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Help got spot green algae and hair algae

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  • #1

    Help got spot green algae and hair algae

    Just set up another planted tank and I'm having to fight off some mad hair algae.  The spot green algae was just on the glass but now it's getting on the plants too.

    The tank is a nano JBJ dx.  I got two o-cats in there, and I got like 30 snails today to help the fight.  I'm also going to pick up shrimps too.

    So what can I do to hold the algae at bay.  I would rather deal with the imbalance causing the algae than fighting it with livestock. Thanks.
    I ate my fish that died.
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  • #2
    Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

    Balance of plant mass, light, carbon and nutrients is the issue in severe algae cases. Need a little more info. What is your photoperiod? How heavily planted is the tank? Are you using a carbon suppliment? Do you use ferts?

    Remove hair algae by hand, every chance you get. Twirling a toothbrush in it works well. The snails and shrimp will be a help, but don't address the root cause of the algae. The plants aren't using what nutrients are available in the tank, the algae is. Carbon will help the plants use more of the nutrients in the tank so it out-competes the algae. In a nano I'd limit the light to 8 hrs a day or less. How much wattage do you have? Excel or DIY CO2 may be needed, depending on light level and duration.

    Mark
    What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

    Robert Anson Heinlein

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    • #3
      Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

      tank is filled with plants.  But i just started it up about two weeks ago.  lights are on 8 hours a day. I'm cutting it back down to 6.  I use g.watson ferts.  I think the root of the problem is I been giving them too much ferts and the plant has not settle in to take up the ferts.

      I have cut back on ferts all together.  The ada soil has a lot of good stuff in it already.  I just got 30 snails and two o-cats working on the fight.  The algae is down by a lot.  I also plan on picking up some rare shrimps from EK, so that will help even more.

      thanks for the advice.

      How many shirmps should i get for a nano 12g JBJ?
      I ate my fish that died.

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      • #4
        Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

        What about carbon? The other factors seem manageable. Alagae needs much less in terms of nutrients to survive than plants do. Limiting nutrients without using a carbon source will not always fix the problem. Again, amount/duration of light drives the need for carbon and ferts.

        Mark
        What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

        Robert Anson Heinlein

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

          Too much nutrients, too little plants.

          Mark, MJ's tank has mostly slow growers.......well actually all slow growers, ADA Aquasoil, ADA Powersand and then the G.Watson ferts on top.....Not enough nutrient uptake for a premature tank. Co2 should be spot on, he has learned from me that the best way to gauge Co2 ppms is to gas till the fish gasp and then back off a few notches  :wink:
          700g Mini-Monster tank

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          • #6
            Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

            Originally posted by eklikewhoa";p="
            Too much nutrients, too little plants.

            Mark, MJ's tank has mostly slow growers.......well actually all slow growers, ADA Aquasoil, ADA Powersand and then the G.Watson ferts on top.....Not enough nutrient uptake for a premature tank. Co2 should be spot on, he has learned from me that the best way to gauge Co2 ppms is to gas till the fish gasp and then back off a few notches  :wink:
            Yeah, with that nutrient-rich substrate, cutting back on water column ferts isn't depriving the tank. I'd definitely get some carbon in that tank. I'm too chicken to use your method EK. I found that by dropping the ph a full log, from 7.5 to 6.5, I was injecting in the neighborhood of 25 ppm. This method was suggested by RTR at AquariumBoard and The Puffer Forum. I tried using Chuck Gadd's chart, which compares ph and KH to get co2 ppm, but that chart relies on having carbonate as the sole component of KH. My tapwater has other buffers in it that throw off the calculations.

            I've also found through a conversation with Tom Barr several years ago that too much light is a contributor to algae problems. Lower light levels mean slower plant growth but allows for more time to do something about problems before they become epidemic.

            Mark
            What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

            Robert Anson Heinlein

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Help got spot green algae and hair algae

              yeah EK is spot on.  I don't play about the co2.  I know I have the right amount when the fishes are trying to get air from the surface.

              Pressurized co2 system: 10pd. bottle, Milwaukee regulator with check valve, bubble counter, and nano diffuser. 4-6 bps.  Some times I put excel in there to spot target the algae.

              Add I just ordered two new CF light for the tank. 24wx2.
              I ate my fish that died.

              Comment

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