells some fert to use till I figure out what I should really be looking at. I'm going to go and search around the forum and see what I can find.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Are you saying your light fixture is a 4-bulb fixture?

And that you run only two of them?

420/460 is what those particularly in the saltwater world call "Actinic" and really does zero for plants in freshwater tanks (and I have actually read claims they encourage some undesirable forms of algae, but don't know that from personal experience).

10,000K is a more "white" light and in conjunction with other "daylight" bulbs can help make a more attractive and natural looking tank. 10,000K is higher in color spectrum than ideal for plants, so contributes some, but not a whole lot (but it can contribute to algae)...

6,000K is right near the "daylight" spectrum specifically for plants. Some people don't care for the appearance it can give to a tank, but it contributes more to the plants.

650nm roseate bulbs supposedly have their primary light in the "red" spectrum for plant growth. I personally find the appearance annoying and have see no appreciable advantage of 6,500K (or 6,000K) bulbs.

What size is the tank (other than 48" long) and/or how tall is it?

12 hours for 2 T5HO is a lot - and the more light you give, the more delicate the balance is to prevent algae.

I too see an issue with your Nitrate reading. Assuming it actually is 0ppm, your plants cannot possibly outcompete algae of any variety. I have found that nitrates between 10ppm-30ppm work well without encouraging much algae. Higher than 40ppm and BBA starts to build up. Under 5ppm and other kinds of algae start to flourish.

I have a 3 bulb T5 HO fixture on my 55g tank, running one tube all day, and all three are on mid-day. I'm pushing light pretty hard and have to be very careful to keep up with water changes to keep my nitrates down below 40ppm.

I am running I have the 48" aquatic life T5 HO light fixture with lunar LEDs. Timer controls, 420/460, 10,000k(whatever. That means) I am running 1 bulb natural white T5 HO 6000k freshwater lamp. And 1 bulb roseate T5 HO 650nm. The 2 bulbs run at the same time. I just bought the new bulbs 4 months ago. I don't run the 2nd set of bulbs. But I do run the moonlight just because I like it. Would you add more light or keep it at the same. I leave the lights on 12 hours a day.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

Are you saying your light fixture is a 4-bulb fixture?
And that you run only two of them?

420/460 is what those particularly in the saltwater world call "Actinic" and really does zero for plants in freshwater tanks (and I have actually read claims they encourage some undesirable forms of algae, but don't know that from personal experience).

thank you for clearing that up for me. That is the description of the fixture I have. I am going to change the lights this week to be on from 2-9pm and see if that helps..

What size is the tank (other than 48" long) and/or how tall is it?

12 hours for 2 T5HO is a lot - and the more light you give, the more delicate the balance is to prevent algae.
.

The size of the tank is 23" tall

How long would you set the lights for? We start getting hit hard with sunlight around 2pm (I'm moving the tank I know that will help) would you not turn on the lights till 2pm that's what I am thinking I should do and leave them on till 9pm.

I am running 2 bulbs: 1=6000k natural white and 1=650Nm roseate lamp. Would you change either one of those bulbs? If so to what? What do you think about the 2pm turn on time?

I too see an issue with your Nitrate reading. Assuming it actually is 0ppm, your plants cannot possibly outcompete algae of any variety. I have found that nitrates between 10ppm-30ppm work well without encouraging much algae. Higher than 40ppm and BBA starts to build up. Under 5ppm and other kinds of algae start to flourish.

I just took the readings again right before in replied to this thread and this is what they read tonight.

The nitrate is In between the 0ppm and the 5.0 I have been adding a capful of flourish everyday instead of every 3rd day,
The nitrite was at a 0
Ammonia 0
PH 7.2

Thanks for all your help

 

[Batt4Christ]

Which "Flourish"? That describes an entire product line from Seachem that includes:

Excel - CO2 replacement
Comprehensive - a mild fert that includes small amounts of both trace and Macros

Iron - as labeled
Nitrogen
Potassium
Phosphorous
Trace
Root Tabs

And I believe there are others.

thank you for clearing that up for me. That is the description of the fixture I have. I am going to change the lights this week to be on from 2-9pm and see if that helps..

The size of the tank is 23" tall

How long would you set the lights for? We start getting hit hard with sunlight around 2pm (I'm moving the tank I know that will help) would you not turn on the lights till 2pm that's what I am thinking I should do and leave them on till 9pm.

I am running 2 bulbs: 1=6000k natural white and 1=650Nm roseate lamp. Would you change either one of those bulbs? If so to what? What do you think about the 2pm turn on time?

I just took the readings again right before in replied to this thread and this is what they read tonight.

The nitrate is In between the 0ppm and the 5.0 I have been adding a capful of flourish everyday instead of every 3rd day,
The nitrite was at a 0
Ammonia 0
PH 7.2

Thanks for all your help

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

I am using the flourish comprehensive Liquid. I have the flourish excel nut not using it because I have co2.

LMK thank you.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

I re-tested my water again I have not done a water change since last Thursday. My CO2 is at 2bpm and my lighting is down to 8 hours. My plants have all kinds of new growth on them it looks as though some of the algae fell off and onto the gravel. Would you clean that out?

My readings have remained almost the same. I took it in to my LFS to test it to be sure my test was right. It was.
Ph 7.6
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm
Nitrite 0

I trimmed off the older growth of the plants that had the worse problem.

I have been adding 1 capful of flourish comprehensive almost everyday.

What would you do if you were me? Think I should clean it on Thursday as per usual?

So thermos some nitrate in the water.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

Well after having my co2 set up going on 1 full month my tank has settled down.

I took out all the plants with BBA washed and dipped them in the hydrogen peroxide . Cut the plants that were getting to tall and replanted them.

I turned my lights down to come on at 3pm and turn off at 9:30 pm. It has also seemed to help with the BBA.

The last readings I took were on the 7th my ph is a little high. Any suggestions how to get that down or do you think that number is ok?

Ph 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10>20

My plants are thriving and growing quite nicely.

 

[Jodisgermanshepherd]

Newest picture I added 3 new types of plants.

 

[fort384]

The pH is fine.

Glad it is coming along well.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

What time of the day did you check your pH and do you run your CO2 on a timer or is it always on? pH can change from the tank's morning to evening cycle in most setups with CO2. If you test it before the lights come on and again before the lights shut off it can be very different. ^_~