Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC) Tank

[PeterGwee]

Not exactly sure what GEX substrates have in them but most likely the same as ADA aquasoil (NH4). You need to really do frequent large water changes weekly say 2x50% and add carbon or seachem purigen to your filter. Think of ways to lower the NH4 before the plants really take off since the plant mass is too low and properly the NH4 production way too high. Go in and really remove the algae and don't worry too much about the plants as they can grow back.

Fert regime:
10ppm of NO3 per dose from KNO3 or seachem nitrogen 2x a week
2ppm of PO4 per dose from KH2PO4 2x a week
20ml of Seachem flourish or Tropica trace mix 2x a week
30-35ppm of CO2 and make sure it is well mixed in the tank with good current
2 x 50% water changes weekly for 3-4 weeks till tank settles down

Regards,
Peter Gwee

[lEddyl]

btw..... i think i've seen posts by other members rummy nose eats HC
beware!

[krabbie]

Just wondering, did your HC melted after you flood the tank with water?

yes, abt 30% melted even though I am quite sure their roots were not destroyed. In fact, I added hornwort to absorb the excess nutrients .. i suspect it's the slow water flow that caused the BGA and hence trigger the rest of the algae problem. The inlet for my Ehiem 2028 is the ADA-lookalike lily pipe. I suspect the flow is weakened .. am contemplating to use the original green Ehiem pipes instead ... sigh.

[krabbie]

You could try some malayan shrimps. They just love those brown stuff.

I am worried that the Malayan shrimps will uproot the HC ...

[krabbie]

Not exactly sure what GEX substrates have in them but most likely the same as ADA aquasoil (NH4). You need to really do frequent large water changes weekly say 2x50% and add carbon or seachem purigen to your filter. Think of ways to lower the NH4 before the plants really take off since the plant mass is too low and properly the NH4 production way too high. Go in and really remove the algae and don't worry too much about the plants as they can grow back.

Fert regime:
10ppm of NO3 per dose from KNO3 or seachem nitrogen 2x a week
2ppm of PO4 per dose from KH2PO4 2x a week
20ml of Seachem flourish or Tropica trace mix 2x a week
30-35ppm of CO2 and make sure it is well mixed in the tank with good current
2 x 50% water changes weekly for 3-4 weeks till tank settles down

Regards,
Peter Gwee

Given the condition of my tank, do you think it's advisable for me to do a blackout and start from scratch (or almost from scratch)? Or I can still savage the tank with your method above? I juz started the blackout tonight and hence no damage done yet.

[krabbie]

btw..... i think i've seen posts by other members rummy nose eats HC
beware!

So far the rummy nose have been quite obedient ..

[torque6]

This is the 2nd time ive seen a tank rampant with algae.

krabbie,
It would have been good if you listed your fert regime and co2 injection together with your intial tank setup. That way, most of us would advise on them should it cause problems for your tank. We didnt see any post on this after you bought the hairgrass from NA earlier this month.

[krabbie]

This is the 2nd time ive seen a tank rampant with algae.

krabbie,
It would have been good if you listed your fert regime and co2 injection together with your intial tank setup. That way, most of us would advise on them should it cause problems for your tank. We didnt see any post on this after you bought the hairgrass from NA earlier this month.

Saturday morning - change 40% water, add 1 small spoon (2.5ml those children medicine spoon) of KNO3 and KH2PO4 each

Every other day will add another small spoon (2.5ml those children medicine spoon) of KNO3 and KH2PO4 each

CO2 is injected like 4 bubbles per second. Lightning (T5) is (39W x 6 =234W) for 10 hours for 322 tank.

I didn't add any baking soda though. Also, the algae started growing more fiercely after I added more bacteria to speed up the cycling. But I don't think this shd be the cause. Just FYI only.

Another interesting observation is that this tank does not have green spot algae as opposed to my previous tank whereby this is the most ramphant kind. Other than the algae at the front tank and ferns, the other parts of the tanks are ok.

Thanks for all the help/advice so far. This is really frustrating

[Mizu World]

The brown 'algae' should really be just diatoms and quite common in new setups. I suspect the rich soil to be a contributing factor as well.

Despite being unsightly, it's really harmless. Manual removal and Yamato shrimps will do. It usually disappear suddenly once your tank has cycled properly.

You don't have to do anything special with your tank or adjust any parameters. Just be patient.

[o2bubble]

"Every other day will add another small spoon (2.5ml those children medicine spoon) of KNO3 and KH2PO4 each"

2.5ml of KH2PO4 is alot! For my 4ft tank, I just add 1/4 teaspoon (about 1.25ml) once a week which is about 2.79 ppm already.

Also, I'm using ADA soil and find that there is no need to add nitrate even though my tank is heavily planted (I tried adding 5 ppm x 2 a week and saw some shrimps dying even though plants only grow slightly faster). I guess ADA soil or gex soil has alot of NH4 and nitrate already.

[o2bubble]

Btw, get many more OTTO, SAE, Malaysian shrimps. They are safe for the small HC. Do not get yamato yet before HC establish as they will root up and eat all the HC based on my experience with Glosso.

[properfool]

I thought some sources like AGA said algae thrives in high phosphate environments

[torque6]

I would advise not to stress your bio system by adding more livestock because this will result in the increase in NH4. Guys, we have reiterated several times on these forums that adding excess nitrates will not cause algae, but 1/20 of either ammonium and ammonia will result in algae bloom. Check tom barr EI please.

Gex soil in my experience does have high amount of NH4 residing in them, which allowed hair algae to bloomsom in my tank when i first started cycling my tank. Theres just not enough BB and plants in my biofilter/tank to uptake them at that time.

Krabbie, you might want to check ricky's thread on his glosso tank, he was using 2 bags of green gex soil too and had algae issues, might want to check with him.

[krabbie]

I would advise not to stress your bio system by adding more livestock because this will result in the increase in NH4. Guys, we have reiterated several times on these forums that adding excess nitrates will not cause algae, but 1/20 of either ammonium and ammonia will result in algae bloom. Check tom barr EI please.

Gex soil in my experience does have high amount of NH4 residing in them, which allowed hair algae to bloomsom in my tank when i first started cycling my tank. Theres just not enough BB and plants in my biofilter/tank to uptake them at that time.

Krabbie, you might want to check ricky's thread on his glosso tank, he was using 2 bags of green gex soil too and had algae issues, might want to check with him.

Ricky's tank is great ... not sure if mine can ever reach that level. Anyway, today is the 2nd of the blackout and am planning to do a 50% water change tomorrow morning. I am quite worried abt adding shrimps to battle the algae as my previous experience is that they will mess up HC. It's not too bad with glosso or other plants ... i find that shrimp + HC is a bad combination. That's why I thot adding shrimps only after the HC has rooted nicely ... from this experience (btw, this is my 3rd attempt with HC with the previous 2 experiences failed miserably), the HC can still be easily uprooted when I am pulling the film of BGA off them; and I am referring to nicely rooted ones.

[krabbie]

The brown 'algae' should really be just diatoms and quite common in new setups. I suspect the rich soil to be a contributing factor as well.

Despite being unsightly, it's really harmless. Manual removal and Yamato shrimps will do. It usually disappear suddenly once your tank has cycled properly.

You don't have to do anything special with your tank or adjust any parameters. Just be patient.

These brown 'algae' are growing at scary speed ... overtaking the growth of HC by easily 10X ... how can i prevent it? water flow? Bacteria?

[ranmasatome]

Ottocinclus.... loves that stuff..

[torque6]

Ricky's tank is great ... not sure if mine can ever reach that level. Anyway, today is the 2nd of the blackout and am planning to do a 50% water change tomorrow morning. I am quite worried abt adding shrimps to battle the algae as my previous experience is that they will mess up HC. It's not too bad with glosso or other plants ... i find that shrimp + HC is a bad combination. That's why I thot adding shrimps only after the HC has rooted nicely ... from this experience (btw, this is my 3rd attempt with HC with the previous 2 experiences failed miserably), the HC can still be easily uprooted when I am pulling the film of BGA off them; and I am referring to nicely rooted ones.

Dont look at the end product but how ricky managed this algae issues when he spotted them.

[letdoit]

i had done so call Tom Barr's method before about 3 years ago.
I learn it from my grandfather instead Tom Barr as my Grandfather is farmer in malaysia, know abit of stupid stupid thing from him.

can know your setup of your tank?
by the way, can lower your Co2 and lighting already.
Because your algae already started.
It could be something in my mind, but just want to double confirm from you, need your advice about your setting of this tank.

anyway, that time i was success with full of HC , but end up algae attack after 6 months. Because i always flew oversea, HC is very hard. easy to grow, hard to maintain.
You sure you want to try again???? i already give up

by the way, you can go one of the Lim Chu Kang, there is a farm, there also sell / distribute Aquarium plants to shop. I also saw there used this method to plant and sell it. Mean this method, all farmers are using for mass produce.....

[vurbul]

anyway, that time i was success with full of HC , but end up alage attack after 6 mths. Because i always flew oversea, HC is very hard. easy to grow, hard to maintain.
U sure u want to try again???? i already give up

Why not? Many have succeded with HC. Just like you did. Its just that you didn't finish what you started.

[krabbie]

An update (4th day of blackout):-

1. The BGA algae is gone
2. Hornwort dying
3. 'brown' algae doesn't seems to be affected by blackout at all. btw, i still don't know what algae is this.
4. the leaves of HC are folding up .. but I think they are still surviving

Do you think I shd continue with the blackout? It doesn't seem to work on the 'brown' algae, which is the most problematic one.