Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
I just started this hobby about a month back. Actually I started 2 new hobbies. The other hobby will also be seen here.
I noticed some algae starting to grow in my tank and floating around for a week now.
Macro attempt. Stray algae? by mUAr_cHEe, on Flickr
Could this be something that floated away from my rock of Star Moss?
Not sure if it is a related problem, but in the last 3 weeks, I had 6 neon tetras who died. Initially it was 1 dwarf puffer and 10 neon tetras. Today when I left the house, it is still 1 dwarf puffer but 4 tetras.
I would appreciate any thoughts on these 2 issues.
Looks like some string or hair algae, probably hitchhiked in with some plants... just manually remove as much of it as possible, it'll tend to multiply quickly if left on its own.
Is your tank recently setup? Like less than a month ago? If so, then its probably not completely cycled yet so the fish deaths are likely due to the toxic spikes in the various parameters.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Thank you for your advise.
Yes. My tank is newly set up. *gulp* I set it up on May 12.
Is there any other way to remove all the hair algae?
Well, various types of algae are always present in all aquariums, once hair algae (or any other algae) hitchhike in and pop up in a tank it can be tough to eradicate it totally, as long as one strand or spore hide somewhere, when conditions are favorable it will grow again.Originally Posted by mUAr_cHEe
The difference between setups is how easily the algae flourish compared to the plants, therefore its all a matter of minimizing the algae growth to manageable levels.
Keep the parameters stable, keep bio-load minimal, don't overfeed, plant more fast growing plants, inject Co2, control light, control fert dosing, improve circulation, add more algae-eating shrimps or fishes etc, mostly the standard tips and responses constantly posted in forums... yeah i know, in reality its not so simple.
Alternatively, you could go the short-cut way and try using various anti-algae chemicals to try and kill or suppress it, but that's usually still a temporary measure too.
So while in the process of trying out all the above-mentioned tips, just do your best to manually remove as much of it when you spot them and hope that they don't reappear again so soon.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
When I got home last night, the problem is quite bad. Algae is now clinging onto my centre-piece driftwood.
Would covering and tying some other moss all over the driftwood now solve this problem? Or at least the problem around the drift wood?
Get some shrimps and put into your tank.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
I am not entirely sure this is a good idea considering my tank is still rather 'new'.
One month of cycling should be okay for low grades cherries and amano.
Else you have to constantly clean your affected parts
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Without knowing the rest of your tank setup (other than what can be seen in your photo)... you can do these steps to help remove or at least slowdown the growth of the algae:
- Remove the driftwood from the tank, then scrub off the algae.
- Manually pull out as much of the algae that you spot in other parts of the tank.
- Reduce light photoperiod or reduce light intensity by raising the height of your lightset above the tank.
- Do more frequent water changes to reduce the excess nutrient build up.
- Plant more low-demand but fast growing plants (ie. water wisteria or water sprite) to soak up the excess nutrients and light.
- Add floating plants (ie. frogbits or salvinia natans) to soak up more excess nutrients and light, helps block out excess light too.
- Feed your fishes less, cut down what you normally feed by half or only feed once every 2-3 days.
Lastly, as the others have recommended, add hardy shrimps like cherry, malayan or yamato shrimps to help consume algae and leftover food. The more shrimps added the better their efficiency, but note that if your tank is not fully cycled yet, there is a higher chance of shrimp losses during the process.
Hopefully you'll see improvements soon.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Will post up complete tank specifications later tonight when I get home. Off the top of my head; My tank is estimated about 15 litres with HOF filter, LED lights and fan.
The tank has about 2 inches of substrates (GEX Green Bag) and light period has been set about 10 hours. I intentionally set the light period so as I wanted my plants to grow a little faster. Pls let me know if this is a bad idea.
I have been dosing WaterLife BactaLife "Digest Ammonia and Nitrates". It is heavily recommended by uncle at SeaView, almost sounds like a quick-sell thing.
Earlier this week, water was tested at these values:
NO3: 1
NO2: 0.1
pH: 6
Temp has been hovering between 24.8 - 27.8C, night and Day.
Flora and Fauna:
4 Neon Tetras with bitten off tails. (My guess is that it is from the resident bully)
1 Dwarf Puffer (The Resident Bully, despite being the smallest size.)
Cabomba Caroliniana
2 rocks of Star Moss
Hair Grass
A bowl-shaped plant that is commonly sold at LFS. (I haven't been able to ID that on my own.)
I had some HC which about half have already melted away and I have since removed them.
If you have noticed by now, yes. I do not have a CO2 system set up. I am trying to keep it as simple as I can. I will however invest in 1, if I have to eventually.
I have been manually removing as much algae as I can and additional water change to twice a week. But this has all started recently only.
I would appreciate if you guys can help to advise a little more. I would put more more technical specifications that are still missing when I get back tonight. I just hope I do not decide to go down to PolyArt first.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
I have checked. M tank is 45cm long that has approximately 15 litres of water with 16w of Lights.
Light is only one part of the equation when it comes to plant growth, plants need 3 main things to photosynthesize = Light, Co2 and Nutrients. If any of these 3 factors are not sufficient, the plants will slow down their photosynthesis or stop photosynthesizing altogether.
In a low tech planted tank with no Co2 injection, what usually happens is the plants use up most of the available natural Co2 and start to slow down or cease photosynthesizing after around 4-5 hours (and cease taking in nutrients too), if your lights are left on for longer periods of time, it'll just end up feeding algae as they'll quickly take advantage of the excess light and nutrients to grow rapidly.
If you are encountering algae that grows so fast that you can see the difference in their growth in just one day, then it means 10 hours is way too long a photoperiod for your tank, especially since the existing plant density is still sparse and comprise mainly of slower growing plants.
Reduce your light photoperiod to around 5-6 hours for now, or raise your lights higher above the tank to reduce the light intensity. Once your plant density increases, then you can look into increasing the photoperiod gradually in stages.
Note that although Co2 injection is great for boosting plant growth, its not an instant fix for algae issues... you still need to have lots of plants in the tank to utilize the added Co2 to take up the excess nutrients and light, in order to outcompete algae.
Plant more low-demand fast growing plants like water wisteria or water sprite, google their photos and match them at the LFS to get a few pots. It'll be best to fill the whole tank with such fast growing plants to effectively use up the excess lights and nutrients, that will help outcompete the algae. Later when the tank is fully cycled and everything is stable and algae is minimal, then you can easily remove those plants and then add in other slower growing plants that you like.
You can try dosing liquid carbon to boost plant growth, like Seachem Excel. These solutions provide plants with a form of carbon that they can directly use to grow. The effects may not be as great as with Co2 injection, but there will usually be a noticeable growth improvement in the plants when liquid carbon is used. In addition, they have the side benefit of inhibiting algae too, and can also be used to kill algae via spot treatment in the tank. Do be careful when using liquid carbon around livestock and certain plants though, some delicate plants like mosses my melt if directly exposed to liquid carbon and if it is overdosed too much, it may also affect fishes and shrimps too.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 6th Jun 2014 at 17:34.
Hi UA, Can I then assume for a new low tech tank (without co2 and Excel/trace dosing) we should limit photo periods to max 5 hrs n work upwards from there depending on plant growth and intensity..or if we start seeing algae quickly lower photo period. .
On another note..are montecarlo and hair grass considered fast or slow growing plants?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Found a good example of a balanced low-tech tank that has a good combination of plants and light, by Low Tech Tan:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...rogress-Report
You'll notice for his 40cm tank, amongst other plants, it has alot of fast growing water sprite in the background, and he is only using a 4W LED lightset... and he doesn't even use a filter!
Yes, for low-tech tanks without Co2 injection or carbon supplements, its best to either use lower intensity lights or shorten the photoperiod during the initial startup... its easier to adjust the photoperiod though (rather than tweaking the light intensity). If algae pops up it means too much excess lights for plants and algae taking over, so re-adjust the lights.
Algae growth is directly linked to light availability, so controlling the lights is one of the ways to manage algae growth (especially in low-tech tanks). Light is the main driving force in a planted tank, Co2 and nutrients are only there to support it... if more light, then need more CO2 and nutrients, if less light then need less Co2 and nutrients.
For those 2 plants it depends on the conditions of the tank... in low-tech tanks without Co2 injection, i'd consider them as slow-medium growth hardy plants, similar to glosso.
In high tech tanks with Co2 injection though, those plants become very fast growing plants... almost like weeds.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Thank you UA for your advise.
I just scrub the driftwood clean again and rescaped to make room for more new plants. (Yay!)
Will post pictures of my tank soon.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks