Brown Hair Algae In Filter. High Nitrates?

[AquaLady]

This is something really strange to me.
Today, I did a thorough cleaning of the filter to get rid of the white stuff. Hard water deposits? I don't see how. I rearranged the plants, trimmed, and propagated. Did a 30% pwc. I see one of my female Tiger Barbs have fin rot? Fins look white at the ends and deteriorating. I also added Tetra Easybalance Plus

Is there a diagnosis for aquarium addiction?

[limz_777]

what did you clean the filter medias with ?

[thebaldingaquarist]

Hi aqualady,
You have quite high nitrates. do you practice any dosing regime for fertilizers? Did you also check ammonia concentration?

The white deposits could be carbonate deposits. they occur over time in my tanks.

For the fin rot, i am no expert.. but could it be parasites?

[bennyc]

One of the reasons could be water change regime. Poor WC leads to diseases.

[AquaLady]

I cleaned the media with tank water.
What do you mean by dosing? Ferts? I used Seachem Flourish.

[bennyc]

What Eric means is the frequence of "putting" / dosing of Fertilisers into the tank.

What is your bioload?

I mean it is better to have a full tank shot to allow veteran here to know your plant mass.
Also your cardon dioxide input and light hours, difficult to give good comments when everyone is just guessing here.

[AquaLady]

This is the whole tank. Lol before you guys say anything, its not on this stand anymore.
I have 1 dwarf Gourami, 1 Red Belly X-Ray Tetra, 2 Cory Cats, 4 Minnows, 4 juvenile green tiger barbs, 5 adult Tiger Barbs and 4 blood fin Tetras.

[thebaldingaquarist]

For plant mass, i think you are ok.

For the fun of it, let me guess.... Hope you don't mind.. (been watching criminal minds recently..)

It is a 3 feet tank running on a single HOB filter.
Running off no CO2 and 2 X 39W t5ho or equivalent
ANS or some non ADA soil.
water change once a week or once a fortnight.

how many i got right?

[AquaLady]

1 HOB, and an AquaClear AC70. Tests and pwc every Saturday, I do it after my Saturday morning cartoons lol.
Diy Co2.
Single pink florescent bulb.
Substrate is Floramax mixed with black Tahitian Moon Sand.
Close but no cigar. You got the filter and bulbs in opposite places. I wish I can run 2 or even quad T5HO on my new empty 55. Hoods and lights are the most expensive! x.x

Is there a diagnosis for aquarium addiction?

[Urban Aquaria]

From your tank specs... although it has a good amount of plants, the high nitrate levels basically indicate that your plants are not able to consume enough of it compared to the amount of waste produced by the fauna.

This could be due to insufficient or inappropriate light (less light utilized = less photosynthesis = less nutrient uptake) and DIY Co2 either not consistent or not being circulated well enough to all the plants so they don't all get to take advantage of it. As you didn't mention dosing any fertilizers, there might also be some trace/micro nutrient deficiencies that may be limiting the plant growth too.

High nitrates affect the health of most fishes and greatly reduce their resistance to illness, which explains the Tiger Barb getting fin rot.

Fortunately, water changes are the quickest way to remove nitrates, so you should do a series of water changes to reduce the nitrate levels (ideally under 40ppm, best under 10ppm). Note that if you do a 30% water change, it only reduces the existing nitrate level by 30%. To reduce it further you'll need to do more water changes (many small 20-30% water changes over a period of a few days can be tedious, but its much better for the fishes than doing just one large 90-100% water change, as that will shock the fishes).

In the meantime, you'll still need to work on improving the plant's nutrient take up rate though, or else nitrates will just keep rising and you'll keep having to constantly do more water changes to control it.

[AquaLady]

Thanks UrbanAquaria. I do dose. I use Seachem Flourish.

[Urban Aquaria]

Thanks UrbanAquaria. I do dose. I use Seachem Flourish.

I see... Seachem Flourish contains nitrogen content and abit of phosphate, so since you are feeding the fishes and already have a high level of nitrates, maybe try only dosing just potassium and trace/micro ferts instead to balance it out.

In that way, the more targeted fertilizer dosing wouldn't be adding unnecessary excess nitrogen/nitrates into the water column.

[AquaLady]

Thanks again. So far I haven't been dosing since I discovered the nasties in my filter.

Is there a diagnosis for aquarium addiction?

[sqwerc]

From your tank specs... although it has a good amount of plants, the high nitrate levels basically indicate that your plants are not able to consume enough of it compared to the amount of waste produced by the fauna.

This could be due to insufficient or inappropriate light (less light utilized = less photosynthesis = less nutrient uptake) and DIY Co2 either not consistent or not being circulated well enough to all the plants so they don't all get to take advantage of it. As you didn't mention dosing any fertilizers, there might also be some trace/micro nutrient deficiencies that may be limiting the plant growth too.

High nitrates affect the health of most fishes and greatly reduce their resistance to illness, which explains the Tiger Barb getting fin rot.

Fortunately, water changes are the quickest way to remove nitrates, so you should do a series of water changes to reduce the nitrate levels (ideally under 40ppm, best under 10ppm). Note that if you do a 30% water change, it only reduces the existing nitrate level by 30%. To reduce it further you'll need to do more water changes (many small 20-30% water changes over a period of a few days can be tedious, but its much better for the fishes than doing just one large 90-100% water change, as that will shock the fishes).

In the meantime, you'll still need to work on improving the plant's nutrient take up rate though, or else nitrates will just keep rising and you'll keep having to constantly do more water changes to control it.

There are many peals of wisdom in the above reply.. Haha! Its all about achieving the right balance. For me I adopt the lazy method - aim for over filtration.

[blue33]

WOW! So detailed listed out.

From your tank specs... although it has a good amount of plants, the high nitrate levels basically indicate that your plants are not able to consume enough of it compared to the amount of waste produced by the fauna.

This could be due to insufficient or inappropriate light (less light utilized = less photosynthesis = less nutrient uptake) and DIY Co2 either not consistent or not being circulated well enough to all the plants so they don't all get to take advantage of it. As you didn't mention dosing any fertilizers, there might also be some trace/micro nutrient deficiencies that may be limiting the plant growth too.

High nitrates affect the health of most fishes and greatly reduce their resistance to illness, which explains the Tiger Barb getting fin rot.

Fortunately, water changes are the quickest way to remove nitrates, so you should do a series of water changes to reduce the nitrate levels (ideally under 40ppm, best under 10ppm). Note that if you do a 30% water change, it only reduces the existing nitrate level by 30%. To reduce it further you'll need to do more water changes (many small 20-30% water changes over a period of a few days can be tedious, but its much better for the fishes than doing just one large 90-100% water change, as that will shock the fishes).

In the meantime, you'll still need to work on improving the plant's nutrient take up rate though, or else nitrates will just keep rising and you'll keep having to constantly do more water changes to control it.

[AquaLady]

There are many peals of wisdom in the above reply.. Haha! Its all about achieving the right balance. For me I adopt the lazy method - aim for over filtration.

Lol I'm lazy too but my fishies health is important and I can't afford a canister filter unless I go for one of those eBay SunSun ones...

[limz_777]

I cleaned the media with tank water.
What do you mean by dosing? Ferts? I used Seachem Flourish.

did you test your tap water for nitrate ?

[AquaLady]

Yes, once immediately from the tap, 10ppm and after sitting 24 hours, the same.

Is there a diagnosis for aquarium addiction?