# Why i have algae?????. Help me.



## ferdyconde (Oct 1, 2011)

Hi,sorry for my english, i`m from Spain and i want to know your opinion.
I have a 85 litres tank 3 months ago and now,i have *Hair Algae *(i think this is the english name).
I don`t like commercial tests.
Also there is something i don`t like and i think isn`t normal: *my plants don`t throw oxygen bubbles and my plants grow slow.*
I think maybe it`s need more *N *but i need your opinion.
This is my algae (not is my tank):









*This is my tank*:

85 litres.
Light: 4x36w pll, 6500ºk, 10 hours/day.(+ blue light 1 hour).
Nutricional Sustrate.
CO2: 2 bubbles/second.
Filter: JBL cristal profi e700.
Water changes: Once week 30 osmosis litres.
Fertilizers: Seachem Fluorish, K, FE and N (no phosphorus) every water change.
Fish:2 ramirezis, 2 apistogrammas, 1 ancistrus, 1 C.Siamensis and 4 pomacea brigdesi.
This photo is 7 days ago, there arent algae.


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

The thing you are writing about with plants throwing off oxygen bubbles is called pearling. There is some disagreement as to exactly why it will happen in one case but not another. I think it has to do with saturation of oxygen levels in the water, but I am not for sure.

Hair algae is pretty lame. I only get it is tanks that don't have co2. Excessive lighting could be your first problem, but also you need to be sure that you have adequate co2 levels in your tank. Saying it is 2 bubbles per second doesn't mean anything because that is different for every person. How are you diffusing your co2? What kind of circulation do you get in the tank?


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## ferdyconde (Oct 1, 2011)

I have a bazooka atomizer.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

That is an awesome tank. Great dutch-like scape!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

If all the water is reverse osmosis then are you reconstituting it with calcium, magnesium and carbonate? No expert at RO use, might be more stuff needed as well. And if you aren't using phosphate, add that in too. With your high powered set up you might need to add more than the bottles of fertilizers suggest too.

No sure what your light is but you might consider using a shorter lighting period and or using fewer bulbs. You have loads of CO2, perhaps the light is over whelming it.

You might put a ripple on the water surface to aid in oxygen exchange for the fish. Is the CO2 and fertilizer well distributed in the tank with lots of water movement? 3 times the tank volume used to be suggested but now 10 times is suggested. When I move my powerhead to blow across algae ridden areas it seems to help get rid of it. Algae grows fine in high current areas too but sometimes it settles in a low flow area and changing that condition helps get rid of it.


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## ferdyconde (Oct 1, 2011)

My lights is like T5.
I dont use phosphate because normally this algae provides from this.
When i change the water i put 2/3 osmosis and 1/3 of "home".
Im going to do 2 things:

Go up CO2.
Add more Nitrogen.
What are you thinking about?


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

I would increase the co2. When was the last time you increased your co2? was it before you had so much growth? you could have developed a deficiency because you had more plant growth so the demand went up. I would also add some more Nitrogen.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

ferdyconde said:


> My lights is like T5.
> I dont use phosphate because normally this algae provides from this.
> When i change the water i put 2/3 osmosis and 1/3 of "home".
> Im going to do 2 things:
> ...


I would also add phosphates if I were you.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I would use only 2 of your bulbs and add phosphate. Add a ripple to the water surface to increase the O2 content of the water and very cautiously increase the CO2 level.


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## jl209 (Mar 2, 2006)

If you have a quality fixture you seriously only need two bulbs running. More light is better only up to a point then it just makes life miserable after that.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That algae is related to little nitrates and phosphates. So yes, adding nitrates will greatly improve your tank. More often than not, that is actually a form of cyanobacteria and it thrives in lower nutrient waters.


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