Hair algae on cycling aquarium

[Nevrast]

Hello to all,

I would like some advice on a planted 55g tank that im installing, it has 60 W on lighting (a full spectrum and a gro lux) 12 h/day, a product from JBL under the gravel (with trace elements and the like), soily-like but with lots of fine sand (cant remember the name :? ).

Got 2 Corys and 4 ottos in there, Nitrite 0,7mg/L;nitrate 25 mg/L (its a bit high isnt it?), its running for a week and a half now.

The plants that i got there are some small crypts (C. parva and C. beckettii ''petchii'' ), Egeria densa, Valisneria americana, Cabomba caroliniana, Anubias barteri var. nana, Bacopa caroliniana, and one Echinodorus 'Ozelot' green, got another species that i couldnt identify.
They all are going great, lots of growth, side shoots, the works (oh, forgot to mention, also got Co2 DIY, that im thinking in shuting down).

Well, my problem is that in my submerged roots and in the highest plants (cabomba, vallisneria and egeria) , near the surface the hair algae is getting a bit, well, too big for my taste. Is this normal? some algae in these beginning times?( because of the Nitrate and nitrite are a bit of the chart).
Will the algae be subdued by the growing plants when the nitrate and nitrite falls down?
Should i desconnect the Co2 (well i already did that, but what is your oppinion)?

I'm getting a bit worried because i saw some posts and articles refering to people that had to strip their aqaurium down, wash everthing with bleach solutions and all that stuff (i'm pannicking now 8O !!)

What do U recommend?, my guess now is to shut the co2 down and wait till the nitrate and nitrite to fall, and see if the algae are still bothering, in the meanwhile im removing those clumps with a toothbrush and hoping not to take any drastic measure...

Thank U for your time
(a worried) Pedro

 

[farm41]

I wouldn't shut the co2 down, it is not causing the algea. Can you get some more lights for the tank? 60 watts is pretty low for a plant tank, especially for the depth of a 55g.

It's probably the ammonia that is making the algea grow, do you have a test kit for it? If you had some more light the plants would use it all up. If you could double or even triple the light, your plants could out compete the algea. That is what we are all striving for.

HTH

 

[Nevrast]

Thanks for Ure answer

So if i got things strait: the limiting factor on my plants now is the light, if i manage to make the limiting factor the amonia, nitrite and nitrate the algae will fade because the plants are using all the nutrients available. is this right?

If so, with the increase of light wouldn't the algae also grow? in virtue of the added luminosity?

I'm going to make the fixture to suport the 2 new bulbs this weekend (thus having 120 w of light), im thinking in getting the gro lux (2 more) because of the price compared to the full spectrum ones. What do U think, are these enough? (my budget is getting quite low :wink: )

Oh, i got no ammonia test now, got to make do without it (i'm a student and the summer job money is all gone! I must sign a contract with my parents! :twisted: )

Thanks once more for your patience in these newb questions
Pedro

 

[aspen]

>>'So if i got things strait: the limiting factor on my plants now is the light, if i manage to make the limiting factor the amonia, nitrite and nitrate the algae will fade because the plants are using all the nutrients available. is this right?'

don't forget that the plants eat the phosphorous too. this is even more important, imo.

>>'Nitrite 0,7mg/L;nitrate 25 mg/L (its a bit high isnt it?),'

forget testing for nitrate, before nitrite zero's. nitrate kits read way too high, till the nitrite spike is over because they don't work properly in the presence of nitrite. your high nitrate reading, will likely never show over 5 ppm nitrate, after the cycling is finished. (planted tanks cycle fast.)

>>'the highest plants (cabomba, vallisneria and egeria) , near the surface the hair algae is getting a bit, well, too big for my taste.'

cut them off, clean and re-plant, or not.

put the co2 back on line, get a gro-lux and a 'sunshine' (nice combo- cheap) or a daylight (cheap too) and let the plants get photosynthesing nicely, and things wil go better all around. no more fert till the plants show deficiencies. and cut the time back, to when the plants start to fold up. (go to sleep.) this may only be 9- 10 hours. the plants stop photosynthesising, but the algae doesn't.

ride the hair algae out, there's another algae coming after that.

perservere. it will get better.

have fun, rick

 

[Orchid]

Aspen is right, it is the phosphate that is causing the problem. Algae feed on phosphates faster than most of the plants you've put in your tank. Here are some options:

1. Use RO water, NOT distilled water, for your water changes and evaporative fill ups. Phosphates are often present in water supplies. You can get RO water by the gallon from those water purifier machines you often see at grocery stores or from many health food stores. If you don't know what RO water is, it is water that has been stripped of metals, nitrates, and phosphates. If there is no phosphates in the water, there is nothing for the algae to feed on. I use RO water in my reef tanks, and started using it in my established, planted discus tank that developed a hair algae outbreak. It took a few weeks, but it all went away.

2. Plant many more fast growing bunch plants. The Amazon Sword, Crypts, and Anubias are slow growing compared to Cabomba, Elodea, Bacopa, Rotalia, and many other bunch plants. The planted show tanks often follow a specific series of plantings with bunch plants. They are MASS planted along with a couple of the permanent slower growing plants like the Amazon Sword. The idea is that these mass plantings will outcompete with the algae. These bunch plants will eventually be slowly removed after the tank cycles and becomes established so they don't have to be expensive. Often some lfs will take them back for credit if they are healthy. By the time you remove them the slower growing plants will have filled in and started looking beautifull.

3. Get hair algae eating fish. They do exist! The Krib has some wonderful articles about them and how to identify them. Be warned, they do jump.

Good luck and ride this out because even if you do strip down the tank and start all over, that doesn't mean you've gotten rid of the hair algae, it could come back and then you are right back where you started from.

 

[R-S]

The best fish I found for eating hair algae is the Florida Flag Fish. Slurps that stuff up like crazy and is OK for a community tank, hardy enough to live in a cycling tank.