Why does the green come back every 5-7 days

[jubei]

Hello,

Let me start off by saying thanks for taking the time to read this, this has been an on going problem for the past two months.

Well as you can tell by the subject I have an ALGAE problem no mater what I do it comes back, now the algae is just normal old green algae but it grows out of control. My tank is large 106G I have 288w @ 5000K for nine hours and an additional 2 smartlights 130W 50/50 on for 12 hours (Dawn & Dusk) I also have a c02 system. Now normally my tank is heavily planted but I recently ripped every thing down and started over with new plants, so the tank has plants just not a lot.

I don't really know what to do? I've tried black outs before, I don't know I'm lost can someone help, please!!!!!!!!!!

PH 6.4 NH 2.0ppm NO2 0ppm NO3 0ppm GH/KH 2.5 degrees

thanks very much and I look forward to hearing some suggestions
Rory

 

[tkos]

You say you have 2 ppm of ammonia in the tank? Are there fish in this tank or is it just cycling right now?

Anyway algae needs three things like all plants, food, light and CO2. You are providing plenty of all three it seems. The simplest way is to reduce the amount of food in the tank. With it the algae won't grow. Reduce any fish feeding down to minimum for awhile, do thoughour gravel vacuuming and do larger water changes without addtitional ferts for awhile. Algae can cosume anything plants can it just does it better if the tank is underplanted. Keep those nitrates down as low as you can.

Also do any plant trimming and algae scraping before water changes. When you disrupt algae it can send spores into the water thus spreading the problem around.

With a tank that size you might want to think about getting a pleco as well. The bristlenose is a wonderful algae eater, especially on the glass. SAE are the best for algae on plants.

 

[Guest]

I agree with tkos. Ammonia is going to cause algae. Also with no nitrates you are going to have problems with those light levels. Are you testing for phosphates? What is your fertilization regimen? How much, how often and what are you using? Also take a few minutes to read my FAQ.