# Mr. Aqua 22gal Long Aquascape + BBA/GHA



## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

This post serves a couple purposes. First, I wanna show you guys my tank! This thing has been months in the making.








I'm really proud of how the stand turned out, as it was quite a headache to make. I am also really pleased with how the layout of the aquascape came together, but I am starting to notice some algae growth. Both BBA and GHA are making appearances on my hardscape and plants. The problem is not totally out of control at this point, but i want to get a handle on it before it builds up momentum. I must note that four days ago, my power company did maintenance in our area early in the morning and when they turned the power back on, my lights turned on with it and stayed on for a couple hours without co2 or ferts until i woke up and turned the timer back on. I am not sure if this may have been enough to kickstart the algae. Also, up until last week, I had been dialing in the co2 so it was not 100% consistent all the time.

Some specs about my tank:
There is about 15 gal of water (taking into account hardscape and substrate)
I dose PPS-pro daily at 2x dosage (since I started to notice problems with the plants at regular dosage)
My gh is 8, my kh is 4.5 (I use ro water and raise gh and kh with equilibrium and baking soda, respectively)
Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate never above 15-20
My light is a 36" Current USA Satellite Pro at full strength hung 4" above aquarium or 15" from the deepest part of the tank
Photoperiod is 7 hours
CO2 comes on and turns off one hour before lights turn on and off
Drop checker ends the day at a lime green
My plants are monte carlo, blyxa, and staurogyne repens

Hopefully I have provided enough information so that someone can help me figure out the problem! Thanks in advance


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Your nutrient and co2 levels are to low,the light is to strong. After removing the algae ( toothbrush ) increase your nutrients and co2
and cut back on lighting . Hope that helps,cheers


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

Thanks for your quick response. My drop checker is currently showing about 30ppm by the end of the day, so I don't know if I want to push it anymore at the sake of my fish. As for the lighting, it is at 100% now, so what do you recommend I lower it to? And I am dosing 2x pps-pro already, so should i up it to 3x? I understand that I need to make changes, but I guess I am confused how I go about deciding what to change and by how much. Beautiful iwagumi you've got there btw!


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Nice setup!

The intensity is probably pretty high for the plants and hardscape since they are so close to the surface. 

How long has the tank been setup? Did you start with a 7 hour photo period. What is your water change schedule?


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Wow 100% for seven hours,that's to much.What ferts are you using?


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Nice setup!
> 
> The intensity is probably pretty high for the plants and hardscape since they are so close to the surface.
> 
> How long has the tank been setup? Did you start with a 7 hour photo period. What is your water change schedule?


Thank you! It has been running for probably about a month now and no, I started with a 6 hour photoperiod and I was dosing only 1x PPS-pro at the time.

Bump:


Powerclown said:


> Wow 100% for seven hours,that's to much.What ferts are you using?


I am dosing GLA ferts


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Ok,nothing wrong with gla ferts,do you now exactly what you dose,how much iron,phosphates,potassium ect.?


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

What is the substrate?


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

that painting needs to be slid down behind the tank, it'll mesh into the scape beautifully


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

Powerclown said:


> Ok,nothing wrong with gla ferts,do you now exactly what you dose,how much iron,phosphates,potassium ect.?


I dose .4mg Micros and 4mg macros

Bump:


houseofcards said:


> What is the substrate?


amazonia


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

I would aim to have the drop checker that lime green colour when the lights come on, not by the time the lights go off, for me that means starting the Co2 2 and half hours before lights on come, co2 goes of 1 hr before lights out. Perhaps a better way to check you are getting about 30ppm Co2 is to use a PH pen, check the PH level just before the co2 starts, when then lights come on you want a 1 point drop, i.e if PH measures 7.5 before co2, you want it at about 6.5 when lights come on, you want it to remain steady at that level while the lights are on.

Also it looks like you mite have to much surface agitation which will gas off your co2 before your plants can make use of it.

Scape and stand look great btw!


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

Thank you for all this help! I have lowered the light intensity to 75%, will remove as much algae as possible, continue with my current dosing, and turn up the co2. I will also look into getting a new lily pipe that faces more downward as to not disrupt the surface. Does that sound right?


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

brandonhauser said:


> amazonia


With AS you really don't have to worry too much about dosing for usually at least 6 months or so. 

The dosing won't hurt, but your definitely not going to be deficient in anything. You may need to add K and traces, but that's it.


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## etane (May 14, 2012)

what light are you using?


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## isonychia (Nov 19, 2013)

Brandon, I have the same light.

I have a feeling, from some research, that the PAR data is not 100% accurate.

I used to keep my light at about 60% across all channels. A few months ago I increased it to 90% and I got much better results and mine sits on the rim of a 17 gallon mr aqua.

Of course I accidentally turned off the timer and left my light on 24 hours for 3 days while away on vacation and I came back to green hair algae, BUT my limnophila Aromatica was colored up red and purple and so happy...LOL. Now I am battling hair algae!!

I am not saying this for any reason other than to point out it may not be as strong as advertised. Just something to keep in mind. I AM NOT suggesting you to keep it at a high intensity.

When I kept it at 50/60% (across all channels) I was under the assumption it was at 60 par based on the specs etc. But I think it is less than that.

Once I bumped it up it seemed to increase plant health and help alleviate some of the algae.

I am curious how your tank does with the light. 


BTW I love the hardscape. It is almost impossible for me to find good lava rock. I called so many stone yards and no one seems to carry the black variety. So I am stuck with whatever I can find at local aquarium stores, which is slim pickings.

iso


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

I currently have the light at 50% across all channels and the algae seems to be subsiding although I can't say for sure. I would definitely be interested in getting a par meter and figuring out exactly how powerful this light is, as I too am skeptical about the par data provided by current usa. It's too bad a good par meter is so expensive! The red rock I got from Nature Aquariums in santa monica (a straight candy shop for an aquascaper) and have been very pleased with! I'm not sure exactly what type of rock it is, but you're probably correct in calling it lava rock. Out of curiosity, what steps are you taking to eliminate the GHA? I have started dosing the whole tank with excel (not spot dosing) and continued to tweak things closer towards equilibrium. 



isonychia said:


> Brandon, I have the same light.
> 
> I have a feeling, from some research, that the PAR data is not 100% accurate.
> 
> ...


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## isonychia (Nov 19, 2013)

brandonhauser said:


> I currently have the light at 50% across all channels and the algae seems to be subsiding although I can't say for sure. I would definitely be interested in getting a par meter and figuring out exactly how powerful this light is, as I too am skeptical about the par data provided by current usa. It's too bad a good par meter is so expensive! The red rock I got from Nature Aquariums in santa monica (a straight candy shop for an aquascaper) and have been very pleased with! I'm not sure exactly what type of rock it is, but you're probably correct in calling it lava rock. Out of curiosity, what steps are you taking to eliminate the GHA? I have started dosing the whole tank with excel (not spot dosing) and continued to tweak things closer towards equilibrium.


Yeah, I too looked into a PAR meter, but it was expensive and it didn't feel worth owning for a few readings. I would like to get one though. I plan to set up some more tanks in the future so it may be worth it at some point. At least it would give a true reading and alleviate one guessing game out of the many in this hobby.

For the GHA, the only steps I have done is take the photo period and reduced it by one hour and reduced the light intensity from 90 to about 80. I am also going to mess around with the flow of the tank and put the intake and outlet on the same side. (something not exclusively for the GHA) Besides that I manual remove as much as possible with a toothbrush and gravel vac a little more diligently during the weekly water change.

Whats annoying is the GHA started because I left my lights on by accident for 24 hours for 3 days. That was a little more than a month ago. Common sense leads me to believe returning the light intensity back to normal would kill off the GHA. But it has not. It still exists and grows. I cant figure that out. The light intensity should not be ideal for the GHA anymore but it still hangs in there.

It is not too bad for the stems but it is smothering my Fissidens Fontanus and even though it grows well in my tank it took a long time to get it acclimated and flourish. I am not sure I will ever eradicate it from the FF. It's so intertwined in it, it may be a lost cause. I may transfer most of it to my low tech low light 5 gallon tank and see if it slowly dies off in that environment. I read dips in peroxide or excel will kill the FF.

iso


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## brandonhauser (Nov 6, 2015)

Yeah, it seems like once GHA gets a hold, it's hard to eliminate. I think the best bet is to spot dose excel or peroxide. It may affect your plants some, but they should still have enough in them to outcompete the algae. Boy, how easy would this hobby be without algae! :laugh2:



isonychia said:


> Yeah, I too looked into a PAR meter, but it was expensive and it didn't feel worth owning for a few readings. I would like to get one though. I plan to set up some more tanks in the future so it may be worth it at some point. At least it would give a true reading and alleviate one guessing game out of the many in this hobby.
> 
> For the GHA, the only steps I have done is take the photo period and reduced it by one hour and reduced the light intensity from 90 to about 80. I am also going to mess around with the flow of the tank and put the intake and outlet on the same side. (something not exclusively for the GHA) Besides that I manual remove as much as possible with a toothbrush and gravel vac a little more diligently during the weekly water change.
> 
> ...


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