# Algae problems in high tech tank :,(.



## Spencernw (Sep 11, 2017)

Hello, i am new to this forum and i have a question about why i have so much algae.
I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium with a fluval 406 canister filter and 4 clip on desk lamps and a nicrew led light all on the top. this equates to 9,500 lumens. I run the lights for about 10 hours. I recently switched from DIY co2 to pressurized co2 about two weeks ago. I dose EI method and run co2 at about 30ppm. I have a standard ph of 7.8 and when co2 is on it is at 6.8. dkh = 5. Tank stocking is an angelfish, 6 rainbows, 5 cory cats, 3 rummynose, 6 serpae tetras and two german blue rams. temperature = 77.6. I have been getting so much algae that it seems to prohibit plant growth. my rotala indica is covered in algae and it is very hard to remove it. I dose EI and it said that while dosing EI plants will out compete algae.


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## Highseq (Jul 26, 2017)

Spencernw said:


> Hello, i am new to this forum and i have a question about why i have so much algae.
> I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium with a fluval 406 canister filter and 4 clip on desk lamps and a nicrew led light all on the top. this equates to 9,500 lumens. I run the lights for about 10 hours. I recently switched from DIY co2 to pressurized co2 about two weeks ago. I dose EI method and run co2 at about 30ppm. I have a standard ph of 7.8 and when co2 is on it is at 6.8. dkh = 5. Tank stocking is an angelfish, 6 rainbows, 5 cory cats, 3 rummynose, 6 serpae tetras and two german blue rams. temperature = 77.6. I have been getting so much algae that it seems to prohibit plant growth. my rotala indica is covered in algae and it is very hard to remove it. I dose EI and it said that while dosing EI plants will out compete algae.


There is no easy answer to why you have algae, but instead several general answers which I am sure you have read about to exhaustion.

Light, fert, and CO2 balance. It most likely has more to do with your light/CO2 than your ferts assuming your ferts are in balance. First thing I would do is scale back lighting to 8 hours, the next thing I would do is start dosing excel. I have found excel to be decent at inhibiting growth of BBA myself. When I see algae becoming a problem I dose excel at 2x the recommended dose for 3 days, although this is just something I do and I cannot guarantee how safe it is but I haven't had any problems. The next thing I do is make sure my phosphates aren't too low. I have consistently found that when my nitrates are at 30-40ppm and I get green spot algae that my phosphates are less than 1ppm. Lastly make sure your CO2 is consistent and turns on before your lights do. If for instance your lights and CO2 turn on at the same time the algae has an advantage for nutrients for the first couple hours before CO2 levels become high enough for plants to "out-compete" algae.

If the algae has progressed severely, remove as much as you can by hand. If it has really covered leaves I recommend removing them. Take out rocks and driftwood that are affected and scrub them with a toothbrush.


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## Spencernw (Sep 11, 2017)

Hi. thanks for the reply. Since this post i have turned the lighting period to six hours. My co2 does come on two hours before the lights. I heard about extra excel dosing and will give it a try although in my experience it seems to kill my jungle val. I do not have any BBA yet haha. I will also have to order a test kit to test phosphates. I cant seem to find much advanced dosing information. There is loads of info on lights and co2 but the only thing i am able to find in the area of dosing is EI and ADA.

Bump:


Highseq said:


> There is no easy answer to why you have algae, but instead several general answers which I am sure you have read about to exhaustion.
> 
> Light, fert, and CO2 balance. It most likely has more to do with your light/CO2 than your ferts assuming your ferts are in balance. First thing I would do is scale back lighting to 8 hours, the next thing I would do is start dosing excel. I have found excel to be decent at inhibiting growth of BBA myself. When I see algae becoming a problem I dose excel at 2x the recommended dose for 3 days, although this is just something I do and I cannot guarantee how safe it is but I haven't had any problems. The next thing I do is make sure my phosphates aren't too low. I have consistently found that when my nitrates are at 30-40ppm and I get green spot algae that my phosphates are less than 1ppm. Lastly make sure your CO2 is consistent and turns on before your lights do. If for instance your lights and CO2 turn on at the same time the algae has an advantage for nutrients for the first couple hours before CO2 levels become high enough for plants to "out-compete" algae.
> 
> If the algae has progressed severely, remove as much as you can by hand. If it has really covered leaves I recommend removing them. Take out rocks and driftwood that are affected and scrub them with a toothbrush.


Hi. thanks for the reply. Since this post i have turned the lighting period to six hours. My co2 does come on two hours before the lights. I heard about extra excel dosing and will give it a try although in my experience it seems to kill my jungle val. I do not have any BBA yet haha. I will also have to order a test kit to test phosphates. I cant seem to find much advanced dosing information. There is loads of info on lights and co2 but the only thing i am able to find in the area of dosing is EI and ADA.


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## Highseq (Jul 26, 2017)

Spencernw said:


> I cant seem to find much advanced dosing information. There is loads of info on lights and co2 but the only thing i am able to find in the area of dosing is EI and ADA.



Do you have specific questions? Also what nicrew light are you using? Can you post a link?


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Spencernw said:


> ... I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium with a fluval 406 canister filter and 4 clip on desk lamps and a nicrew led light all on the top. this equates to 9,500 lumens. I run the lights for about 10 hours. I recently switched from DIY co2 to pressurized co2 about two weeks ago.


It's always hard as mentioned to pinpoint, but this sounds like you got off on the wrong foot. You started the tank with DIY, on a 55g so you probably weren't getting a good concentration of co2 to begin with. You also ran the lights for 10 hours. Not a good combination and probably got the algae going. 

You don't mention how long the tank has been setup or how heavily planted it is which also play big factor in organic uptake and keeping the water clean to prevent most algae from developing.


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## Spencernw (Sep 11, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> It's always hard as mentioned to pinpoint, but this sounds like you got off on the wrong foot. You started the tank with DIY, on a 55g so you probably weren't getting a good concentration of co2 to begin with. You also ran the lights for 10 hours. Not a good combination and probably got the algae going.
> 
> You don't mention how long the tank has been setup or how heavily planted it is which also play big factor in organic uptake and keeping the water clean to prevent most algae from developing.


Hello! thanks for the reply. I appreciate any feedback because i hope to get this resolved. I understand i was not getting a good concentration using DIY which is why i switched. I had bad hair algae when i had the DIY but when i got things sorted out, it went away. not as much green dust algae as i have now though. The tank has been setup for about 4 years. Now when i first set it up it only had a couple plants and very poor lighting. Only in the recent year have i started getting better equipment. It is on the heavily planted side. ludwigia repens and ovalis, blyxa japonica, pearlweed, cabomba, rotala rotundifolia, pennywort, hygrophilia, jungle val, tiger lotus, lemnophilia hupporides, bacopa, whisteria, renekii mini and a small portion of monte carlo. I will upload a picture if i am allowed to use imgur or if you could direct me on how to upload directly if possible. thanks again.

Bump:


Highseq said:


> Do you have specific questions? Also what nicrew light are you using? Can you post a link?




This is the light:
https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Aquarium-Light-Extendable-Brackets/dp/B06XYKD67V/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1505704626&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=nicrew%2Bled%2Baquarium%2Blight&th=1

One question i have is that i bought this tetra algae control a while back and never used it. would it be safe to use and temporarily fix my problem or even permanently?


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Pictures?


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## Spencernw (Sep 11, 2017)

Nlewis said:


> Pictures?


Hello. I just turned the lights back on to get these pictures quick. I cleaned alot of algae off today, as much as i could and did a 50% water change. In picture 2 and 3 basically my whole aquarium walls would look like that at the end of the week. Majority of my plants leaves are covered in algae at the end of the week like in picture 4 and 5 but worse. Thank you for any feedback, i appreciate it.

https://imgur.com/a/OJlLI
https://imgur.com/a/QnrhF
https://imgur.com/a/LbdvH
https://imgur.com/a/7rpnV
https://imgur.com/a/1Zbzz
https://imgur.com/a/0JubK
https://imgur.com/a/hWZAj


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## kopic (Jul 31, 2017)

If there are lot of algae to handle, maybe you would like to try the 1-2 punch method to do a chemical treatment to kill all algae, once and for all.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Me thinks that reduced photo period will yield result's within a couple weeks.
EI method, if truly dosing EI,, pretty much cover's nutrient's.
Lighting is very easy to control.
CO2 could be just right with lower lighting level/duration.
Too many folks have issues when they begin using the gas, and think that this should allow for massive /uber lighting.
If you have always used this much lighting in the past,,then I would suspect nutrient issues along with possibly CO2 delivery on consistent basis.


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## Spencernw (Sep 11, 2017)

roadmaster said:


> Me thinks that reduced photo period will yield result's within a couple weeks.
> EI method, if truly dosing EI,, pretty much cover's nutrient's.
> Lighting is very easy to control.
> CO2 could be just right with lower lighting level/duration.
> ...


Thanks for replying. I only added a lot of light recently because i wanted a carpet of monte carlo and was afraid of it not doing well. I watched alot of Dennis Wong's videos and he says that super high lighting is not necessary with adequate co2. Maybe you could tell me if I am "truly" dosing EI from what i have read. I dose 1/2 tsp kno3, 1/8 K2So4 and 1/8 Kh2po4 M,W,F and CSM+B 1/8 T,T,S with the 50% water change on Sunday. I used rotala butterfly to see how much iron i should be dosing since i just threw in a cap of flourish iron when i dosed CSM+B. Thanks .


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Yes, it appears the dosing you are doing is fine (EI for 40-60 gal tank).
Too much light for too long.
I agree with Mr.Wong regarding lighting.


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