# i swore i'd never ask an algae question...



## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Looks like green dust algae. Super fast growing stuff and very delicious according to my algae crew. My tank happened to develop it just when it was being discussed on APD back when and so I left it alone until I couldn't stand it any longer. I was lucky, a scrape down and it hasn't been a problem since.

Your tank may be set up for long enough for the biological filter to be mostly developed but big disturbances will cause new algae blooms. I regularly get diatoms when I do a big enough rescape even though the filter has had the same configuration for 2 years. Messing around in the tank likely causes mini cycles and those tiny bursts of ammonia can cause havoc. My tank suffered for years with GW every time I rescaped until I increased the biofilter in the sump. Green water is generally considered to be caused by a bit of ammonia. 

As for nutrients I like to post this nice essay by Diana. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168546#post1776530 

Rather than limiting nutrients I like to add them but also remove organics as my tank is bright and CO2 enriched as is yours. I hoover the surface of the substrate when I do large water changes 2x a week at the moment and keep my very large biologic filter clean. Since you are doing the same perhaps adding those inorganic salts to encourage plant growth will help the plants grow. Strong growing plants discourages algae and of course your eye goes to the nice plants rather than the irritating green algae as well. Might want to find some fast growing weeds as well. I love Brazilian pennywort and it would look great in your tank but there are lots of other weedy plants out there. Look for cheap stems, they are cheap because they grow so fast!

And what does your algae crew consist of? I have platies, ramshorn snails, otos and bristlenose plecos. Your barbs and platies can do a number on filament algae but aren't good at grazing flat stuff. I see no snail/oto/pleco tracks on your glass!

And light. 4 bulbs is more than your set up can handle at the moment. Without nutrients the plants cannot take advantage of the light and most of us aren't skilled enough to balance that much light with CO2. See the sticky thread in the lighting forum to estimate how much light you are running. Try 2 bulbs for 7-8 hours instead. If that helps try shading with some window screen between light and tank to see if there is further improvement.

CO2. Do you have a ripple that crosses the whole water surface? Bump the needle valve up a smidgen every couple days to the point you see a slight change in the behavior of your fish - then back down a couple smidgens! I only do this when I am going to be able to check the tank often as I have gassed the fish in 5 minutes and in 5 hours. Don't use just a drop checker or pH/KH chart or BPS to estimate CO2. I start with a 1 point drop in pH between CO2 off and CO2 on and go from there for my 3-4KH water. It is unlikely 4BPS is enough for your tank.

We are dealing with a living complex mini ecosystem. It takes time to get it all figured out. Make small tweaks as soon as you see a problem and take good notes as to what is going on and maybe you will figure it out faster than I did. I knew light was an issue for me back when I got serious in the 1990's, got that and found out the plants needed NPK+micros bad then worked on CO2 then better filtration, then water movement and now very interested seeing how reducing organics with vacuuming and doing huge water changes is helping keep the tank looking better and better. 

Grow healthy plants in a nice looking scape and sit back so the bit of algae present doesn't bother you I say. I know my tank has BBA on some substrate particles and old leaves and stems and some sad looking GSA on the tank walls and BGA below the substrate and some diatoms on old Myrio leaves but 6' away cannot see any of it!


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

thanks for taking the time for that great response. that is a lot of brand new info i knew nothing about... so perhaps i have a few more than 3 things it could be. but finally more science instead of the elementary basics so i take that as a sign i'm getting better.

i hate to admit it, but oh well here goes.. you nailed it on the subject of ammonia. i'm fairly certain that's where it came from. those new plants i planted, i soaked them in algaefix and an extremely low dose of ammonia to irritate any hitchhiking snails . it worked. zero snails. i dipped the plants in a very dilluted ammonia solution for 5 minutes and then transferred them to a larger tank of water and a few dashes of algaekill. soaked overnight, then next day i rinsed and soaked in plain water for several hours, rinsed again and soaked in a new tank of plain water, repeated 4 or 5 times. i was certain i got them rinsed enough, but i still bet just a microscopic amt of ammonia caused the dust on the walls. it took 2 secs to wipe off and after a harmless water change it hasn't come back.

i also took your advice and got 2 more pleco's (total of 4 now, yes, need a few more) and 6 ramshorns... though the ramshorns planted egg sacks all over my tank in less than 10 hours so they had to leave. gave them to my kid for a pet snail tank. 

also learning now to stay away from liquid fertilizers? do you have any advice on that? i've heard (and it seems to make sense?) that fertilizing the water column can feed algae much faster than granular/pelletized/mud-ball ferts that go in the substrate?

thanks again for the assist. i have definitely made notes of your input.


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

WOW! I don't care what reports you are reading, you have way too much light! Your tank speaks for itself. And you said it yourself "MORE THAN ENOUGH LIGHT." WPG is old and outdated and means nothing with the new high tech/high-efficiency lights available. Including the HO lights you use. Your 75 gallon tank can easily survive with only one of those light units. Depending on what kind they are, quality, reflectors, etc, you may be able to use just the double T5HO. 

I don't know what you would expect from blasting your tank with the most intense form of lighting. I don't know where you read that algae thrives in insufficient light, but I would put that concept down for now. There are multiple factors to consider when dealing with this. Your tank needs light, co2, and nutrients. When co2 or nutrients is the limiting force, you can likely get algae. You need to have saturation of CO2 and nutrients and have light has the limiting factor. With adequate CO2 and nutrients, it is amazing what you can do with less light. 

Consider it this way, if you had no light, you would have no algae. I would immediately switch to that double unit and gauge your plants from there. I suspend a 4 bulb unit (a super cheap, single reflector, that doesn't even really run HO) about 7 inches above my 75. If it was an individual bulb reflector, true HO unit, I would have that thing about at least a foot over my 75.


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

I doubt you introduced ammonia into your tank. Especially if you rinsed them that much. Ammonia is more responsible for green water than green dust algae, I think. Green dust algae is almost always caused by too much light.

You need to dose the water column and substrate. Use dry fertilizers as opposed to liquid. Costs less and it's more controllable.


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## Jahn (Apr 26, 2013)

Yep. Don't let the CO2 and Nutrients be the limited in your tank - let light be the limiter. I noticed that two Ludwigia leaves in my tank started getting beard algae - ones very close to the surface (and light), but on the same plant, no algae further down towards the substrate. Also, some of my flame moss has brown algae, but it hasn't become an epidemic because it's near the substrate - again, a lower light situation. And also as said above, from 6 inches away you can't even see that algae on the moss, so no big whoop.

That green dust on your glass tho? big whoop. you don't want that growing on your glass in only 3 days, so lower that light for sure - or try something like floating plants to block the light (although those love sucking nutrients out of the water so you may want to up that).


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

Higher Thinking said:


> I doubt you introduced ammonia into your tank. Especially if you rinsed them that much. Ammonia is more responsible for green water than green dust algae, I think. Green dust algae is almost always caused by too much light.
> 
> You need to dose the water column and substrate. Use dry fertilizers as opposed to liquid. Costs less and it's more controllable.



i can prove you wrong on too much is the cause of GDA.


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

*picturebigger*

PM sent


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

thx for the reply. yeah it's a monster of a light system. aquatic life 4xt5HO and it does have individual bulb reflectors. http://www.aquaticlife.com/products/286
it's large and i was surprised to have leftover real estate on the rim so i added my old 2xT5HO to it for a "high noon" lighting mode. originally had it only come on from maybe 11am to 2pm but now (because of algae - so i thought) i bailed on the whole sunrise/sunset thing and all 6 bulbs come on and nuke the tank 8 hours. raising them in suspension maybe sounds like a good idea.

i never had luck with low-lying grasses until the upgrade. i've always wanted them, to cover all substrate, you can see i've now planted several and they're growing nicely.

i'm definitely not skimping on CO2. i beefed that up to roughly 4bps, there's no surface chatter and there's plenty of circulation. i do need to upgrade on ferts i only have liquid right now and it's likely not what i need. i'm starting to drift into liquid water testing kits, they seem much more accurate than the cheezeball dip sticks. so far only phosphates and nitrates as i was troubleshooting the algae but the very next step is not testing for trouble but testing for optimization. maybe i should bail on troubleshooting algae and go straight for optimizing the water? i know it will feed plants but are you certain it wouldn't feed more algae too? 

i originally planned to do this once the new plants were established and thick. right now it seems my water column is higher in density than my plants can fill. seems it would provide "extra room" for algae to fill in the gaps?


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## zoo minsi (Jan 1, 2006)

Just to pile on with my 2 cents. You are pushing waaay to much light at that tank. Even if your using lower end fixtures its to much, if they are good bulbs and reflectors even worse.

Snails do a wonderful job on algae if your issue isnt with snails in general but more with how many i would recommend trying nerites. They will lay eggs but cant hatch in freshwater only saltwater. So if you pick up 6 you will say with 6.

I have a 75 also heavily planted and am running about half the light you are. I also dose EI and am running Co2. Ive had more light on this tank in the past but this seems to be the thresh hold for me. When i add more light i just cant seem to balance my lighting, Co2, and ferts to keep algae away. And ive had them all, with that said most of them you can slowly recover from as you dial your tank in, but if BBA takes hold good luck that stuff can be a nightmare to get rid of.

My personal view anymore is people need to take a step back when starting out. I speak from personal experience. Most people starting out that go high light, Co2, Ferts and every other thing they can add in usually have at least one major algae explosion and just makes this hobby discouraging.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

thanks everyone. i'll definitely test raising the lights a tad, they are warm... and point goes to you, zoo minsi, regarding the plants near the surface vs. the same plants at lower levels. i can definitely see undeniable proof with that one. 

i'll raise the lights some and see how things go. if my grasses start misbehaving i'll bring them back down though and drop any plants sitting too close to the surface. 

i FINALLY have a light system that can support any plant i want (sadly, includes algae that i don't want). but i really think something else is going on here. at least there's other things i'm going to test before i go after lighting. 

i'm really shooting for more specific elements. i DON'T want to make my light the limiter. that limits my enjoyment.

agreed on what "most people need to do" and what "most people starting out do"... but let me clear that's not me. it was me when the hobby was handed to me with no education. but it's not me anymore. the minute i moved this tank and reinvested in premium equipment with my OWN money made this a committment. the minute i discovered the mountain of science involved made me ENJOY it. the science that i'm just beginning to scratch the surface of makes this hobby everything BUT discouraging. the fact that there's so many possibilities makes it a puzzle (that can be solved) and i'm not ready to just turn off my lights and call it a day (yet...)

i'm going for troubleshooting specific nutrients first. finding specific ones that lack. no mixed fertilizers until i fully understand each of them and can comfortably say "that will help" or "that will start this all over again". just not ready to blame it on lights. though i will raise them, as some near the surface are a little sunburnt. ;-)


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

happi said:


> i can prove you wrong on too much is the cause of GDA.


+1
So can I, I have more light than most anyone around in one tank and lot in another and hardly any in another. 

Perhaps more light relative to other parameters, but light independently should not be an issue for growing plants, adding more and more makes management harder............. 

The main issue for most people is simple: they need to learn to grow plants and focus there. The rest is a wild goose chase.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

picturebigger said:


> thanks everyone. i'll definitely test raising the lights a tad, they are warm... and point goes to you, zoo minsi, regarding the plants near the surface vs. the same plants at lower levels. i can definitely see undeniable proof with that one.
> 
> i'll raise the lights some and see how things go. if my grasses start misbehaving i'll bring them back down though and drop any plants sitting too close to the surface.
> 
> ...


I generally tell folks to go with good CO2/good ferts and good water changes/care, filter cleaning , wipe the glass, add LOTS of algae eaters(better them, than you) and LOW light.

And...........no one listens. Then they come back with algae. Then you tell them again.

It's good to learn through experience, as long as it is not your own. But.....some folks have no other method to learn any other way. 

Just how it is.

I do not think you will find much enlightenment with ferts, GDA will grow dandy in low or high ferts, light is about the only factor that seems to increase, decrease growth of GDA.

I would add plenty and make the ferts an independent factor.
This way you can focus on the real bear of the issue for most folks with plant/algae issues: CO2.

You have plenty of light.
You will want to get a horde of algae eaters.
Bushy nose plecos are very effective if you use say 20 or so babies on all types of glass algae/surfaces. Amano shrimp are very effective for plant cleaning and detrius breakdown.

So water changes, lots of cleaning, add algae eaters, focus on cO2, reduce light.

It's all these things, the closest is CO2 for a silver bullet but CO2 can be elusive for many people, they lack the patience generally. Go too far with it and do not realize the risk. But there's many other things to cO2, liek the rates of degassing and and addition. Good flow, good O2 that can off set some management problems with adding enough, and............if you use LESS light, you have LESS cO2 demand, this is a fundamental relationship of photosynthesis. No way around this factor.

So less light= less algae growth, easier CO2 addition and more wiggle room.
This is a holistic view, not just PO4 or NO3 etc.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

there is not too much light. i have much much more than that on my tank.

without reading the other posts. phospates don't cause algae, its not even an imbalance in the amount of ferts, ive replicated that ratio's don't matter.
plants need to be growing well. once they are and have sufficient bio mass, they "define" the system as Tom Barr has said many times in previous threads and interviews, which generally means they will be the predominant photosynthesizing organism and not algae.

but they need to be growing well.. removing any kind of their food just shoots them down.. quite rapidly.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

agreed. i learned a significant fact last night that makes perfect sense. my previous "sunburnt" comment regarding plants being too close to light is inaccurate. the leaves are browning or yellowing or even "burning" holes because of a deficiency of potassium and/or magnesium. looking like my aquarium needs more minerals. makes perfect sense as i have all of the above +a few stems/roots that are weak/brittle.

it seems i crossed a milestone with that revelation. there are countless articles on how an over-nutritious tank will cause algae, but very limited info about an under-nutritious tank causing algae. makes no sense right? at first... but now it does. why would anyone add more nutrients to "kill" algae? now i get it. 

numerous articles say a heavily planted tank will help control algae b/c all the plants eat the "extra" nutrients. there isn't a single article (that i know of) that discusses GETTING THERE. i have heavily planted tank, yes. but if you see the pics, they're all young, there's plenty of space to fill, and they aren't heavily ESTABLISHED. in getting to that stage i have a rapidly growing tank where all essential nutrients are gobbled up quickly, and then signs of deficiency appear. one of those "deficiencies" appears to include a weak form of algae known as green dust. and yes, perhaps my badass light system is helping it grow, but only because i'm feeding my plants tons of light to help them grow too, and without nutrients, they don't grow and algae fills the void. i could be dead wrong here, but as plantbrain said (LOL) the rest is a wild goose chase. 

FYI no dust algae has reappeared after wiping the walls when i posted this thread and doing a 15% water change. must have been something "new" with the new plants introduced. maybe a mini cycle or something? no clue. but it hasn't returned as quickly.

more updates to come.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

you need more plants and in a panted tank there should be some reading of nitrates. that is the last step in the break down cycle and showes it working. there is no way for the plants you have to use all the stuff your puting in the tank to feed them so you are getting algae. i dont have any expensive set up and i hardly get algae and my 55 is open on 3 side since it sits on my bar and gets direct light from 2 big windows. i have a hot magnum filter with just the sponge in it and a shop light that i never turn off. but my tanks i way more planeted than yours. the worst i get is green spot on the glass cause i hardly ever turn off the light. it was on for a month strait plus daylight when i had angel babies. i hardly do water changes and this tank has a huge bio load with 15 columbian tetra 6 adult angels (one spawning pair) a hand full of guppies 2 hill stream loaches and a dwarf bristle nose


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

more plants?? dude, look at these pics. i hardly have room to plant anything else (yet). i don't need more plants (yet), i need the GOBS OF PLANTS i have to grow.

that's totally my problem-- i need more nutrients. i added more plants and what happened? all of my plants stopped growing. they're not dead, but they aren't growing. too many plants too little nutrients.

i'm good to go on the algae forum now. thank you all. you can find me in the water/ferts section ;-) i'm typing up my daily EI chart now. no more panic button on the algae issue from me (yet). putting it aside for awhile til my plants outgrow it.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

and can i get a HELL YES this thing is gonna be FLIPPIN AWESOME someday. HELL YES! 

almost there. can't wait. 

cheers


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

get some cheap stem plants that will help use up the extra stuff in the tank. they will grow fast and help out compete algae


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## stlouisan (Jun 8, 2006)

Thank you picturebigger for bringing up something I've been trying to understand for the longest time! :thumbsup:

I've been bashing my head around my lighting situation thinking its the limiting factor, because from what I've read it's not giving me enough PAR, yet PCs are said to be one of the more efficient types of light. 

It's thread has convinced me to look into ferts more and then go from there.


Now, if only I can get myself into a fert schedule.....


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

stlouisan said:


> Thank you picturebigger for bringing up something I've been trying to understand for the longest time! :thumbsup:
> 
> I've been bashing my head around my lighting situation thinking its the limiting factor, because from what I've read it's not giving me enough PAR, yet PCs are said to be one of the more efficient types of light.
> 
> ...


awesome! glad my thinking-out-loud helped you out. sounds like you're at the same point as me. let me sincerely suggest the solution i decided just 2 days ago and can't believe i didn't learn sooner... google or search this forum for "aquarium, EI dosing"... the estimative index. i made my chart and i'm sticking to it. it's basically a beginners fert program that is widely known, accepted and proven to work. it's a simple dosing schedule where you dose your plants with a handful of different nutrients on rotating days for one week and at day 7 you change your water 50% to reset everything. then repeat the following week. it's the guaranteed way to grow your plants rapidly and safely, and i swear to you in just 48 hours my plants have made a complete total 180. ALL of them are responding. they're brighter in color, have new growth, look less stressed, and it's all moderate doses with (for me at least) harmless parameter reactions.

my plan is do this now, explode the plants to premium, and THEN if i have algae (or if i don't), thru constant testing and analysis of results i'll start dialing back any nutrients that aren't consumed as quickly and increasing those nutrients that consistently disappear (b/c they're especially tasty to the plants). the EI method helps us serious beginners develop our benchmark. PM me if you want more info on my specific schedule. 

getting into an actual schedule is easy. the daily dosing takes minutes. daily testing (personal preference of mine so i can learn what's happening) takes a few more. dosing: <1 minute. testing: 10-30mins depending on how much u test


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## joeyNdana (Mar 5, 2013)

Well......how is it going after a month?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

picturebigger said:


> more plants?? dude, look at these pics. i hardly have room to plant anything else (yet). i don't need more plants (yet), i need the GOBS OF PLANTS i have to grow.
> 
> that's totally my problem-- i need more nutrients. i added more plants and what happened? all of my plants stopped growing. they're not dead, but they aren't growing. too many plants too little nutrients.
> 
> i'm good to go on the algae forum now. thank you all. you can find me in the water/ferts section ;-) i'm typing up my daily EI chart now. no more panic button on the algae issue from me (yet). putting it aside for awhile til my plants outgrow it.


 
that's not a lot of plants

and neither is this.. my tank has been much more full than this but its the best shot i got in my journal right now of a full tank


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## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

Hehe, Yeah, you need more plants if you can see the substrate or out look through the back of the tank. You also need more plants when no one comments "Shouldn't you trim it yet".

When I first started reading this thread, I had this little voice in the back of my head saying "Grow Plants not algae". I think Tom has gotten to me 2.

Keep it up! You'll reap what you sow.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

joeyNdana said:


> Well......how is it going after a month?


hey thanks for asking. happy to report drastic improvements. algae is a non-issue. i still get a very vague green spot or two on the walls, but a quick wipe and it's gone and it still seems to be diminishing. some plants' old leaves still look burnt-- but all of their new growth is healthy.

to whoever insisted i had too much light and i argued... i may be close to swallowing that pill. LOL my older 2xt5ho actually fell off the rim while i was cleaning (is it a sign??). it broke, no longer in commission. just my 4xt5ho now and the plants seem to be responding better and [knock on wood] that spot algae on the walls seems to grow even slower.

photos below. DRASTIC growth from original pics i posted at top of the thread. all my reds and purples are extremely vibrant in color. my tiger lily's and banana plants have exploded in size. my water sprites are doing fantastic. purple cambombas are growing (and rooting). 

my only problem now is little [email protected] fish that are yes, "community" fish but ARRRRG herbivores. my rainbow barbs are going bonkers over the water sprites and all my clover/teardrop grasses. i'm guessing the extra fertilizing spices are making them tasty. they seriously munch down on them like fricken cows grazing in a field. i hate it. and it's impossible to catch them too. 

otherwise doing good. i want more plants though  lol screw fish i like the plants 10x better.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

haha holy cow WOW!! i actually haven't looked back at past photos in a while now for myself. everyone at home says "it looks great" but all i ever see is the tiny little quirks that drive me insane. they say perfect, and i say FAR FROM IT.

what an amazing before/after photo attached below though. so ok, clueless little house guests, maybe you're somewhat hardly close to barely accurate but not really... maybe it is starting to look just a tad little tiny but not much more like wee little bit hardly not really somewhat "decent"... 

i'm still not satisfied though! haha you guys know what i'm talking about.

pretty cool though. this is grounds for a tasty beer. later!


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## Flear (Jul 10, 2013)

what i'm familiar with green dust algae

it's not algae, it's bacteria

like some things in the tank they resolve themselves if you ignore them
this is one of them, you ignore it, it looks ugly, continue ignoring it, it gets thicker, ignore it, ...

... it starts falling off the glass, ignore it, ... it goes away.

like diatoms, ... ignore it.

i recently heard the same for greenwater, ... ignore it, the phyto plankton will reach a level it can no longer survive and goes all suicidal, ... because i've never had greenwater is where i am not quite so sure

there are a few "problems" that resolves itself this is one of them

or you could panic and do tons more work.

and your tank doesn't have much in the way of plants, ... you can see the substrate, you've got lots of room for more plants.

i've had my tank to a point (no pruning) the plants formed a floating island that blocked out light to everything underneith. the island about6" from the top of the water had enough boyancy plants were climbing out of the tank.

the fish were finding it hard to move, they were either in the tangle underneith, or they were in the tangle ontop

a 29 gallon tank, i removed 2 grocery bags worth of plants and the tank was still overgrown, ... i'll let it get more overgrown then trim back again, ... as i'm noticing certain behavior from some of the plants i'm interested in trimming much lower, ... instead of 10" steams, i'm going to trim back till stems are 2-4"

it's full of stems that have lost all their leaves now, new growth is the only new leaves in the tank of one species of plant, 

green dusk algae is something to ignore
cladophora algae, ... i'm debating spending the $20 for the sites plant book or getting a water jet as i heard one person got rid of his cladophora algae that way. have to check if that's safe for the critters in the tank first.

things will eat green dust algae
so far nothing will touch clado unless there is no other food source in the tank, for herbivores, that's either starve or eat.

the stuff stinks so i'm sure it tastes just as ugly to the fish.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

the plants are new. the only substrate you see is where my teardrops/clovers are going to fill in. and i'm not going to buy 30 chunks of grass to do it immediately. 

i'll prune them, re-root and plant= spread. they're already spreading naturally anyway. so yes, the tank is heavily planted. just young plants. the only substrate left is where grass will spread to.


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## Flear (Jul 10, 2013)

it will fill out for sure , then the substrate will be hidden


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

update after ~2 months. ferts do the body good.

still working on this cloudy water. my pump failed after a weekend out of town and i came home to green water. i've (very carefully) done 3 massive 80% water changes once every 1.5 weeks or so and got the green water out. now just a little cloudiness. 

btw don't try that at home kids. 80% water change... it's intense. it takes all day. drop the heaters, powerheads and filter input to the very bottom of the tank so they can continue to run (and not burn up) while you drain to nothing, then condition all tapwater ahead of time and slowly reintroduce @ 10% increments. don't clean your filter on the same day. fish have all been fine through it. it works great for the cloudy water, but the white cloudiness seems to return. but each change it gets a little better.

otherwise the plants are doing great. zero algae anywhere (YAY)


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## MichaelKelley (Jun 24, 2013)

I have seen many suggestions on getting rid of Algae, but I doubt that any solution is working 100% as I have also seen something working for one and not working for next setup. It is really confusing.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

MichaelKelley said:


> I have seen many suggestions on getting rid of Algae, but I doubt that any solution is working 100% as I have also seen something working for one and not working for next setup. It is really confusing.


couldn't agree more. gets frustrating sometimes. and the fact that you can't just do one or 10 things and see instant results. total guessing game. try one thing weekly for 3 weeks, see results. results 50/50 chance are for better or worse. 

my cloudy water has turned green yet again. i'm fed up. so i'm building a 30 gallon as we speak. this 75 gallon is exhausting. at least i can start something new, try different things, and enjoy something smaller scale while my monthly guessing game in the 75-gal does its thing.


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## picturebigger (Apr 13, 2013)

*been a while*

just gotta add once more to this. algae is a non-issue now. solution was ferts and look how much it has erupted! 

every suggestion to ignore the algae and let the plants take its course is correct. for example, the water sprites.. i finally took them out. they grow like weeds, they're invasive, take up a lot of light, so i yanked them out. the next day, water was cloudy and light green film appeared on the walls. why? because the removal caused the ecosystem to become imbalanced. those plants did a number to the nutrients in the water, so when i removed them, the algae filled the new void.

i ignored it, added ferts (though less than normal), allowed other plants to grow and fill the void. algae went away. 

to whoever said i had too much light and i refused...  beers on me my friend. i finally took that extra lamp off, and management became so much easier. then when any algae film started to form (and wouldn't go away), i simply dialed the lights back one hour and it vanished. other plants continued to grow, and once they were visibly larger, i added an hour to the lights. simple. 

ferts in the beginning caused algae to explode. i did as i was told, ignored it, continued dosing (EI) and the plants exploded too (as you can see in these pics). algae finally disappeared and really, the tank runs itself now. i've backed off on ferts, adding when i feel like it (because i was sick of trimming plants every other day). if i change something, i'll get a plume or a mild case of cloudy water, i just ignore it. 2 days later it's pristine again. tank has really become self-sufficient. 

10 gal water change every 2 weeks or so and i don't even vacuum the substrate. the plants like the poop. once a month or so i'll include the substrate. add fresh (conditioned) water every other day (i evaporate about 1-3 gallons daily). simple stuff. 

to anyone (including myself in the past) that thinks aquariums take too much time, it's because we panic at the first failure. now if i see a failure, i just ignore it and give it time to reset itself. tanks are the easiest hobby i have (except on water change days, but i've learned those are more rare than i thought). just keep water level constant, change 10 gallons every 2 weeks, add low dose of ferts every 3-5 days when i feel like it, keep light times at a normal schedule and nothing excessive. done. i can't remember the last time i had to buy something for it. pillow stuffing for filter media will last forever, i don't even rinse my bio anymore (it clouds my water, forces a cycle). just dump the can, shake the mechanical a few times, add tank water back to it, and then add conditioned water back to tank. add some ferts here and there for plant health and algae control when i feel like it. basically just buy food and co2 once every 6 months or something and that's it. if any issues, i ignore it and just stop whatever it is i did the other day and give it time to fix itself. the key is don't do a thing until the tank fixes itself, otherwise you'll throw it into a loop trying to fix multiple things.

even something as obnoxious as algae, just ignore it (hard to do). dial your lights back and start nuking the tank with ferts. your plants will respond and your algae will lose. could take weeks or months. deal with it, and DON'T try something else in the process.

super happy now. practically bored with it. studying on setting up another tank now. thank you all for your input. my solution was standard lighting, fertilizer, and PATIENCE


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