# GSA on plants ... need your advise!



## Roman B (Sep 23, 2015)

Hello there!

Having a problem with GSA after Diatoms.

Tank- 15g
Lighting- 2x T8 15w, 8 hours
Co2- Pressurized, DC Limegreen-yellowish, 2-3bps
Circulation- Hydor Nano 240

Here are some photos of GSA im dealing with.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/o201we

Should I cut light to 4h a day ? stop on fertillizers? increase phosphates? cut all infected leaves off ?

How to deal with them ?

Also have 2 SAE and 3 Otto cats... they did a lot of work helping with diatoms.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Well you may get it to work, but I'd think a larger tank would make it a lot easier.
There was a link placed in here in a thread which talked about a scientific study which
showed that some plants, when growing well, do give off a chemical that inhibits algae growth. All in scientific names so I didn't match any plants to that list.
But the A.R. plat was not on it. I deducted from the info that the A.R. Plant needs to be placed in a tank that already has some of those other plants in it and growing well.
I do know that the Anacharis is one such plant, but don't know if half a dozen floating stems of it along will be enough. More would block out too much light. But faster growing types seem to do this more and your pictures don't reveal any.
Some on here say that an increase in phosphates helps/w GSA.
Breaking up the photoperiod helps when the middle "off" hrs are at least 4.
You also have a very high level of light. Given even decent reflectors it in excess for that tank. I have a 10g tank with two T8 bulbs, but one is only on for 3.5 hrs.
Not the best lighting set up for that tank. A Stingray LED/w a dimmer or a single T5HO bulb raised a bit will work better if you want to go that route.
Actually the cheaper route would be a dome "brooder" lamp/w a !5W bulb in it(CFL).
The 13W ones work best in a 10g tank. With the 19W bulb you will need to raise it4-6".
No mention of ferts. Kind of a must/w the CO2 and higher light.


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## Roman B (Sep 23, 2015)

Thanks for your reply!



> No mention of ferts. Kind of a must/w the CO2 and higher light.


I use Tropica ferts few pumps daily. 
Gonna order some dry salts for EI dosing.
Im getting really confused with Tropica.... how much to dose and what am I dosing 
They don't want to give me a full list of what they have in it mixed.




> You also have a very high level of light.


Actually I were thinking 2WPG is low to med light when using t8.
So I slammed reflectors on top. I guess I should take them off then )


Edit: Also dose a 1/2dose of Easycarbo
Tropica NPK Root tabs.
Have JBL AquaBasis plus under Manado


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Depending on reflector quality one T8 in a 10g can get into the high range..
In my 10g it got everything covered in GSA to the poiint it killed a few plants.
Tried one bulb and Fissidens F. would not grow. Seems they need min 40-45 PAR.
But poor reflectors on the light strips that I am using in that tank drop a single bulb below 40PAR. With fair reflectors you could be looking at over 70 PAR if the bulbs are fairly close but not jammed together. That's where the larger tank comes in...just more faster growing plants to make whatever chemical that is which inhibits the algae.
I don't understand how Tropica can have only one liquid/dose since in EI or PPS they
separate the Trace nutrients to a different day for dosing because something from the KH2PO4 locks up the iron in such a way that the plants can't use it. The iron is in the trace nutrients. So in EI the micros goes in one day then the macros goes in on the next day.
I'd most likely start/w splitting the light hrs. Your CO2 may compensate for two bulbs without the reflector also along/w the split light hrs.
The amount of GSA you have is not very high which tells me you aren't very far from
an adjustment that may make just adjusting a couple of things all that is needed.
EI is specifically designed for injected tanks so you should get additional good results when you change to that.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

Hello Rom...

You have a small tank and the chemistry in small tanks tends to be unstable. This is a perfect environment for algae to grow. Change out half the water every 3 to 4 days to keep the water properties level. Putting added fertilizers, especially commercial ones into the tank tends to change the water chemistry quickly. This isn't good for plants or fish. I'd avoid using commercial ferts and just feed your tank inhabitants a balanced diet. You can't get better nutrients than those the fish produce.

Log on to the Foster and Smith website. This company has worked in the aquarium business for decades and have good information on dealing with tank algae.

B


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

The good news is it doesnt look to be very bad. What's around the edges of some of those leaves could be bba. Doesnt look to me like very much is wrong, a little short on ferts maybe, or co2.

I wouldnt go below 6 hours on the light. You could take the reflectors off, but then you may not have enough for some of those plants. I'd probably leave the light alone and increase ferts across the board, maybe 25%, until your other dry ferts arrive. Bump the co2 a little (a green-yellow drop checker doesnt always mean there's enough)

It's good to trim off any really bad leaves, but I wouldnt worry about ones with just a few specs. Maintain super clean conditions, filters, substrate, etc, and dont skimp on water changes. 2x week is always good whenever there's a problem. Algae doesnt like water changes.


@BBradbury No offense, but I see you all the time advising people with upper levels of light and co2, to stop dosing ferts. This is utterly terrible advice for these types of tanks. Please stop.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

That's information that is quite outdated. Water chemistry in small tanks isn't unstable unless the tank is neglected. 

It's bad advise to do 50% water changes - especially in a small tank - every few days. That can shock tank inhabitants and can cause lots of other issues that are easily searchable here on the forum.

Most people on the forum use commercial fertilizers, which are absolutely fine. For large tanks and small tanks alike. They're fine for plants and fish.

There's better information here on The Planted Tank than the website you recommend, fortunately.




BBradbury said:


> Hello Rom...
> 
> You have a small tank and the chemistry in small tanks tends to be unstable. This is a perfect environment for algae to grow. Change out half the water every 3 to 4 days to keep the water properties level. Putting added fertilizers, especially commercial ones into the tank tends to change the water chemistry quickly. This isn't good for plants or fish. I'd avoid using commercial ferts and just feed your tank inhabitants a balanced diet. You can't get better nutrients than those the fish produce.
> 
> ...


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## Roman B (Sep 23, 2015)

Thanks guys for your replies!
Still have a problem. Bought Seachem NPK, Iron and Trace... to control what I'm dosing. Dosing EI alike, one day NPK, trace next one.

Tried to increase CO2 by 1 more bps ... ended up with gasping fish, so went back.
Took reflectors off for a week.. AR mini bottom leaves died off.

Gonna look how Seachem products gonna affect on my tank )


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

It would help to know how long has the aquarium been set up for.
If it has been going for more than 2 months, has anything changed?

Cutting all the leaves will clean up things aesthetically. If the cause remains unresolved, more leaves will be colonized. In my own experience the level of GSA growth is a good indicator of PO4 levels becoming scarce. Raising PO4 above 2 ppm limited GSA's growth rate.


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## Roman B (Sep 23, 2015)

> It would help to know how long has the aquarium been set up for.


About 3-4 months in total and 1 and a half months after rescaping.



> GSA growth is a good indicator of PO4 levels becoming scarce


That what Im thinking. I were using Tropica fertilizer for thole time. 
I asked about full list of macros'n micros in their fertilizer. But they keep it in secret.
Atleast they answered about Potassium in their fertilizer


> Our fertilizer does contain Potassium but only as a trace so it’s a very small amount.


So I switched to Seachem at the moment
Don't have a PO4 test tho ...


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

Roman B said:


> About 3-4 months in total and 1 and a half months after rescaping.
> 
> 
> That what Im thinking. I were using Tropica fertilizer for thole time.
> ...


Maybe the rescaping disturbed the system more than you think and now the aquarium just has to go through some stages until you reach a new equlibrium. Happened to me when I sold some big E. amazonicus or Nymphaea. 

I bet the Nitrate and Phosphate is also non-existent or very dilluted. If you want to go with ready made solutions, JBL Proscape P or NPK might be available for you. I did not use Seachem, but I think there are different types of Seachem products. Maybe somebody with more experience can comment. 

If you can get some, the cheapest and most exact way woud be to add some KH2PO4. This way you don-t even need a test kit, just dose according to EI.


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