# arghety argh argh arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

What is your photoperiod?


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

14 hours.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

it's growing exponentially.


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## geotek (Nov 30, 2008)

I would drop the photoperiod down to 8 hours to slow the algae, and reduce wattage to half of what you are using. This will slow the algae a lot and give you time to figure out what is out of balance.


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## o snap its eric (Jan 12, 2004)

lower your photo period to 8hrs, reduce your light intensity but raising your lighting or cutting out a bulb or two. Put more nutrient sucking plants aka fast growing ones in the mean time to black out the algae. New tanks are very susceptible algae blooms so you might just have to ride it out. Make sure you are dosing nutrients correctly along with proper water changes weekly to bi-weekly.


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## Haagenize (Sep 30, 2008)

pbitawa 

on a serious note, yeah lower the light period, add ferts, bla bla bla, do a water change and try to manually remove the algae right now


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

I tried reading some of the posts on this forum about algae - but there's a lot of posts. I did get that I may have too much light, I took out 2 bulbs. For a while in the very beginning I had the photo period interrupted in the middle of the day by about 3 hours. I will try that again. I need to get more plants, but nothings close to me so I have to wait until Sunday. I've been doing water changes at least every 10 days. I don't add ferts because I have a layer of laterite and a layer of Eco Complete under the gravel. Should I be? 

Does hardness of water affect algae? My kh is about 4, but that's because I've been adding ro water when I do changes. My tap water is at 12.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

I thought about manually removing it, but this would mean getting rid of all the plants, and I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I do have a couple that are growing really fast and the tops are managing to stay clear of algae.


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## rich815 (May 21, 2008)

Tracy said:


> I tried reading some of the posts on this forum about algae - but there's a lot of posts. I did get that I may have too much light, I took out 2 bulbs. For a while in the very beginning I had the photo period interrupted in the middle of the day by about 3 hours. I will try that again. I need to get more plants, but nothings close to me so I have to wait until Sunday. I've been doing water changes at least every 10 days. I don't add ferts because I have a layer of laterite and a layer of Eco Complete under the gravel. Should I be?
> 
> Does hardness of water affect algae? My kh is about 4, but that's because I've been adding ro water when I do changes. My tap water is at 12.


You're fighting the advice. Drop your WHOLE photo period down to 8 hours. Drop your light wattage to half. Remove all leaves with algae or replace the plants. Start dosing ferts even with that substrate. Or learn to enjoy the algae.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

I took the advice - I cut my photo period to 8 hours and cut the wattage in half. I cannot replace the plants until Sunday because I have to drive across town to get them. I will get some ferts as well. I guess until then I will remove everything.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

Tracy said:


> I took the advice - I cut my photo period to 8 hours and cut the wattage in half. I cannot replace the plants until Sunday because I have to drive across town to get them. I will get some ferts as well. I guess until then I will remove everything.


I would follow the advice given. I would also recommend picking up some Seachem excel and double dosing daily as long as you don't have plants that may be sensitive to its effect. Also put yourself together a good Algae cleaning crew(Siamese Algae Eater, Albino Bristlehose Pleco, Zebra Nerite Snail, otocats, and Amano Shrimp) if your tank size and current stocking levels allow. Some people tend to minimize or undervalue the role of a good algae eating crew with respect to containment, consumption and prevention. They assume because they have not had success with algae eaters and others have that only their experience counts. All, I can say is when in doubt, try for yourself and draw your own conclusions. It is the best way to learn, otherwise, you will always be afraid to try anything based on someone's say so. And one more thing, be prepared for a long 3+ month battle. Things may get uglier before they get better. Good luck.


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## rich815 (May 21, 2008)

Tracy said:


> I took the advice - I cut my photo period to 8 hours and cut the wattage in half. I cannot replace the plants until Sunday because I have to drive across town to get them. I will get some ferts as well. I guess until then I will remove everything.


I know it hurts to remove such plants but in the long run you will be happier and have much better success. Otherwise it's truly an uphill battle. You could just remove all the infected leaves and leave the nice new tops and the plants will look bad, but they will come back and you can pluck the tops off and replant that later anyway. Having plants helps defeat the algae too even if they look bad after a severe haircut. 

I went from a low tech literally BBA fur-covered driftwood to a clean tank 99% algae-free, but in the beginning, after removing and cleaning the driftwood and removing all the leaves I could, I had to be diligent and examine the tank each night after work searching diligently for any small tufts of BBA, and I would find it: on the driftwood, on a piece of gravel, on a leaf. And I would then either remove the gravel, hit the driftwood or leaf with a shot of H202, or remove the leaf. All the time I was over-dosing Excel, had dropped my lights wattage and photoperiod (from 12 hours to 8 hours) and was adding all the stem plants I could find. Oh, and still dosing, the EI method. 

It took almost 2 months but slowly less and less BBA was found each night until I finally pretty much defeated it. But I still stay diligent as a small tuft shows up from time to time...


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

CO2 is also the big one folks louse up good at the start, focus strongly there and with light(already mentioned).

Less light= less CO2 demand= less nutrient demand= easier to manage.

Add Excel for now...........water changes, clean plants, trim off all you can, etc......yep, it;s work and PITA, so learn and stay on top of things.

More light is not better. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

Thanks guys. I am enjoying this hobby, but didn't realize how high maintenance it is. None the less, I'm not ready to give up. I will take any advice thrown at me. 

Can anyone recommend a good book? I have a couple but they don't say much about algae.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

Tracy said:


> Thanks guys. I am enjoying this hobby, but didn't realize how high maintenance it is. None the less, I'm not ready to give up. I will take any advice thrown at me.
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good book? I have a couple but they don't say much about algae.


Don't give up. Many members here have experienced the same types ofalgae issues when starting and those that perservered were rewarded with good alge free plant growth. Perhaps, you need to reconsider your goals. If you just want to grow plants with little maintenance. Check out these links and consider setting up a tank along those lines. 

http://www.barrreport.com/articles/433-non-co2-methods.html
http://www.vickisaquaticplace.com/PlantsChapter1.html

Another option is a Diana Walstad Natural Planted tank, but to be successful I think you have to use the brand of soil most have used with the method and succeeded..
http://thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTankDemo.html

The key is to having enough light so that plants prosper but not so much that algae takes advantage.
i4x4nMore has done some interesting testing and it is worth checking out his suggestions for lighting. His planted tanks are amazing and he injects no c02.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/l...us-callitrichoides-blyxa-2-5g-lighting-2.html


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

Thanks Homer. I will check out all the links. I just spent 2 hours cleaning tank. Not fun. Green spot algae won't come off glass without a razor blade scraper. ugh. Now I'm thinking maybe I should use the light I bought to grow flowers or something. Saltwater aquariums seem easier at this point.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

Since Friday when I cleaned most of the algae out, and cut back on light wattage and photo period, the algae has not started to come back! I'm feeling hopeful. Thanks Guys!


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## skratikans (May 23, 2008)

what kind did you say you had? multiple kinds?


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

Brush, hair, green spot... 

I put a whole bunch of plants in my tank, and added 4 ottos, a clown pleco, 2 American Flagfish, and 2 mollies. I now have no algae


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

the algae's back, this time hair algae all over. I haven't added ferts yet. Maybe that will help?


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## rich815 (May 21, 2008)

Tracy said:


> the algae's back, this time hair algae all over. I haven't added ferts yet. Maybe that will help?


No ferts since you added thos plants on 5/7? The plants will have a hard time outcompeting the algae without some ferts.... Did you keep the photoperiod down to 8 hours or less?


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

You could also try a siesta period with your lights. I.e. run your lights for 4 hours, then 1 hour off, then 4 more on. It interrupts the algae's photosynthesis period to the point where it should start to die back, but the plants will be unaffected by it. I've successfully used a siesta period against blue-green, brown (diatoms), and blackbeard. The only one I couldn't kill with a siesta was green spot algae.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

I didn't order the ferts right away because it was confusing! I finally ordered from green leaf and got them today. I have 4 bags of powder which I have no idea what to do with. I'm leaving tomorrow am for 3 days so won't be able to do anything until I return. I thought they would come with instructions - like on the miracle grow bottle... wth?


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

gonna do the siesta too. And don't SAE (flying fox) eat hair algae? I need one.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

SAEs will eat hair algae if there's nothing else for them to eat. Mine definitely prefer fish food over algae.

And check out APC's Fertilator. It helped me quite a bit when I started with dry ferts.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php

There's a lot of good EI dosing threads around here too


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

My tanks used to be over run with hair algae, but finding a good dosing regime and putting a product that removes phosphates and nitrates helped.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Axelrodi202 said:


> My tanks used to be over run with hair algae, but finding a good dosing regime and putting a product that removes phosphates and nitrates helped.


this sound contradictory... First, algae isn't caused by phosphates & nitrates and any 'product' that removes said nutrients would remove everything else.

here are concepts to follow
1. you can't get rid of algae, just control them
2. keep lights low, ~2wpg, ~8 hours
3. keep nutrients & CO2 abundant for plants
4. Have a good amount of plants, a few stems of so & so will not work.


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## Tracy (Apr 2, 2009)

I'm sooo happy with my tank finally. I have been dosing, and seem to have everything under control. I also added 3 amano shrimp and they ate all the hair algae I had. I'm glad I stuck it out - cuz I was frustrated to the point of giving up a few times


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