# Numerous Algae Types - Frustrated



## Live Aloha (Aug 30, 2014)

Blue Green Algae is often because of lack of flow, especially if you notice it growing where direct flow is missing. What kind of filter do you have?

Also, how much are you dosing per dose?


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

I see an S. repens that is growing tall and leggy which is an indication of lower light. You might be needing more C02 too or more flow somewhere to help get rid of the BGA.

Do you every put calcium and magnesium in your tank when you do water changes? Like using GH booster. These are nutrients that plants also needed and are usually added after a water change. 

Also I don't see a point of doing 80% water changes. You can get away with 50% as long as you know what the parameters are for the new water. 

I would try using a timed C02 injection than using a PH meter. Usually adding carbonates like baking soda to get to 3 dKH can maintain the lower limit of the PH.

I think you want to solve the BGA issue first. Then solve the GDA issue. Maybe a power head @ lower level can get the water circulating properly and ensure good distribution of the C02 rich water. 

What are you water parameters and how long do you have your lights on?


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Live Aloha said:


> Blue Green Algae is often because of lack of flow, especially if you notice it growing where direct flow is missing. What kind of filter do you have?
> 
> Also, how much are you dosing per dose?


Im dosing 20 ml. I will move my ph and increase flow, hopefully that will end the gsa. I have a 265 gph sunsun.



PortalMasteryRy said:


> I see an S. repens that is growing tall and leggy which is an indication of lower light. You might be needing more C02 too or more flow somewhere to help get rid of the BGA.
> 
> Do you every put calcium and magnesium in your tank when you do water changes? Like using GH booster. These are nutrients that plants also needed and are usually added after a water change.
> 
> ...


I purposly placed the repens in low light, I like it growing upwards and was hoping it would not get any algae on it. I have never dosed calcium and sort after water changes, tap water here is good on hardness. I still use ph co2 controller because whenever I look at the indicator, its always yellow. I just got tired of changing flow rate whenever the co2 pressure decreased or when I refilled it.

My lights are timed for 8 hours. There is no indirect light in the room either. I actually have algae build up on my glass as well, have to scrape it every week. It has reduced alot, before I had to scrape it every 3 days or I couldnt see in the tank. I think moving the light up helped.

Water para, I only have a phosphate and nitrate test kit. I should test those as well. I will report back with them today or tomorrow.


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## Live Aloha (Aug 30, 2014)

For trace, are you using Plantex CSM+B?

If so, 15 grams isn't nearly enough if you're dosing 20ml of 1 Liter solution. I have no idea how much 5 Tablespoons are though, or if it equals 15 grams.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Live Aloha said:


> For trace, are you using Plantex CSM+B?
> 
> If so, 15 grams isn't nearly enough if you're dosing 20ml of 1 Liter solution. I have no idea how much 5 Tablespoons are though, or if it equals 15 grams.


It is 15 g and is csm+b. I find that macro and trace have a hard time mixing in my 1 L solution, its like the concentration is too high to be mixed.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

In my experience, an outbreak of BGA can cause all sorts of other algae. I was getting it all the time for awhile, not sure why as I don't now, even on the same setups, both in high and low light tanks. I often would start with BGA, then get BBA or green slime. I personally believe it's because it sucks up the nitrate but reguardless, it tends to be a "gateway drug" for other types of algae. You start with that and you may end up with 2-3 or more other types once it is as bad as you have it.

You can nuke it with EM, look it up, that would be step one for me. Not only is it a very hard thing to get rid of, it can be extremely time consuming to get rid of by taking the proper action to get rid of it "the right way". On top of that, I find it often doesn't leave, even if you correct the condition, but if you nuke it, it doesn't come back. I usually am the type to say, find the root cause and start there but with BGA, it's my exception, I nuke it with EM and move on to other issues.

Anyway, that would be step one for me, then see what lingers over time or if it comes back.


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## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

there is a 100% fix to your bga

strong uv sterilizer. not up for debate, or that it didnt work in X tank, it will specifically fix your issue. you simply siphon it all out, install a uv thats meant for a tank twice your size, and as the monerans enter a water transitory phase they are zapped and never come back. my tank looked like this type of invasion for two yrs using every recommended trick from erythromycin tabs to nutrient control. one large uv and permanent zap clean regardless of all that.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

I am wondering why your AR is showing so little leaves. I usually get leaves 3-5 inches long. 

How much of the trace you are dosing of your 1 L solution? And that is tablespoons correct and not teaspoons.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

talontsiawd said:


> In my experience, an outbreak of BGA can cause all sorts of other algae. I was getting it all the time for awhile, not sure why as I don't now, even on the same setups, both in high and low light tanks. I often would start with BGA, then get BBA or green slime. I personally believe it's because it sucks up the nitrate but reguardless, it tends to be a "gateway drug" for other types of algae. You start with that and you may end up with 2-3 or more other types once it is as bad as you have it.
> 
> You can nuke it with EM, look it up, that would be step one for me. Not only is it a very hard thing to get rid of, it can be extremely time consuming to get rid of by taking the proper action to get rid of it "the right way". On top of that, I find it often doesn't leave, even if you correct the condition, but if you nuke it, it doesn't come back. I usually am the type to say, find the root cause and start there but with BGA, it's my exception, I nuke it with EM and move on to other issues.
> 
> Anyway, that would be step one for me, then see what lingers over time or if it comes back.


Now that you mention it, it makes alot of sense. Perhaps its hogging certain nutrients which is allowing others to step in. I did use EM but the algae returns back by the end of the week. I need to get to the source of it rather than a band aid fix. I have more EM pills but Im not wasting them. 



brandon429 said:


> there is a 100% fix to your bga
> 
> strong uv sterilizer. not up for debate, or that it didnt work in X tank, it will specifically fix your issue. you simply siphon it all out, install a uv thats meant for a tank twice your size, and as the monerans enter a water transitory phase they are zapped and never come back. my tank looked like this type of invasion for two yrs using every recommended trick from erythromycin tabs to nutrient control. one large uv and permanent zap clean regardless of all that.


Ive always wanted a uv sterilizer, the prices have always thrown me off because Ive never really had a need. If I do find a second hand for a good price, perhaps I will jump on it.



PortalMasteryRy said:


> I am wondering why your AR is showing so little leaves. I usually get leaves 3-5 inches long.
> 
> How much of the trace you are dosing of your 1 L solution? And that is tablespoons correct and not teaspoons.


The AR had lots of leaves but they all get covered with slime algae. I snip them all off. Im dosing 20 ml of trace, it is 5 table in the 1 L solution.

Ive started up my hydor ph rated at 435 gph and aimed at the substrate. I really hope this works.

Just tested these out:

KH/GH = 143.2 ppm (8 dKH)
Phosphate - 2 ppm
Nitrate - 0 to 5 ppm

Dam! Today I dosed trace and tomorrow is macro, so the bga is sucking up all the nitrates it seems. Tomorrow, rather than dosing 20 ml, Im dosing 3o to 40 ml.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

If C02 is abundant and light is good then you should be able to see a good amount of growth once the nitrates are solved. You will need some critters to maintain the algae while you battle it. If you get GDA then get some baby BN plecos. SAE's will take care of your hair algae. 

The BGA will have to be spot treated with h202 and that BGA issue needs to be resolved first before anything else. I think it could potentially be a flow issue.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

PortalMasteryRy said:


> If C02 is abundant and light is good then you should be able to see a good amount of growth once the nitrates are solved. You will need some critters to maintain the algae while you battle it. If you get GDA then get some baby BN plecos. SAE's will take care of your hair algae.
> 
> The BGA will have to be spot treated with h202 and that BGA issue needs to be resolved first before anything else. I think it could potentially be a flow issue.



Thanks, lets see how it goes now that the flow has been added. Plus the increase of dosing (temporary till the gsa dies off). Ive always had weedy growth, but I have to say recently it has been slow. 

I dont have any critters, only snails. When I had the 45 gal I had an oto and sae (link to journal in sig). Since this is an open top tank, Im afraid they will jump out. Ive always wanted to keep shrimps and fish, but I just find they will be in the way. Perhaps when I master the plants, co2 and sort and get a 100+ gal tank, I will look into it.


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## LynneS22 (Oct 16, 2014)

samee said:


> Hi guys, started this tank this past June. Ive had algae problems since day 1. I have:
> 
> Blue Green Algae
> Green Slime/Dust
> ...


Didn't quite catch what the nitrate levels are, but if you have anything less than 40 ppm on the nitrate you will have BGA. In my 40 breeder, it has a lot of plants, and when they consume most of the nitrate-10-20 ppm, I get BGA. I dose with kno3, and over feed, and get the nitrate level up, and it goes away. Works every time. One word of caution though- with as much BGA as you have in there, you need to use a turkey baster, or otherwise suck most of it out, because if you kill it all really fast you might overload your good bacteria. 

Flow has nothing to do with BGA. In my experience.(and that's a lot) I have a 300 gallon pond outside that gets it, because it has no nitrate, so I have to dose it as well. It has plenty of flow/circulation, and oxygen. In the past, before I found the cure, I tried adding more air, adding more this, and that, etc. but the only cure I have found is nitrate above 30 ppm. 40 is best. 

I am rejecting the 'flow' as being a factor in BGA, because of all the time/money I wasted looking for a fix, by being told-from the internet- that it was a flow/oxygen issue, when it is not.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

LynneS22 said:


> Didn't quite catch what the nitrate levels are, but if you have anything less than 40 ppm on the nitrate you will have BGA. In my 40 breeder, it has a lot of plants, and when they consume most of the nitrate-10-20 ppm, I get BGA. I dose with kno3, and over feed, and get the nitrate level up, and it goes away. Works every time. One word of caution though- with as much BGA as you have in there, you need to use a turkey baster, or otherwise suck most of it out, because if you kill it all really fast you might overload your good bacteria.
> 
> Flow has nothing to do with BGA. In my experience.(and that's a lot) I have a 300 gallon pond outside that gets it, because it has no nitrate, so I have to dose it as well. It has plenty of flow/circulation, and oxygen. In the past, before I found the cure, I tried adding more air, adding more this, and that, etc. but the only cure I have found is nitrate above 30 ppm. 40 is best.
> 
> I am rejecting the 'flow' as being a factor in BGA, because of all the time/money I wasted looking for a fix, by being told-from the internet- that it was a flow/oxygen issue, when it is not.


After facing the ph towards the substrate a bit, I am seeing a slow difference in the bga. The area was clearing up slowly and it was turning brown. I did a water change today and sucked up as much as I could. Im also dosing more macros this week. Im hoping both combined will help get rid of it. My nitrates were too low when I tested last week.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Just an update, I am doing more but its not enough.

I check both today and Nitrates were 0 ppm and phos was 3 to 5 ppm. So I need to step it up more. The bga is coming back but really really slowly. After tomorrows water change Im hoping the bga will go away permanently along with the increased nutrient dosing. I am seeing positive growth in plants, but the green slime is also on the leaves. I will hopefully have better news in a week.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

0 nitrates? Man that is bad. Dose to 20 ppm. Do not does the EI dose. Use the calculator to figure out the amount to dose to reach 20 ppm. Some people think that the EI nitrate dose is suppose to give you 20 ppm but it does not. It is suppose to maintain 20 ppm.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

The lack of No3 (nitrates) alone = trouble. Better have only No3 and no Po4 than the opposite. Even better if you have them both.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

PortalMasteryRy said:


> 0 nitrates? Man that is bad. Dose to 20 ppm. Do not does the EI dose. Use the calculator to figure out the amount to dose to reach 20 ppm. Some people think that the EI nitrate dose is suppose to give you 20 ppm but it does not. It is suppose to maintain 20 ppm.





fablau said:


> The lack of No2 alone = trouble. Better have only No2 and no Po4 than the opposite. Even better if you have them both.



Im surprised its 0, my plant load isnt even that great. I used to dose just 20 in my 45 gallon heavy planted tank and this was not a problem. Next week Im doubling the macro dosing to 40 ml (from 20ml) and hoping to see a difference.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Sorry, I wrote no2 but I meant no3. I have corrected my previous posting. When you test No3, do you shake the second bottle well, etc... As instructed if you use the API liquid test? Or do you use strips?


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Sorry, I wrote no2 but I meant no3. I have corrected my previous posting. When you test No3, do you shake the second bottle well, etc... As instructed if you use the API liquid test? Or do you use strips?



I shook it well, according to the instructions. today is water change day, before I change I could do another test just to confirm, but Im sure I shaked the bottle for a while.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Sometimes you have to shake it for a minute, then let it settle for a minute again, then shake it again for another minute to make it work. If you are sue to have 0 nitrates, you'd need to dose some. Mostly if you have phosphates already in the water, for whatever reason.


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## poormanisme (Jul 19, 2012)

I hope this doesn't sound rude but this is an easy one to fix. Use EM to get rid of the BGA then a big water change to get rid of the dead BGA. Increase CO2 and dosing and reduce lighting. I know personally the BML may look dim and still have high par. I get about 40 par 18 inches from the substrate at 25% and it looks dim but there is plenty of light. If you are running it at 100 percent you are in the super high light side.I measured with an apogee par meter so I'm fairly sure in my par number plus no algae and good plant growth. After that you shouldn't get new BBA growth but if you have some you can spot treat with peroxide to kill it. You can also spot treat most other algae with peroxide. I don't use more than 1ml per gallon at a time. If there is more algae just spot treat different area's on different days. If nutrients and CO2 are good your problems are fixed. 
I hope this helps,
Scott


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

poormanisme said:


> I hope this doesn't sound rude but this is an easy one to fix. Use EM to get rid of the BGA then a big water change to get rid of the dead BGA. Increase CO2 and dosing and reduce lighting. I know personally the BML may look dim and still have high par. I get about 40 par 18 inches from the substrate at 25% and it looks dim but there is plenty of light. If you are running it at 100 percent you are in the super high light side.I measured with an apogee par meter so I'm fairly sure in my par number plus no algae and good plant growth. After that you shouldn't get new BBA growth but if you have some you can spot treat with peroxide to kill it. You can also spot treat most other algae with peroxide. I don't use more than 1ml per gallon at a time. If there is more algae just spot treat different area's on different days. If nutrients and CO2 are good your problems are fixed.
> I hope this helps,
> Scott


Not rude at all Scott. Its all the pointers I already know but am bad at enforcing. Ive moved my lights to 17" above the water surface. My light angle is at 90 degrees, so I thought at 12" it would be around 40 (looking at the chart they provided). Either way, lets see if its medium light now. My co2 is well, I will do a ph test. If the ph co2 controller is off, I will calibrate it. Ive increased flow but might move my power head to another place, I see the bga still in some areas. I have also increased my nutrient dosing. Every weekend, I suck up majority of bga, but it comes back. So I didnt want to waste more erythro. After the changes Ive been doing recently, if I see a positive change, the erthro will be a viable thing to end the problem.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Today

Phosphate - 10 ppm
Nitrate - 10 to 20 ppm

Im dosing 40 ml of macro and trace, which is double of what I dose. I will be dosing a bit more next week.

BGA is still forming. It is also forming in high water flow areas. I have moved my ph to another place, experimenting on where the best location is. I have moved my lights to 18". The light angle is 90 degrees so Im hoping now its medium to low light. This week, there is no algae on the glass, which means that moving the light up DID make a change.

Next week if my nitrate is 20 ppm and there is still gsa, nutrients are not the problem.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

I dont know how much longer I can go like this, why cant I grow anything without algae?

Today:

Phosphate - 10+ ppm
Nitrate - 0 to 5 ppm

I dont know what it is, Im double dosing macros, I shook the nitrate bottles like it said on instructions, I waited the amount of time in the instructions and still this. I dont know if the test kit is screwed or my macro mix. Im thinking this week I dose my mixture + add a pinch of powder as well. Cyno is growing in the high flow area as well, although less quickly.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

It looks to me you have too high Po4 compared to Kno3. With 10ppm Po4 you should have at least 50-60 Kno3. How much do you dose for micros?


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> It looks to me you have too high Po4 compared to Kno3. With 10ppm Po4 you should have at least 50-60 Kno3. How much do you dose for micros?


This past week 30 ml


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Is that the dose of Plantex for your tank size?


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Is that the dose of Plantex for your tank size?


Yes, CSM+B


This week Im going to try dry dosing

1/4 Tsp-KN03 3x a week
1/8 Tsp-KH2P04 3x aweek
1/8 Tsp-Trace 3x a week

The smallest measuring size I have is 1/8, so I will dose that much instead of 1/16.

Source:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21944


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Sounds good. Keep us posted.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Sounds good. Keep us posted.


Will do, it just came to me while dosing that they used the booster while I have K2SO4. So I ended up dosing 1/4 tsp.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean...


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Sorry, I don't understand what you mean...


I was not being clear  I meant to say that in the link below, they used gh booster for dry dosing instructions while I dont have that. I only have k2so4. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21944


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

I see.. Well, GH booster is not needed if you use tap water or enough hard water. I have hard water (GH 13) therefore never use that. K2so4 can be added to your ferts routine if you want to cover potassium even more.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> I see.. Well, GH booster is not needed if you use tap water or enough hard water. I have hard water (GH 13) therefore never use that. K2so4 can be added to your ferts routine if you want to cover potassium even more.


Ok, yea I use tap water and it does the job.

After dry dosing this past week:

Phosphate - 10+ ppm
Nitrate - 5 - 10 ppm

I dont get whats hogging my nitrates, but 1/4 tsp does not seem to be enough. BGA is still growing, in high and low water flow areas. My plants seem to be improving, slowly but the older leaves have green dust or whatever on them.

Heres a pic of the mini, before it had small leaves, when bigger leaves did grow, the algae covered the leaves and I had to pluck them off. atm the leaves seem to be growing healthy, but slowly, the algae seems to be creeping up.

Bad pic, I will get better pics later on today.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Nice pic... But your Po4 are too high compared to No3!! Are you sure that measurement (10ppm) is correct? If so, you must stop dosing Po4 and double or even triple No3 until your tank balances (keep up with micros too, I would double those too). I am sure that's the cause of your algae issues.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Nice pic... But your Po4 are too high compared to No3!! Are you sure that measurement (10ppm) is correct? If so, you must stop dosing Po4 and double or even triple No3 until your tank balances (keep up with micros too, I would double those too). I am sure that's the cause of your algae issues.



Yea the kh2po4 Im suppose to be dosing 1/18 but since I dont have a measuring spoon that small, Im doing 1/8. I will dose less of that and up the other dosing. 1 more week to see.

Im leaving for vacation on Dec 19, for 2 weeks. Im worried on what to do. Black out? Set the timer to just 4 hours of light? I dont want to leave my co2 for 2 weeks straight.

Thanks fablau for sticking around. I just hope in the end I solve this so it becomes an excellent guide for whoever has it


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

You are very welcome! You can keep dosing Po4 the way you do, and increase No3. You really need to increase that!

As for your vacation, 2 weeks is ok... When I leave for vacation, sometimes I leave my tank unattended for more than 1 month, and it looks like a forest, but still ok.

If you are afraid to run out of co2, you have two options:

1. Fill the co2 tank just before leaving, so you are sure to have it enough.
2. Reduce light to just 4 hours/day as you suggested. This option would also help with ferts. You can dose high (2-3x) before leaving, to give plants some buffer... But leave co2 on just for those 4 hours of light (maybe a couple of hours before.) a timer of course would help.

I would opt for option 2.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> You are very welcome! You can keep dosing Po4 the way you do, and increase No3. You really need to increase that!
> 
> As for your vacation, 2 weeks is ok... When I leave for vacation, sometimes I leave my tank unattended for more than 1 month, and it looks like a forest, but still ok.
> 
> ...


hmm, I will look into it. If the condition does not improve Ill just shut the lights off and leave it for 2 weeks. I dont care what dies, Im tired of this.

My mini are having discoloured leaves. They are pink and red, I cant seem to find anything thru google. I hope its not due to co2. I lowered my co2 a little because my indicator was going dark yellow with a hint of orange. atm its constant yellow.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

After dry dosing this past week:

Phosphate - 10+ ppm
Nitrate - 5 ppm

I really dont know whats going on, even after double dosing. Its not like I have double the algae, I have bga growing but its not much. Maybe its the blyxa hording nitrates? Unfortunately, I would not be able to do anything till next year. When I get back, Im going to do a major prune and throw away anything with algae on it. The plant load will reduce but I have to try new things to see whats contributing to the massive nitrate absorption. Also, every week when I do the water change I pick up loads of mulm off the substrate.

As for 2 weeks of vacation, Ive put everything on a timer. Lights will still be on for 8 hours, same for co2 (turns on hour before and 2 hours before lights turn on/off respectively). Im going to move the lights as high as I can so it will reduce to, hopefully, a medium to low light tank.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

I am afraid your No3 measurement may be wrong. What test kit do you use? How do you read the value? no3 test kits are troublesome.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> I am afraid your No3 measurement may be wrong. What test kit do you use? How do you read the value? no3 test kits are troublesome.


API test kit.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Ok, first be sure it is not expired, then be sure to follow the instructions carefully (shake the second bottle like mad for at least 30 seconds, I do it for 60, just in case..) also, sometimes I have to re-take the measurement 2 or 3 times to have a correct reading. Try to measure it 2-3 times, every time re-shaking bottle 2 for 30-60 seconds... I know, a little pain, but at least you'll have a correct reading.

Also: do you compare color with the API provided chart, or with a reference solution? Reference solutions are much more accurate... You can easily read 10-20 ppm less with a chart compared to a reference solution. That happened to me several times.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

fablau said:


> Ok, first be sure it is not expired, then be sure to follow the instructions carefully (shake the second bottle like mad for at least 30 seconds, I do it for 60, just in case..) also, sometimes I have to re-take the measurement 2 or 3 times to have a correct reading. Try to measure it 2-3 times, every time re-shaking bottle 2 for 30-60 seconds... I know, a little pain, but at least you'll have a correct reading.
> 
> Also: do you compare color with the API provided chart, or with a reference solution? Reference solutions are much more accurate... You can easily read 10-20 ppm less with a chart compared to a reference solution. That happened to me several times.



I tried finding the exp date before but there is none. I did not change the tank water this past weekend, so its been 2 weeks of fert dosing. Today was macro fert dosing day. I shook the 2nd bottle like crazy for a lot longer than I usually do. Today, the NO3 was 106+

I think the green/dust algae on the leaves has stopped but my mini is having discoloured leaves. My other plants seem to be slow growing as well besides the blyxa. I turned up my co2 again and moved my lights up to the max. The light is roughly 28" above the gravel (at the deepest). The BGA has shown no sign of slowing down though. Ive moved blyxa to cover any open space as well. Im leaving for vacation in a few days for two weeks, I hope everything is fine when I come back. The light and co2 are on timer but I had to leave them for 8 hours as one of the timer is connected to the lights for my cacti and succulents (I dont have any more timers nor the plug space)


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Good! At least you don't lack No3! Now you should focus on Co2 and circulation...


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Ok....So I went from vacation, co2 finished so refilled tank and finally had 2 weeks of proper tank running. Last weekend I took out all the plants and only left blyxa. Threw away majority of plants. I took out the bml and installed old t5ho lights. 

PO4 - 5ppm
NO3 - 160ppm

So nutrients feel fine. Dead matter should be at a minimum because I have blyxa and from what I can see, none are dead or dying. There might be roots of previous plants left in the gravel but bga is growing on my gravel as well as on the blyxa.

The entire left side is blyxa, majority of the right side is free but is suppose to be filled in by dhg. So I dont know why gsa is still coming. This weekend I will clean out my gravel to make sure nothing is left (I clean my gravel/substrate every weekend). So next week is the last week before I really dont know why bga is still coming.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

PO4 - 10+ ppm
NO3 - 100+ ppm

My nutrients are in order, I moved my t5ho 20" above gravel which should give me 50 PAR. So thats medium light. I still have bga.............I dont know why this is such a problem, Im not sure what else there is. How can people go with neglect and not get algae where as I have to do everything and still have it...My co2 is a bit low though, I have to turn it up a bit, maybe somehow hopefully thats the last factor thats making this algae stay.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

The bga has reduced a bit but its still alot. It grows on the moss, stones and gravel and on my blyxa. Plants dont seem to be growing much. Maybe I need more plants but the problem is, the plants I have now should be growing like crazy, and they are not. So what other problems can you guys spot?


DGH as you can see has melted at places.


















Mini


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

I think you need to put in a bunch of rapid growing stem plants. I also think your marked nutrient excess is exacerbating your algae, especially with such a low plant mass.


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## Laurel (Sep 18, 2014)

Following to see what you're able to come up with. I'm having nearly identical problems, right down to not being able to balance nutrients.  About to make my own post, but wanted to show some solidarity.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

lee739 said:


> I think you need to put in a bunch of rapid growing stem plants. I also think your marked nutrient excess is exacerbating your algae, especially with such a low plant mass.


Yea, thats the only thing I can think of atm that might be causing the algae. Im trying to make time to head out and get some plants. What I dont get is why algae is growing on top of my blyxa, unless they are not growing.



Laurel said:


> Following to see what you're able to come up with. I'm having nearly identical problems, right down to not being able to balance nutrients.  About to make my own post, but wanted to show some solidarity.


Yes, so so the problem was really high light + imbalance of nutrients. I got the nutrients in check now, moved the light up to give me 50ish par (medium light) and now I just need to fill in with fast growing plants to out compete the algae.

I just hope my mini hangs in there, its the last slightly rare plant I have. I cant wait for the day to see it grow in bunches. Ive lost all my other rare and reds. The red stem plant to the right threw out a long root (the white coloured roots midway in height to suck out nutrients) which shows positive growth, I think.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

I was having to scrub algae off my glass weekly, brown scummy stuff, green spots.... My NO3 hovered between 20 and 40ppm, PO4 4-8ppm. Medium light, CO2.
I drastically reduced what I was dosing.
I now run NO3 between 3 and 10ppm or less, and keep PO4 under 1ppm.
Glass algae has basically stopped completely - I mean, not a scrap.... and plants doing just as well as usual - fast growing stems and sprite.....


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

lee739 said:


> I was having to scrub algae off my glass weekly, brown scummy stuff, green spots.... My NO3 hovered between 20 and 40ppm, PO4 4-8ppm. Medium light, CO2.
> I drastically reduced what I was dosing.
> I now run NO3 between 3 and 10ppm or less, and keep PO4 under 1ppm.
> Glass algae has basically stopped completely - I mean, not a scrap.... and plants doing just as well as usual - fast growing stems and sprite.....


I have green slime on my glass, my entire glass sides were covered in 3 days. It turned out that my light was so close to the glass and tank that the par was crazy high. Once I moved the lights up, the glass algae went away.

Im going to keep dosing the normal amount, its better to be overkill with nutrients than with under, atleast I know its not a lack of nutrients thats causing the problem.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

What I have learned so far is that nutrient overkill is OK, _so long as_ everything else (ie the hard stuff) is spot on - light/CO2/flow/wastes/the moon phase/Irish luck.....


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## Laurel (Sep 18, 2014)

Well, we shall see. I started upping my dosage today.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

I gave up on this tank, the last thing was to get more plants and test it out but I feel the algae would still stay. My plants were not growing but dying off. I got fed up and have turned everything off. Im selling my tank as well. Im moving in 2 months time, perhaps I will buy a bigger tank and have a go at it again.


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