algae problems

[cubsfan]

I have a 29 gallon planted apisto tank that has been up and running for about two months now. Throughout the time that the tank has been set up, I have been struggling to keep algal growth under control. I believe the algae that is giving me problems is either hair or beard algae, because it grows in long strands (up to several inches in length). I currently have a small DIY CO2 chamber running on the tank. Unfortunately I am uncertain of the lighting because the hood I ordered came with two 24" Eclipse Daylight bulbs that do not have the wattage listed on them. The plants in the tank are:

Amazon Sword
Wisteria
Hygrophila
Lilaeopsis
Crypts
Anubias
Saggitarria

From my understanding, algae generally grows when there is an imbalance between the light levels and the CO2 levels in the tank. Given the plants listed above, what lighting/CO2 setups would you suggest. I am willing to buy new bulbs, and or add another CO2 chamber to the tank if it will help the situation. Also, if there is any creature that would possibly eat this type of algae, please let me know. I have an Oto in the tank that doesn't touch it. Thanks in advance for any help on this topic, and sorry for the lenght!

 

[Christine-FishGrrl]

If these are the 24" Daylight bulbs for the Eclipse 3, they are 18 watts each (total 36 watts). So for your 29 gallon tank you have 1.25 watts per gallon which is barely enough for low-light tanks that have no CO2 added (only anubias, crypts, java fern, java moss would do well). For your plants and DIY CO2, a good level of wattage would be around 2 watts per gallon (55-65 watts). There are a lot of good retrofit kits around like from CustomSealife and from AH Supply. I have retrofit kits on my Eclipe 6 and Eclipse 12 tanks (both from Custom Sealife) that use compact fluorescents that were relatively inexpensive, took about 10 minutes to install and the bulbs last 3 times as long as normal fluorescents. However, if you don't want to do that drop the CO2 and change the type of plants in your tank. Your current plants aren't able to photosynthesize enough and you need to keep the amount of light, CO2 and nutrients in balance. For example, my Eclipse 6 which has just under 2 watts per gallon has no CO2 added with low light plants and no algae. My other two tanks have more than 2 watts per gallon and I have to add CO2 in order to keep the balance right or I have horrible algae blooms.

 

[cubsfan]

Thanks for the advice and quick reply. I will be upping the level of lighting in the tank to about 2 W/gallon. Hopefully this will help keep the algae under control.

 

[litesky]

How often do you do your water changes? Getting hair algae at almost 1 watt/gallon is pretty strange to me. Check the flow of water in each area of the tank. Where do most of the algae grow? Which corner or what areas and how strong does the water flow there?

 

[cubsfan]

litesky-

I do 25-30% water changes every 3 to 4 days. The nitrate levels in the tank are under 10 ppm. All, or most of this algae is growing on the uppermost leaves of my swords and wisteria. Also, keep in mind that I'm not exatly positive if that is the correct wattage on the lights. This isn't an Eclipse tank. I believe that the hood is made by either All Glass Aquariums, or Perfecto. I'm going to purchase some lights today, so that I can at least know for certain what the lighting over my tank is, and then adjust the CO2 levels accordingly. Do you know of any fish or shrimp that eats this type of algae? Thanks for the help, and hopefully I can get rid of this hideous algae somehow.

 

[litesky]

Hmm. Here's my suggestion:

Get all u'r water parameters. pH, GH, KH, phosphate, nitrate and temp. Whatever you can provide would be nice and we'll work it from there. Is the algae green or more in the darkish grey area?

Meanwhile, while we figure out what's really going on with your tank, try adding some cherry shrimps or japonica "amano" shrimps, 1 or 2 sae's, 4-6 ottos. Keep up with the water changing schedule as you ahve it right now, but instead of 30%, do 40-50%. Also, if u'r lights are running 12 hours a day, set it to 11 hours. If it's at 11, set it to 10. There's no point running it under 10 hours a day. Clean out u'r filter as well as u can.

I personally don't think the lights have anything to do with the growth of the algae. I believe it's the inbalance in nutrients that's throwing the tank off course. Adding stronger lights may make things worse. however, if u do wnat to add stronger lights, I hope you do have a good CO2 reactor attached to that DIY CO2 producer. Because more light wattage = need of more CO2. If u'r DIY can't keep up with the amount of CO2 being consumed by the plants, u'll just face another algae outbreak.

In any case....let us know what the parameters are. Good Luck

 

[cubsfan]

Sorry for the length of time since my last post, I have been really busy with school for the past couple of weeks. Here are my tank parameters:

Nitrates <10 ppm
Ammonia and Nitrites = 0
pH = 7
Temp ~ 75 F
KH = 5
GH = ?
I don't have any kit for measuring phosphates, but I have not added any fertilizer to the tank so the should be low?

The DIY chamber is rather small, as I am using the kind that Hagen sells. If algae growth is caused by an imbalance between light and CO2 supply then maybe I should add another chamber? I recently changed one of the lights to a 20 W Phillips Plant & Aquarium bulb, and it seems much dimmer than the compact flourescents that came with the hood. The algae is very branched and is generally a very dark color. Now it seems as though there is an additional brown algae growing on top of the original algae that I just described. Thanks to everyone for very helpful posts... Hopefully I can get this all figured out since the algae is really a huge eyesore in the otherwise great tank.

 

[Momotaro]

Planted aquariums are delicate little eco systems, you can't assume anything. Not even phosphate levels! :wink:

You would be well served to get yourself a phosphate test kit. That is the only way to truly know your phosphate levels and will help you get well on your way to achieving that "planted aquarium" balance we planted aquarium enthusiasts are always yammering on about!

You nitrates aren't bad, if they are closer to ten than zero, and your CO2 level appears to be about 15ppm which is also good. That CO2 level is a bit surprising, taking into consideration you have one Hagen unit on a 29G. But it works! Great! Adding another DIY chamber will only improve your CO2 levels.

I believe your light levels are a bit on the low side. They are workable and you will be able to grow a nice variety of low light plants very well in your set up, but you will have to forget high light plants.

The algae you are describing sounds like it is staghorn algae(branching off). If it is, nothing is going to eat it away for you. Otos will chow down on the brown algae, but you're on your own with the staghorn (if it is staghorn). You are going to have to address the situation by getting everything in the previously mentioned balance!

Two months is quite young in the life of a planted aquarium. You are going to go through a lot of growing pains, algae is just one of them. My best advice for you cubsfan (aside from picking another baseball team to root for :wink: ) would be to get a phosphate test kit, find out your levels, and work to wards balancing the nitrates and phosphates in a 10:1 ratio. Sit tight, have a sandwich, and keep the faith. That algae will go away with some time and a little effort on your part! :wink:

Mike

 

[cubsfan]

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would say that the algae in my tank has really come under control. I changed around the plant setup, and added some amano shrimp and otocinclus, and things now look much better. Thanks for all of the help and encouragement along the way!!

 

[aspen]

that's very good. have fun with it.

rick