# Can't understand what to do with the algae



## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

I have a newly setup 30 gallon dirted aquarium
Suddenly after 10 days I stated to get brownish hair like algae 

I have a hang on back filter and have 2 led bulb (14 wat each)

When I clean the alagae it's just come back very next day

I have 11 neon tetra and one ghost shrimp

I can't understand what to do with the algae
I used to clean and do 50% water change every week
It's just 3 weeks of me setting up the aquarium

I can't check the ph kh or anything since I don't have the kit available nearby

The last image is after one week without any trace of algae
Can anyone advice me 
Thanks



















































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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

New tanks are pretty unstable and can have algae issues more easily than tanks that have been set up for a while. And it's very difficult to make suggestions without knowing your water parameters. But here are a few questions that might shed some light on your problem. How long are you leaving the lights on? Any sunlight hitting the tank? Using any fertilizers? Are you overfeeding?


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

Blue Ridge Reef said:


> New tanks are pretty unstable and can have algae issues more easily than tanks that have been set up for a while. And it's very difficult to make suggestions without knowing your water parameters. But here are a few questions that might shed some light on your problem. How long are you leaving the lights on? Any sunlight hitting the tank? Using any fertilizers? Are you overfeeding?


I feed twice a day very small quantity
Entire food eaten immediately

No direct sunlight reach the tank
No fertilizer
Lights on for 6-8 hrs max
Since I have setup a dirted aquarium

Tomorrow I plan to clean the algae and do 50% water change and use ro water

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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

estornia said:


> Since I have setup a dirted aquarium


Ah. I should have noticed that from the pictures. It's *deep* too! So if I had to wager on what is going on, there is likely nitrogen leeching from the dirt. This is why test kits will be paramount to get to the bottom of this. You will still want to fertilize down the road as dirt doesn't provide everything plants need, but right now I'm thinking your problem is too high of nutrient levels rather than too low. But testing the water is the only way to know which levels and how high they are.


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

Blue Ridge Reef said:


> Ah. I should have noticed that from the pictures. It's *deep* too! So if I had to wager on what is going on, there is likely nitrogen leeching from the dirt. This is why test kits will be paramount to get to the bottom of this. You will still want to fertilize down the road as dirt doesn't provide everything plants need, but right now I'm thinking your problem is too high of nutrient levels rather than too low. But testing the water is the only way to know which levels and how high they are.


Can you suggest what to do now
I will have to search for a test kit because in India this would not be available in every aquarium stone

One I get it will post the result here

Also what to test for in the aquarium water

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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

See if you can get a master test kit that will do pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, GH & KH. API is one brand that makes this.


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

Yep, your tap water could be loaded with phosphate and nitrate. You need tests to know what is going on. If your water has phos and nitrates but your not dosing the other micro and macro nutrients plants need to grow plant growth will stall and algae will take over.

Also I’m seeing 3 bulbs in picture? Also looks like your running diy co2 as well from pop bottles and caps/tubing on them behind tank? I don’t think your giving us all the facts here. 

Also what is sand you used? It almost looks to white for silica sand, looks more like dolamite.

What is soil you used?


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## mossman77 (Aug 5, 2019)

> See if you can get a master test kit that will do pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, GH & KH. API is one brand that makes this.


Pardon my naivety, but other than the nitrate test, do any of these other tests yield any information on the nutrient levels in the tank? How do you test for NPK? And I thought phosphate caused algae growth? I was under the impression that phosphate should be kept as close to zero as possible.


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## germanblueramlover (Jun 9, 2013)

A nutrient imbalance leads to algae growth; plants need phosphate in balanced amounts with the other available nutrients to grow well. The P in NPK is, after all, phosphorus!

GH and KH will give a clue as to levels of calcium available for growth. And I believe pH has an impact on availability of some nutrients, eg iron.


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

DaveKS said:


> Yep, your tap water could be loaded with phosphate and nitrate. You need tests to know what is going on. If your water has phos and nitrates but your not dosing the other micro and macro nutrients plants need to grow plant growth will stall and algae will take over.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The bulb I used to take proper picture
I don't light the third bulb
That one is just 9w bulb
I just light the two 14 w bulb
Also as for the bottles I had planned to insert diy CO2 but my difuser have still not arrived 
Will do once the difuser arrives

I have used normal potting soil
As cap I used very fine crushed white stones
It's not sand
May be size 1 to 2 mm
This is what the Aquarian shop person told

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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

estornia said:


> The bulb I used to take proper picture
> I don't light that
> That one is just 9w bulb
> Also as for the bottles I had planned to insert diy CO2 but my difuser have still not arrived
> ...


Which type of algae is this
It's brown and hairy type and growing very very fast

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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

Looks like dolamite to me and if so is in no way suitable for Walstad type tank. If you get test kits you’ll probably see that your PH and KH are through the roof high. You basically put a bed of crushed calcium and magnesium on top of soil bed that is releasing organic acids and it is dissolving that Ca and Mg at a alarming rate into tank. If you add co2 it’s going to get even worse.

Sand cap should be a silicate based cap in these type tanks, that stuff they sold you is used in marine aquarium and has no place in freshwater unless your doing brackish water or cichlids that like hard water. Whoever sold you that doesn’t have a clue as what their doing.


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

DaveKS said:


> Looks like dolamite to me and if so is in no way suitable for Walstad type tank. If you get test kits you’ll probably see that your PH and KH are through the roof high. You basically put a bed of crushed calcium and magnesium on top of soil bed that is releasing organic acids and it is dissolving that Ca and Mg at a alarming rate into tank. If you add co2 it’s going to get even worse.
> 
> Sand cap should be a silicate based cap in these type tanks, that stuff they sold you is used in marine aquarium and has no place in freshwater unless your doing brackish water or cichlids that like hard water. Whoever sold you that doesn’t have a clue as what their doing.


Thanks to point out that

Should I re.do the tank or wait for a some time 


I am a fan of a planted aquarium but have no knowledge of the science involved with it

I just used YouTube to learn a bit
Tried a nano aquarium with trial and error

But In.my nano aquarium I used river sand ( what is is called in India) 
But it's like 3-5mm stones
And dirt used to leak out of it in dissolved form so I tried this white type of gravel

I don't mind to do it again and throw all the plants gravel soil 

Just point out what to change and what mistake I made.



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## germanblueramlover (Jun 9, 2013)

Your first step would be to get a test kit if you are able, to confirm if the substrate is affecting your pH and KH. If they are sky high, your neons will definitely not appreciate that - they come from soft, acidic water.

At a pinch, you could try getting some of the sand out and testing it with vinegar - if it fizzes and bubbles, then it is as Dave says. 

You shouldn't need to get rid of your plants. A lot of people don't use dirt at all, so if you aren't able to find a cap that will contain it, you could consider getting rid of the dirt, and using just the river sand, maybe.

This is definitely a good place to come to learn about planted tanks! I recommend reading the stickied posts if you haven't already, and check out other people's tank journals or questions in the fertilizer thread for example - there's a lot of information there specifically about the scientific side, and it should give you a better understanding.


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

germanblueramlover said:


> Your first step would be to get a test kit if you are able, to confirm if the substrate is affecting your pH and KH. If they are sky high, your neons will definitely not appreciate that - they come from soft, acidic water.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks 
The vinegar test I will try tomorrow
And will post the result tomorrow for sure

Will buy the test kit online
But which algae is this 
I have been reading about algae for 2-3 days but cant pin down to any one
Also to add I see air bubbles trapped in the algae and even the algae pearl.


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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

germanblueramlover said:


> At a pinch, you could try getting some of the sand out and testing it with vinegar - if it fizzes and bubbles, then it is as Dave says.


Acetic acid or 10% hydrochloric acid are better reagents for this if you can get your hands on one. Vinegar is listed to have about the same pH as acetic, but having tested both on rocks, the acid will foam much more noticeably. If vinegar is all you can easily find, it should work, but let the substrate you want to test dry completely before using it. If it's pretty much dolomite I expect it's going to fizz either way. The stronger acids just let you know if a lower amount is present. A simple pH test kit would give you the information you want as well, perhaps there's a swimming pool supply store near you?


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

mossman77 said:


> Pardon my naivety, but other than the nitrate test, do any of these other tests yield any information on the nutrient levels in the tank? How do you test for NPK? And I thought phosphate caused algae growth? I was under the impression that phosphate should be kept as close to zero as possible.


High levels of phosphate and low/zero levels of other nutrients plants use will cause algae. But plants need about .5ppm minimum in water or some in substrate. Most fertilizer have phosphate in them, thats what numbers on bag of garden fert mean, NPK levels. Aquatic plants also need it, but many of aquarium formulas don't include it because in a well stocked tank fish food/poop provides it. 

Heres a Niloc Thrive label, these are all nutrients that a plant needs to grow in pretty much ratios needed.
Note NPK are the most prominent ingredients in there, macro nutrients, without those the plants uptake of other nutrients pretty much come to a complete standstill.


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## nothreat33 (Aug 5, 2019)

I found these two resources helpful. But like others have said new tanks are very susceptible to algae.

https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/control-algae.html

https://www.miyabi-aqua.com/tips-and-techniques/the-war-on-algae


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## estornia (Jul 16, 2019)

estornia said:


> Thanks
> The vinegar test I will try tomorrow
> And will post the result tomorrow for sure
> 
> ...


I clean my tank by removing all plants 
Cleaning the plants which look less infected with algae

And planted them black

Removed all the carpet plants which I had
Now I have only stem plants

But in 2 days I again see small traces of algae growing on plants and gravel

And they are pearling

Can you suggest which algae this is
When I cleaned it came like a brown slime 
I used a fork and it came out in chunks

I will buy a test kit tomorrow if available in the stores

Pls advice what to do next
And which algae is this
Thanks


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## ohaple (Nov 30, 2018)

Everyone here is doing a good job of helping you understand the reasons behind your algae. Once you learn how to prevent more algae from growing, you may want to add some shrimp or other algae-eating animals to help you with the cleanup as well. They don't take the place of fixing the problem, but can make life easier for cleanup. Amano shrimp are a particular favorite.


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