Algae help!

[SmirkDeGecko]

Hey guys!

In running a 2x1.5x1.5 ft tank. Running in bout 6 months now. Never held algae probs but i think my fishes have grown and probably over crowded now (will try to shift some if these platys out)

Now I've got some major hair/staghorn and fuzz algae and how you gurus can help me out!

1)ImageUploadedByTapatalk1376324782.671789.jpg

2)ImageUploadedByTapatalk1376324812.783003.jpg

3)ImageUploadedByTapatalk1376324900.333834.jpg

Since the attack I've been trying to remove mechanically and been doing 30% water change. My light cycle is also resuced to about 6 hours and feeding reduced.

But nothing seems to change! Pls help!!

[AQMS]

Staghorn and Fuzz algae occurs when there are nutrients imbalance and low co2.
Water change and water circulation are an important factor for keeping control on algae.
The 1st pic look like thread algae,i might be wrong. Here is a link for you to compare
what type of algae you have and how to control it.
http://www.guitarfish.org/algae

[Ingen]

I know most people would advice against using chemical, I had hair/thread aglae issues and mainly due to insufficient co2. I increased the co2 and wait for a week hoping the hair/thread algae will clear off but to no vain... Then one day I was at C328 and I asked about hair algae remover, the uncle introduced me ISTA Hair Algae Remover and told me to turn off my lights for 4 days and follow the dosage closely and watch the reaction of the fishes and should see the hair aglae gone within the week, he shared his own experience using it on his shrimp tank. That was the first time he spoke that much to me haha.

No harm trying was my thought and when with his suggestion, turn off light (Not total blackout) and dosed the ISTA Algae Remover, 4 days later when I turn my lights back on all the hair algae were gone. The following two days I noticed some of my HC at one particular area started to melt. Now, coming to two weeks and the tank is still clear, of course I continue to dosage NPK, Traces and increased the CO2. So far no negative effect on the fishes, I don't know for sure if it is safe for shrimp as there were any shrimps left in my wall mount tank.

[barmby]

Hi there, are you on regulated CO2? I mean CO2 must be in constant supply. Can you please provide front tank shot

[SmirkDeGecko]

Thanks for your responses guys!

I think I'm running 1to 2 bps? I usually base my co2 on the indicator and its usually running slightly yellow

Full tank shot:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1376393469.264005.jpg


Co2 set up:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1376393506.958153.jpg

[barmby]

Fantastic tank!!!!! Btw, try to check the ppm level. I cannot tell you to crank up the CO2 until the fish gasp for air. It's not the right thing. But check CO2 at ppm level. Also, dose complete fertilizer. light period?

[David]

by the looks of things, it looks more like a water circulation problem. Your second picture of your first posting looks a lot like BGA aka smear algae and the main cause of this is poor water circulation and/or an accumulation of fish poop or muck that gets caught between your foreground plants. its good that when you siphon water, hold your hose just above them and let the muck get sucked out.

Looking at your lily pipe, your water circulation at the top will be good but not much at the bottom area. Try adjusting your lily pipe so that you get a a circulation effect that comes from the top of the waterline, hits the glass and circulates to the bottom and up again to where your inlet pipe is.

[Berny]

Another alternative to David's suggestion, would be adding a small wavemaker. I did notice that from time to time when my wavemaker starts (along with my CO2 to circulate it in the tank because its at the opposite end of the filter intake and outflow), there tend to be debris kicked up by the wave maker. Also, is it me, or is your filter intake hole facing the tank glass on the left instead of facing the right (open space) to catch the debris? not sure about the mechanics, but it sure looks weird for a lily pipe design.

[Urban Aquaria]

Also, is it me, or is your filter intake hole facing the tank glass on the left instead of facing the right (open space) to catch the debris? not sure about the mechanics, but it sure looks weird for a lily pipe design.

Yeah, there are indeed some glass intake designs with their intake slots facing the "opposite" way.. i used to have a similar one before from the ANS brand lily pipe sets, the intake slots also face the tank glass, seems to work okay too.

[barmby]

Oh ya. did you conduct water change? 2 feet tank need 2 water change 50% per week.

[Shadow]

Very nice tank, you just need to settle your algae and trim the background stem plant. Clean your filter and do spot treatment using seachem excel. Need to turn off you filter for about 30 min when you do spot treatment.

[David]

Very nice tank, you just need to settle your algae and trim the background stem plant. Clean your filter and do spot treatment using seachem excel. Need to turn off you filter for about 30 min when you do spot treatment.

Seachem Excel for spot treatment? What does that do?

[SmirkDeGecko]

Thanks guys! This is my first tank and Heng Heng the look and feel seems quite balanced to me

I'm doing 6 hours of light at the moment and have been changing water every 2 days to suck up the excessive shit that's lodged under te plants. I feel like the algae has stopped bomming but now is like how to get rid of it.

Did consider using a wave maker too but it's not very common for planted tank right?

Yeah what does excel do?

[barmby]

Excel can destroy brush/fuzz/ hair (maybe) algae. It contains a type of chemical that kill bacteria. Enough of it can poison children. Seachem is a fine company. not to worry.

[milk_vanilla]

If you look at Do aqua from ADA lily outflow is facing downward instead, probably could alter the bottom water circulation more

sent from tapatalk

[kohanson]

I also used excel for spot dosing previously when I was hit with BBA. There were also hair algae in my tank and after spot dosing with excel on the algae, they started dying off. At the same time, I also decrease my light hours and increase CO2 bps. Do be careful with excel as after I did spot dosing on my mini fissiden as there are hair algae around it, they turned light brown. Now they are growing back but the bottom portion is light brown.

[David]

To my understanding is that Excel does not agree with the Val species.....

[SmirkDeGecko]

Hey guys! An update to the tank! I didn't get the opportunity to head to the stores to get some excel or other chemicals instead, I allowed the stem plants to overgrow and diligently changed 30% water every 2 days. After 3 weeks, alot of the algae cleared up.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1378658657.642492.jpg

Getting annoyed with managing the rotala, I decided to pull everything out and re-plant the tips again, hope my tank still stays stable after this minor reconstruction

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1378658764.342737.jpg

Kinda like this look. Feels cleaner, but less places for the fishes to hide.

[David]

Rotala Indica? If it is just barber it.