Algae problem

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M

Merbeast

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2007
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Sacramento, CA
www.thinking-man.net
I have a 55 gallon planted tank. It has amazon swords and java fern. There are two bristle nose plecos, bichirs, jewel cichlids and a synodontis angelicus in the tank. There is "driftwood", and I have added some crushed coral to the sump to combat the pH dropping power of the driftwood. I have a CO2 cannister and diffuser. There are 6 40watt flourescent tubes, 2 with plant bulbs and 4 with "full spectrum" bulbs. I had them on a timer for 12 hours a day, but I just cut it back to 10. I do water changes from 30-50% three times a week. I checked the water parameters and have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, and BEFORE the water change I had <5 ppm nitrates. The pH is a little high at 7.5 as the driftwood is releasing fewer tannins than it was when I added the crushed coral. I do not use fertilizer. The tank receives no direct sunlight. Here is the algae:
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Will flourish excel kill the algae and not my plants/fish? Should I leave my lights off for a week or something to kill the algae, and if I do will it kill the plants?

If it helps, the tank has 2 fluval 205s and a wet/dry sump. Thanks in advance for your input.
 
You should either crank your co2 up to 10-15 bps, or turn it off. Your wet/dry filter is destroying your co2 count. The cyanobacteria (dark green on rocks) is a sign that your co2 levels are too low for your lighting level, which is verified by your w/d filter. The beard algae is likely due to high phosphates. You really have a big imbalance in nutrients in your tank. Your nitrogen levels are too low for your plants to compete with the algae.
 
Ok, turn up the CO2, I can do that. Should I remove the wet/dry? I am leary about the 2 fluval 205s handling the bio-load, but I'd be willing to try if it means the algae would go away (or reduce in abundance).

My nitrogen levels are too low... Turning off the wet/dry should eliminate this problem, yes? Or should I fertilize? I have some plant fertilizer in the fridge that is a month or two old, but I have not used it yet because of the algae. Should I add it?

Thank you so much for your assistance, WyldFya
 
Read the stickies. Your w/d isn't a good filter to have for a planted tank. I wouldn't even worry about the tank with one fluval 205 if you have a heavily planted tank. The plants are going to be the primary filter anyway.
 
Hmm. Read the stickies, you say? I'd hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have read the stickies, and many other threads that look like they might be useful, and have not found the exact information I am looking for. I have gone to the krib and read their articles (as well as other sites), and yet none had the exact information I am looking for. My tank is not the typical tank that is referenced in most articles. It is planted, but not "heavily". I put the plants in for the fish, not the fish for the plants. My fish would eat Otocinclus and ghost shrimp. I want to eliminate the algae, but not at the risk of the fish. Thus, my trepidation and questioning. I apologize if I have wasted your time.

What I have done so far to correct the situation as of last night(should anyone else have the same or similar circumstances and wish to learn from my trial and error):
1) Increased the CO2 count (and prompty turned it off as my pH dropped from 7.5-6.5 in the matter of about 2 hours. I restarted it this morning at a low level.). net change: 0
2) Removed the wet/dry. I will test this evening for ammonia/nitrite/nitrates and pH. The wet dry, as you remember, had crushed coral in it to buffer the pH drop caused by the "driftwood".
3) Removed approx 1/4 of the fish population. Sorry, but losing my primary bio filter scares the crap out of me, so I am going to insure the safety of my bigger, better specimens.
4) Removed approx 1/4 of the driftwood. There was 1 piece that did not have java fern attached to it, so I removed it to reduce the pH imbalance.
5) I have also turned down the lighting from 12 hours/day to 10 hours/day.

I looked at the fertilizer that I had on hand, and it has phosphates in it. I assume (but will not presume to ask) that this will be a poor choice to add, as I already apparently have a phosphate problem. We will see how well things progress.
 
Your tank is over-filtered. Plants use ammonia much faster than they use nitrates. As such, having all those filters won't do too much for the water, as the ammonia isn't present due to the plants taking it up.

With the information you gave, you have a high light, high tech planted tank, however, you never listed stocking of plants, nor fish. With co2, and that much light over a 55, you should have better plants than java ferns. There are many plants that will grow faster, and utilize the nutrients you have much more effectively. The planted tanks for beginners sticky has plenty of information for you, but you aren't familiar enough with how planted tanks work. You have a moderately high light setup, with co2, which should be for high light plants. However, it appears that you do not have the plants to match your setup.
 
I am going to agree with Wildfya, and assume your phosphates are high. You mention that the nitrates are low. Plants need an environment with the nitrate : phos ratio is from 5:1 or 10:1
Also mentioned, your plants will become your primary filter, taking up ammonia and nitrite. I wouldn't worry about filtration issues. I used to run a HOB filter (meant for a 55gal) on my 120g for quite a while, without issues.

You're throwing a lot of light on the tank, some CO2, but no nutrients (other than phos). Your plants need all 3 in order to grow properly.

The java and amazon swords are low to medium light plants, and you are well into the high range. You need plants that are faster growers, stem plants, to balance this out. IE, wisteria, anacharis, water sprite, ludwigia, etc.

The cyano growing on the gravel is a good sign of low CO2 levels and typically areas of no water flow (which would contribute to low CO2 levels in that particular spot in the tank).

Manually remove the algae you can, cut older leaves back, and get some stem plants.
 
I put on the CO2 and extra lighting for the Amazon swords. From the literature, it appeared to me they were "high light" plants. (see link: http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_eamazon.php ) I can remove lights if that will help.

If the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates are low to none when I get home, I will remove one of the fluvals and try that out.
Plant list: approx 10 amazon swords and 3 bunches of Java fern that have split and spread out over 2 large pieces of driftwood.
Fish list: 6 jewel cichlids (3-4"), 2 senegal bichirs (4") , 2 palmas bichirs (4" and 5"), delhzi bichir (3"), endlicheri (4"), reed fish (10"), 2 bristle nose (4").
 
By the way, I know the java fern and amazon sword require two different levels of light. My plan, when I had a plan, was to grow the amazon sword nice and big and have it shade the aquarium, with the java fern growing on the driftwood underneath it (in the shade, lower light level). This might not work, as it is my first attempt at a planted aquarium, but that was the plan.
 
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