Dark Green Fuzzy Algae

[mad_dan]

Any advice would be much appreciated.

The problem is that I've got dark green fuzzy algae on the older leaves of my plants, particularly the Marsilea Quadrifolia, the Java Moss, the Glosso, and the driftwood. I hope that it isn't BBA.

Some Glosso leaves and Marsilea leaves are also becoming light brown and transparent. Like it is fading into nothingness.

The details are :

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH, specify units): 84L, @ 23 gallons. 30” wide,

Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 150W (@6.5 wpg)
Number and type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) :MH
Age of light bulbs : 1 Mo.
No. of hours your lights are on : 12 hours/day. With a 5 hour gap in the middle of the day.

CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : @ 1 every 3-4 seconds.
Type of CO2 (DIY/Cylinder) : Cylinder
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor) : Currently a Diffusor. But usually a reactor.

Liquid fertilisers Used (Product name. E.g. Seachem Flourish) : Nutrafin Plant Gro.
Fertilization regime (Frequency and amount per dose) : 10ml Every other day.

Other fertilisers (Product name. E.g. Root Monster) :

Other additives (Product name. E.g. Seachem Prime) :

Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister, Product name/model if possible) :
When was the filter last washed : 1 month ago.
Filter media used : Ceramic Rings, Bio Balls, & a Sponge.
When was the media last changed : Never. Just rinsed.
What was changed : Just rinsed.

Age of setup (i.e. since initial setup or last major re-do ) : @ 2 years ago I changed the substrate.

Water change frequency : 1x week.
Amount changed : 40%

Water surface movement (None/gentle/turbulent) : None.
Circulation (None/gentle/turbulent) : Gentle.

Tank Temperature :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
-------------------------------------
KH (dKH): 8 tsp of baking soda added every H20 change.
GH (dGH): 2 dH?
pH : ??
NH4 (ppm) : ??
NO2 (ppm): ??
NO3 (ppm): EI method 10ppm every other day.
PO4 (ppm): EI method 2.4 ppm every other day.
Fe (ppm): EI method 0.15 ppm. Added every other day.

Bioload (Number and type of fish and plants)
------------------------------------------
Glossostigma Elantianodes.
Marsilea Quadrifolia
Eleocharis Acicularis
Umbrella Grass
Elatine Triandra?
Some stem plants.
Java Moss.

Fish
12 Kribs
7 Rams
5 SAEs.

Describe your problem :

Dark green fuzzy algae on the older leaves of the plants, particularly the Marsilea Quadrifolia, the Java Moss, the Glosso, and the driftwood.

Some Glosso leaves and Marsilea leaves are also becoming light brown and transparent.

Otherwise, the tank is bubbling and pearling like a glass of champagne.

[PeterGwee]

Do the light for a straight 12hrs with no gap in between. The gap in between doesn't serve any purpose at all except for halting the photosynthesis after it starts to get into gear (you want to do that?).

I'll suggest you trim off the dying or affected plant leaves/ scrub wood and add more CO2 slowly as well as some surface movement. Clean the filter if the flow slows down since circulation is critical to carrying CO2 and nutrients to the plants. The algae should not come back if the CO2 is good since you can be certain of the nutrients via dosing. If it comes back fast, you know the CO2 is bad.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[mad_dan]

Peter,

Thanks for the advice. I've got a spare hang on the back filter with surface skimmer. Do you think that should take care of my CO2 circulation problems?

Dan