Algae in my tank

[jlennon]

I have a brown algae that has shown up in my tanks. I do not have co2 going on any tank as of right now I do however add a dose of flourish to my planted tanks @w/c. I have a 75, 10, and a 7 gallon planted tank that has this same issue. I believe it came from a lfs.
I have cut the light cycle down a 1/2 hour on the 75 and 10gallon.
The 75 has HE 67000k 28w that was on for 8 hours.
The 10 has a 60w that was on for 8 hours. The distance of the light has also been moved to a foot from the top of the tank.
The 7 gallon has a led light that is on about 8-9 hours.
Non of the tanks are near a window and there is a weekly 25% w/c.
Any input is great and I would like to stay away from chemicals.

[eklikewhoa]

What's your feeding amount and frequency?
Stocking list?
Stop dosing fluorish and look into dosing excel.
Cut the lighting back even more, probably 6hrs a day or even more if there's not enough plants to soak up the nutrients.

[Totenkampf]

+1 to EK, sounds like nitrates should be tested?

[jlennon]

What's your feeding amount and frequency?
Stocking list?
Stop dosing fluorish and look into dosing excel.
Cut the lighting back even more, probably 6hrs a day or even more if there's not enough plants to soak up the nutrients.

My feeding amount for the 75 is spectrum lg pellets every other day. There is one Oscar in there and she gets five or six pellets per feeding.

The 10 1ml frozen blood worms(thawed of course) and trout pellets(no more the five or six). I feed I would say daily. In that tank I have:
3- bumblebee gobies
2- pea puffers
1- half beak
In this tank I also used fluorite as a base layer which I am kicking myself for. Could that have an effect?
The 7 gallon gets a spectrum pellet may be daily and has:
2- corys
And a couple tetras.
I am using the seachem flourish excel. Are we tanking about the same thing? Basically a co2 replacement.

[jlennon]

I will check the nitrates this evening before I do my w/c and let you guys know. They usually don't go higher the 20ppm.
I know that is kinda high but I am working with well water.

[eklikewhoa]

Try straining the frozen foods, the water or mush they are frozen in is nasty stuff.

Feeding seems to be on par but maybe cut back a bit more if you're having problems right now.

Still would cut back on the lighting.

The well water is an issue but can be worked with.

Fluorish excel is the carbon you need, try increasing the doses to every other day.

[eklikewhoa]

Are parameters out the well ideal? You could increase your frequency or amount to help with the nitrates, make sure you siphon up any detritus that accumalates during the wc.

[jlennon]

Are parameters out the well ideal? You could increase your frequency or amount to help with the nitrates, make sure you siphon up any detritus that accumalates during the wc.

No the parameters out of the well are not ideal. The nitrates are high and the water is soft.
As for the detritus I do my best.
I say a 25% w/c but that is on the low side. I do not like to do a 50% however. So take that for what it is.
I have an RO unit to instal which will help with the parameters of the well water.
Is this an algae problem or diatoms?
My tanks are eat but two months ago I moved and had to switch water sources. I went from city to well.
The bloom showed up two weeks ago. Do you think this could be diatoms running a course?

[jlennon]

Try straining the frozen foods, the water or mush they are frozen in is nasty stuff.

Feeding seems to be on par but maybe cut back a bit more if you're having problems right now.

Still would cut back on the lighting.

The well water is an issue but can be worked with.

Fluorish excel is the carbon you need, try increasing the doses to every other day.

As for straining the frozen consider it done.
I soak any frozen food in spring water till thawed out, strain and run spring water through it, I then add vitamin c, vita chem, metro, and garlic.
As for feeding every other day is more preferred for me so I will start that cycle tonight.
Lighting will also be cut back to 6 hours.
The Fluorish excel is the carbon is what I use. So I should add that daily?
I cannot remember the dosing but are you talking like 1 ml a day? Or how so?
I am enjoying this feedback thank you and I will post updates after changes are made.

[eklikewhoa]

As for straining the frozen consider it done.
I soak any frozen food in spring water till thawed out, strain and run spring water through it, I then add vitamin c, vita chem, metro, and garlic.
As for feeding every other day is more preferred for me so I will start that cycle tonight.
Lighting will also be cut back to 6 hours.
The Fluorish excel is the carbon is what I use. So I should add that daily?
I cannot remember the dosing but are you talking like 1 ml a day? Or how so?
I am enjoying this feedback thank you and I will post updates after changes are made.

Don't over dose the vits.
As for the fluorish I've always dosed the amount suggested on the label daily according to tank size. Actually I use to dose 2-3x the amount but these were heavily planted tanks with high light.

[eklikewhoa]

No the parameters out of the well are not ideal. The nitrates are high and the water is soft.
As for the detritus I do my best.
I say a 25% w/c but that is on the low side. I do not like to do a 50% however. So take that for what it is.
I have an RO unit to instal which will help with the parameters of the well water.
Is this an algae problem or diatoms?
My tanks are eat but two months ago I moved and had to switch water sources. I went from city to well.
The bloom showed up two weeks ago. Do you think this could be diatoms running a course?

With the problems with your water source I think you're stuck, RO will help but then you would have to add back all the minerals and such that are stripped according to which tank needing what.

Increasing your water change might not be of much help at this point.

As for diatoms/algae a picture would help but I view both as the same, a problem due to excess nutrients/improper lighting

[jlennon]

The RO water would be slowly introduced to the tanks.
A w/c would consist of 30% RO of whatever changed. So the water would not be completely depleted.
As for the vitamins it's a dosing I have worked out to control my oscars hole in the head.
During the w/c I use a 45 gallon brute and I dose 1 ml per gallon. The vita chem only goes in the food. This is dosing I have worked out over the past three years and have seen a major difference in my fishes health.
I would agree with the lighting. This is an issue I have been trying to balance for the past two months.

[eklikewhoa]

You could try a blackout period before the shorter photoperiod. Leave the lights off for a day or two.

[jlennon]

On a side note the RO unit I will be using actually leaves a portion of TDS and nutrients in the water.
The unit was not favored after the membrains were started to be manufactured overseas. Because of the after market membranes are all that you can find on the market lfs no longer use the unit due to the unneeded cost of filtering freshwater.
In short the unit is prefect for freshwater because it doesn't do what RO units do for salt water. This has been tested by a trusted source.

[jlennon]

I think I will maintenance my tank tonight a leave the lights off for a day or two. I hate leaving them in the dark but it's a shot worth trying. Good idea thanx EK.