# Fuzz Algae + need advice on my dosing



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Too much light and/or not enough plant growth.
Too much= too long hrs or to high a level. Use for 7 hrs and see. If you want to
view it in both A.M. and P.M. you can break up the hrs into two sections.
Since you listed the Potassium in ml I'l guess that it's Flourish Potassium.
If this is true it doesn't contain any nitrogen like KNO3 does as it's made from K2SO4.
The NO3 being the nitrogen.
Plants use nitrogen. A "fish only" tank likes 0 as a reading on nitrates.
A planted tank likes from 10-40 reading on nitrates.
This may have all the info you need.
http://www.fishfriend.com/fertfriend.html
Actually I would cut the hrs to 6 till most goes away. Sounds like Hair algae(a picture would help/w this) and if so it's easy to get rid of by cutting the hrs.

Without injected CO2 your light may just be too much for the tank.
If the manufacturer has a PAR chart, you should stick to under 40 at the sub.
If it's listed as over that at the height of your tank above the top of the sub, then you can raise it or place a piece of fiberglass screen between the light and the tank top.


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## Codzilla (Aug 26, 2013)

Here are some pictures sorry if some are blurry.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Have to agree with Raymond. That looks like the kind of algae my plants tried really hard to outgrow before I had CO2 and had way more light than the tank could handle. I also didn't dose a whole lot, just what the bottle instructions read. These days whether nitrates are high or not I want to dose a little complete fertilizer just in case.

Algae eaters eat algae, they cannot completely clear a tank of an infestation that is ongoing because something is out of whack. In my case I could scrape the tank clean and inside a week the tank was completely green again. Way too much algae for the fish and snails to clean up completely but at least they were fat and happy.


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## Codzilla (Aug 26, 2013)

I forgot that you could break up the lighting period. I think I'll start with 6hrs lighting and see how it goes from there. I guess I better get some Nitrogen as well.


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## sushant (Mar 3, 2007)

Low rate of flow can be a reason for most of the filamentous algae, also check your phosphate levels.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I see why you called it "fuzz" algae. Not sure but looks like hair algae to me.
Easiest kind to get rid of if it is. Just the result of excess light. Had it when I didn't dose at all. Had it when I had no current(very little) also.
Good plant growth is the best defense against algae. I was hopping to see a whole tank picture but only to get an idea of any amount of fast(er) growing type plants that you might have. Any tank pretty much needs a few anyway. They contribute more towards that "good plant growth" than the slower ones do.

http://www.fishfriend.com/fertfriend.html


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

hair algae. too much light for current plant growth rate


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

No that is fuzz algae. It won't grow long.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

It's a micronutrient deficiency.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> It's a micronutrient deficiency.



Why's that?


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## ahem (Dec 27, 2014)

I had a similar problem. My nice finnex planted plus was too much for my low tech 20 gal long. Even at 8 hrs I could watch algae grow. It was dust on the glass and small hair algae like you have on most of my plants. 

What I did:
1. Bumped the photo-period WAY down. I have it on at 2 (2) hour blocks now. Of course that was too little amount of time to enjoy the tank so got a bunch of accent and lower wattage lights (trulumen strips, marineland accent, a dedicated moonlight, etc...), in addition to some cheap timers, and now have multi-stage "natural" light transitions so I can enjoy the tank all day and night, get good plant growth, and have no algae.

2. Aggressively pruned, scrubbed, and did whatever necessary to immediately get algae out of the tank. If I couldn't get the algae off a plant, I got rid of the plant. Scrubbed the walls whenever I saw any algae starting to build. I have algae crew so I don't go OCD about it, leaving small areas for them.

3. Got a small $30 HOB clip-on UV sanitizer off amazon. I don't know if this helped but I was worried with all my scrubbing I was putting algae into the water column to have some it just re-populate elsewhere. This help make sure it got killed dead.

4. I used Excel although never overdosed on it like others do to get rid of algae. So I don't know if that provided a benefit other than allowing my plants to outgrow algae.

5. I stop fertilizing except for trace (flourish) and iron (flourish iron). My tap has 5ppm nitrates, 1 ppm phosphates, and I am sure a lot of potassium as my TDS is always in the 300-500 range. Since fish and decaying matter in the tank also end up as nitrates and phosphates, I found I don't really need to add these. I test both and have never seen them bottoming out. My plant growth has been surprisingly rapid which is probably my quality light and excel. Extra nutrients in the water may not "cause" algae, but it certainly helps them grow.

5. Kept it clean. Got rid of dead leaves, plants, poo, whatever, when I saw it. Turkey baste 2x a day.

6. Got plants for now that seem more resilient to algae. For example, I noticed rotala indica in my tank did not end up with algae on it like other plants I had. It also seemed to grow like a weed. So I went with more of that, back-filling for ones I removed.


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## Ben125 (Dec 16, 2014)

LEDs are crazy bright and algae can get out of hand fast with them. Have you ever considered getting some T5s or even T8s on that tank? I recently switched from planted+ to a dual T5 and it solved all my algae problems. Not to mention the color it puts out makes the tank look way better.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

fablau said:


> Why's that?


The plant's immune system requires certain nutrients to function. If it is deficient, it's no longer able to function, allowing algae to infest them. It's like people who eat poorly and become nutrient-deficient and then get sick because their immune system isn't able to function properly.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> The plant's immune system requires certain nutrients to function. If it is deficient, it's no longer able to function, allowing algae to infest them. It's like people who eat poorly and become nutrient-deficient and then get sick because their immune system isn't able to function properly.



Yes, that makes sense and I agree 100% on that, but why you think is a micro deficiency and not a macro or Co2 deficiency?


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> The plant's immune system requires certain nutrients to function. If it is deficient, it's no longer able to function, allowing algae to infest them. It's like people who eat poorly and become nutrient-deficient and then get sick because their immune system isn't able to function properly.



:icon_roll: The immune system of plants is very different from that of humans. Their immune system is activated by pathogenic bacteria and viruses, less/not by algae. Back to humans a little, malnutrition has a direct link to certain diseases, such as hypoproteinemia(lack of proteins in the blood). Same thing happens to plants when they show deficiencies, plants' immune system has nothing to do with for eg. Nitrogen deficiency. Fablau you are correct in saying that lack of any nutrient will affect the plants. No need to agree with false statements, do your research and think critically (saves a lot of fish, plants and money) :icon_excl
For the interest of the community:
"Plants, unlike mammals, lack mobile defender cells and a somatic adaptive immune system. Instead, they rely on the innate immunity of each cell ..."
Jones J.& Dangl J.(2006), The plant immune system, Nature 444, 323:329 
Free to view here.

Now regarding the original question. You may be able to get to the root of the problem in two ways: 
1. Test everything ( pH, KH, GH, also for macros NO3, PO4... and micros Fe..., PAR at substrate level....) . Lots of test to be done and perfectly fine to do it if you have the money and want a fast answer to what your problem MIGHT be.
2. Think back when you did not have this algae? What changed? ( the routine of fertilizing ? feeding the fish ? number of fish ? Did you take out a large plant? changing the water or cleaning the filter frequent ?) Then take steps to bring your aquarium to a similar place as before/ achieve a new balance. Change one thing at a time see what happens with the algae and plants and fish. Wait for at least 1 or 2 weeks before changing another thing (Change fast if fish or plants are dying). This approach takes a lot of time and is not as quantifiable / reproducible

For example: raise/lower the light by 10cm(~4 inches)-> less algae but plants do not grow well =>return the light the original, maybe you needed more CO2 or ferts. Got the idea ?

Sadly there is no quick fix when it comes to algae, too many variables. It is about knowing your aquarium, so experiment with your configuration. In a relationship communication is important :hihi:


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

I think reducing the light to six hours and adding the potassium,nitrogen, and trace minerals(micros) once a week will bring improvement.
Assuming there are fishes being fed,then maybe enough phosphates from fish foods will suffice.
Don't go down the rabbit hole of trying to identify which particular nutrient may be lacking, but rather add a pinch of all nutrient's Macros/micros once a week or every two weeks.
I looked to see what EI dosing of the mineral salt's (macros/micros) was for my size tank and high tech method.
Seeing as how my tanks are low tech,,I just add the daily amount suggested for high tech once a week. (works very well)
I change water each week, but have run the tanks maybe a month between water changes.
With the suggested dosing and excel and decrease in lighting intensity for a couple weeks you should see improvement.
Agree with other's,cut away and remove what algae you can .


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