Algae problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP HELP : (

**inque** · 17th Jan 2003, 20:08

Beginners Info Sheet
---------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 3ft standard
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 126 watts
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : 2 X 36 PL & 3 X 18 FL
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 1bps
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
Substrate Used : JBL base Fert. with 2~3 mm sand
Liquid Fertilizers Used : Sera Florena ,just stopped usin PMDD (suspect over dosin)
Frequency of fertilization : sera 2caps per water change weekly
Tank Temperature : 29 degress

Chemical Properties
---------------------------------------

Carbonate Hardness (kh): not tested ( but use sera's kh buffer per water change)
Total Hardness (gH): not tested
PH : 6.7 ~ 7
NH4 (ppm): not tested
NO2 (ppm): not tested
NO3 (ppm): not tested
PO4 (ppm): not tested
Fe (ppm): not tested

Bioload
------------------------------

1)5 neons
2)10 cardinals
3)15 ottos
4)10 yamatos , 5 malayan ( frm the 100!), 1 bee shrimp
5)4 lampeye

Problem description
----------------------------
encounter algea problem
green hair algae on my plants and sand bed
quite a mess

Wish to know wat algea eaters to stock up on ?
and recommended test kits related to this problem

**ttl100** · 17th Jan 2003, 20:23

Hi there. 2 caps of Sera per water change weekly? Try 1 cap for the moment. You may be dosing too much. Put more shrimps in and that shall help some. Are your plants load light? Plant as much as possible. Another good method is to plant something that grows real fast so it'll compete against the algae. Remove these fast gwoers after condition stablises. Normally algae problems occur after initial tank set-up so be patient. Try to remove as much algae-infested leaves if you can as well. Mr Amano advises regular water change ( sometimes as often as daily at 50% ) to reduce algae bloom. Haven't try this myself but maybe you can consider this. Good luck!

**inque** · 17th Jan 2003, 20:49

K thanks
but has any one good recommendation
for test kit related to my problem

for water change i change 25% weekly without fail
i'm tryin to grow &quot;Ai zhen Zu&quot;
My tank is a establish one liao
have a drifwood covered in this hair algae ( looks nice )
but the algae on the sand is ......................

**Allen_1971** · 17th Jan 2003, 21:25

Inque... good to see you used the info sheet [

] ... In this case however, it would be great if you could post a pic? Different types of algae require different approaches.

**CK Yeo** · 17th Jan 2003, 23:09

The bubble per seconds thingy tells me nothing about the level of CO2 in your tank. I am guessing it is not enough. Go measure the KH and pH so that we have a gauge where the CO2 concentration is. KH test kits are not tat expensive if I remember correctly.

I think the light thing is a bit high for a tank this size (what is standard size anyway? 3X1X1.5?). Of course there will be people who dun think there is such a thing as too much light, but it just makes everything more difficult to control, since you also increased the demand for CO2, nutrients etc. I will get rid of the FL if I were you.

I cannot emphasize enough how important are these two parameters (light, CO2) in plant tank. I will suggest that you get these correct (in-balance, sort of like ying and yang) before playing with anything else.

ck

**vinz** · 18th Jan 2003, 02:50

Inque,

You need to find out your KH, pH, NO3 and PO4. What PMDD are you using? On this forum, ppl use the term freely even when they are only dosing K2SO4 and K2NO3.

Meanwhile, manual removal of the algae helps.

Does the algae form balls like green cotton? If so, the last time I had it was when my PO4 was in excess and I started dosing KNO3 to up my almost zero NO3 to 5ppm.

**inque** · 18th Jan 2003, 18:12

thanks
I &quot;bombing&quot; my plants at 4watt per gallon
maybe will get some test kits as mention by the posts
meanwhile will stock up one Yamatos to cambat the algae
first.

Does the algae form balls like green cotton?
----------------------------------------------
No Vinz the algae is just like a hairy bunch growin on
my sand.Dosin K2SO4 and MgSO4*7H20 but have sotp usin
this week following ttl100's advice.Have Reduce to one Cap
of Sera's Florena also

think the light thing is a bit high for a tank this size (what is standard size anyway? 3X1X1.5?). Of course there will be people who dun think there is such a thing as too much light, but it just makes everything more difficult to control, since you also increased the demand for CO2, nutrients etc. I will get rid of the FL if I were you.
-------------------------------------------------
Size is 3X1X1.5 ,
anyway wat wrong with FL ?
but i think its due to the light intensity increased
Just added the 2 X 36 watt PL .

**illumbomb** · 18th Jan 2003, 21:41

Try switching on the lights for 5 hrs in the morning, switch off for 5 hrs and then switch on for another 5 hrs. It should help.

**vinz** · 19th Jan 2003, 02:51

No need to stop the K2SO4 and MgSO4*7H2O. They shouldn't be contributing to the algae by themselves. In fact you should continue K2SO4 dosing. K helps the plants to absorb nutrients and at this time you want the plants to have as much advantage as possible.

Nothing wrong with FL, just that your lights are quite high at 4W/gal. Your tank is roughly 30gal, so removing 2 of the FLs should give you about 3W/gal. Since you increased the lights, did you increase CO2 as well?

**sherchoo** · 19th Jan 2003, 09:44

The key word here is balance.

1. Agree with the rest that the lights are way too high. Reduce it to 3W/g to avoid algae thriving on them.

2. Continue ferterlization, give your plants an edge to outcompete the algae.

3. Manually remove the algae with a toothbrush. Very effective and easy method. Give it a try.