Green hairlike algae problem

[Weirong]

Dear forumers,

My newly setup 5ft planted tank was found to be overwhelmed by green hairlike algae when I came back home from camp. The problem is worse with my Java moss. It's all entangled with the moss. What most likely caused the algae outbreak?
Temperature of the tank is 26-28 dgrees. I have about 25 Rasboras, 3 Otos and 2 oversized SAEs in there. Setup is about 1 mth old. I have mainly frogbits, java moss, some anubias, and japonicas as plants.
I douse some trace elements once a week and the tank is currently running on diy co2.
Will Yamatos take care of the problem?
I have encountered slight outbreak of this algae before but this time it is overwhelming!

Thanks,
Weirong

[PeterGwee]

DIY CO2 and a 5 footer tank? What do you think is the problem here? Think about it...

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Weirong]

What's wrong with diy co2 and a 5 ft? I have done this before and the problem has not occurred.

[|squee|]

DIY c02 is typically used for tanks up to 2 feet. 5 feet tanks should not use DIY c02, since the amount produced is simply not enough for such a large body of water, no matter how well u react it. Thus, due to lack of co2, algae gets a leg up.

Unless of course, your DIY c02 is made up of ten coke bottles...

[liuhao]

i think it's the fish waste. do you have enough biofiltering? i always think algae shouldnt be controlled by co2 injection, though i am not sure...

[mordrake]

hair algae...

defnitely co2 problem.
also check your nitrate and phosphate.
suspect your nitrate is low with high phosphate causing har algae.
poor co2 levels makes things worse.

[PeterGwee]

[quote:1e119b18="Melvin Lim"]suspect your nitrate is low with high phosphate causing har algae.[/quote:1e119b18]

Yes, low N does cause plants to slow down or stunt if it gets to the limiting range but high phosphate itself does not cause algae issues which you seem to think.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[mordrake]

hmmm... i thought the absence of either one would cause the plant to stunt thus giving algae a chance to take over. guess i may be wrong on the high phosphate. sorry about that.

another thing, does high phosphate (> 5ppm) mess up the ph/kh co2 chart?

thanks