Can't beat this algae!

[b-roll]

No matter whit I do, this algae will not leave my tank. I have a constant 30 ppm of CO2 dosed through a tank, regulator and reactor. I dose 1 ml of the Sears Conlin PMDD every other day, I am not introducing any phosphates into the tank, my nitrates are at 5 ppm or less. I dose 10 ml of Seachem's TRACE twice a week, I kave only black mollies and Amano shrimp in the tank. Also I change the water once a week with distilled water (20%). At one point in time I blacked the tank out completely. That worked briefly. I an at a total loss and don't know what to do. My peaceful hobby has turned into an absolute nightmare. Please help.

[tango]

if the algae problem only confine to your dw, the solution is easy. remove your dw, immerse into boling water, and solve the problem once and for all;

tango

[vinz]

Uh, where's your location? In Singapore, tap water is good enough for water change, there's no need to use distilled water. In fact, distilled water will be void of a lot of elements that the plants require like Mg, Ca, etc. Unless the tap water in your location is not suitable (like too hard, etc).

If you are using distilled water for WC, then you will need to add back some of those elements using stuff like Seachem Equilibrium, etc.

Unless you are feeding the fishes heavily, you will have no source of PO4 which is not a good thing. The Sears-Conlin paper while is a very good paper, is slightly outdated at the present time. It is still recognised to have had a major (good) impact on the hobby though during it's time. Much of the new theories and methods are influenced by their work.

Roughly, the present methodology: good light, 30ppm CO2 throughout. Dose 10ppm NO3 and 1ppm PO4 twice or thrice weekly, and a commercial fert (i.e. for traces/micros) on the day after the NO3/PO4 doses. Weekly dose of Equilibrium, or equivalent, for Ca, Mg and K if needed. Watch 2 weeks for results and then tweak accordingly.

Search AQ and the web for Estimative Index.

A word of caution, in AQ the term PMDD is loosely used to refer to the use of loose ferts like KNO3, KH2PO4, etc to dose the tanks. It does not refer strictly to the PMDD recipe devised by Sears/Conlin.

[vinz]

Oh, the algae should be removed first, either manually, or by methods like blackout.

[juggler]

I say, nice algae!

You can (and should) remove the algae by taking out the driftwood and use a metal wool (those use for dishwashing) to give that affected area a good scrub.

Later, work on your fertilisation regime as suggested by Vinz. N,P,K are important macro-ntrients for plant growth. If I remember correctly, Sears-Conlin' PMDD has N and K but no P. You should try dosing PO4. Even you feed your fish a lot, the PO4 from fish food is more organic PO4 and plants prefer inorganic PO4. This is what I read...

If in singapore, can check out Dr Mallick for source of KH2PO4.

[b-roll]

Sorry, I should have added more detail. I use the aquarium pharmaseudicals product electro-right in conjunction with the pH up (no phosphates). My water has a GH of 18 and a KH of 16. The algae is also infesting my other plants. I thought the the driftwood picture would give a better representation of what type of algae it is. Dosing the fertilizer is what I can't seem to figure out. I run a constant 20-30 ppm of CO2, I am about 4wpg of compact flourescent lighting, I dose seachem potassium teice a week (10 ml) each dose. My plants, aside frome the algae, look fantastic. I started a major blackout yesterday in hopes to kill the algae and resume fertilizing regularly. I have dry 10% iron cheleate, potassium nitrate, mono potassium phosphate, potassium sulfate, liquid seachem potassium, seachem trace, dry equilibrium, and epsom salts. This adds up to too many variables and not enough knowledge. I just have no idea when it comes to fertilization. Thank you for you input.