BBA and Hair algae - how???

[hiisoka]

Set up the tank on 5th feb.
tank is cycled as on 26th feb

tank volume: about 9 gallons

lighting: 2 x 24W T5HO (8000k)

co2: the indicator was on yellowish green.
approx 3bubbles per second

fert routine: Estimative index - 5days a week dosing. major water change on sunday
dose N P K from mon-fri
dose ADA green brighty step1 every mon wed fri
small dose phyton git on sunday after water change
water change 40% every sunday
water change 20% every tues and thurs


i cranked up the light and co2 to grow HC
there was oxygen bubbling from the plants but
not very much

started with minor hair algae issues. was still managable.
just yesterday (tues) bba appeared, hair algae also getting abit more.

my question is...

1. should i crank up the co2 even further due to the
strong lighting?? i have some small fishes in there.

2. or should i switch off 1 of the T5HO lamp?

3. or should i just go get a few SAE
(they did prove very useful in my previous setup)

i want to ensure the HC carpets nicely but also dont want major algae issues
due to too much lighting. also dont want to possibly kill my fishes or cause a
large ph change whenever i on my co2

please advise!

Thanks!

[milk_vanilla]

Algae eaters definitely give your high tech tank some benefits.

[barmby]

What's the lamination period?

[hiisoka]

8 hours photo period.

i gotten 3 SAEs yesterday.

[hiisoka]

Hi Hiisoka. I would recommend you to build your own algae scrubber. I'll give you the link to check it out:

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...nd-slime-algae

The good thing about this is that it makes it easier for you to remove the algae growth. Give it a try and let me know! Good luck with it.

-NP

wow! this is really interesting, i am gonna try it out soon, thanks for sharing something that's really new to me

an update, so far the SAEs are controlling the algae pretty well
i still keep both light tubes on.
but i cranked up the co2 and also added a wavemaker for that extra flow and distribution (abit of surface agitation, hence balanced by the increase in co2 levels)
the plants have started pearling, particularly the HC. The wavemaker is on the same timer as my co2 and lights. didnt want to tire the fishes out when the lights
are off.

i also cut down the dosing of N and P by half.
i was following EI religiously but i realised the water in my tank would already have N and P
without me dosing, so i shouldnt have calculated the dosing amount based on starting from 0ppm.

Maybe i should add in another 2 SAEs. They are doing the job really well.

Another thing, i just cant keep shrimps for some reason, past setups and this setup, i am a shrimp killer
amano shrimps cant survive in my tank i dont know why the only shrimps i had that thrived (multiplied)
in my previous setups were fire red shrimps.

[Ingen]

Was never successful in winning the fight against the two algae you mentioned, rescape both times because of them...

You're very hardworking on changing of your water, do you change water during light on or after? I read somewhere that the frequent changing of water during light on period will affect the co2 level causing fluctuation in the environment (Not sure how true).

ADA step is mainly micro and iron and according to the instruction it's meant to be dosed daily at one press per 20L, that's what I have been doing for the past months.

[hiisoka]

i change water when lights are off. usually before lights on.

the hair algae was under control.

but there was a sudden increase of bba
must be the co2 fluctuation that you speak about. i did alot of water change siphoning etc.
i meddled with increasing co2 etc. and got more bba as a result.

just did manual removal today (scratch / cut / and immediately siphon the bba that came off)
now revert to my usual co2 and lights regime.
im keeping both lights on but reducing photoperiod to 6hrs
and just dosed the weekly algexit

[barmby]

I notice tank was set up on Feb 5th. And the illumination period is 8 hours. I think its bit too long. A tank usually takes longer than that to cycle and steady itself against cloudiness, illness, and algae. But then it is a 9 gallon tank - everything changes easily.

[hiisoka]

i think the cycling process was abit accelerated due to my using of some media from another matured aquarium.
yeah i agree. somehow i feel the smaller a tank is the more delicate the situation and more susceptible
to sudden outbreaks / changes. and the more regular cleaning / toping up of water is required.

anyway i've reduced the illumination period to 6hrs. hope that is optimum for plant growth.