Balance, lighting, and EFFING ALGAE!!!

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Beetlebug515

Beetlebug515

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jul 28, 2015
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So for about the last year, I have been struggling with planted tanks. It all started with my 75 gallon. I decided to moderately plant the tank. After a while my plants were turning yellow and dying, I figured it had to be a lighting issue. I was using one of the small current satellite led lights and it doesn't penetrate my 22" deep 75. So I bought a finnex ray 2 led light. I loved it because it is ludicrously, obnoxiously, stupidly bright on that small of a tank. All of the sudden, my plants looked great! And then within weeks, diatoms. Horrendous diatom problems. So bad I couldn't see the fish after a couple weeks of no cleaning. I read that with high lighting, I need to supply more nutrients. So I started dosing flourish and flourish excell according to instructions hoping to starve out the algae. Needless to say that didn't work. So I started dosing in higher amounts and still no change. Then I tried adding more plants to consume more nutrients, which didn't work. Then I tried running rowa phos and phosban to attempt to remove phosphate and silicate, still no change. So I gave up and took the whole thing down and transferred everything to my newly set up 250. My 250 is 80 inches long and I have the finnex light on it. I figured with a tank that big and only a 48" light on it, algae wasn't going to be a problem. Guess what? DAMN DIATOMS ARE BACK. WTF IS GOING ON? AM I JUST CURSED TO LIVE IN AN ALGAE INFESTED HELL FOREVER? It's only on the front panel this time. Only where that light touches. What can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I have tried literally everything I can think of besides setting up a C02 cylinder, which I have my own reservations about. I hate this algae so much, it's pushing me to get out of the hobby. I don't want to do that, but I am sick of investing money into solutions that don't work. Please help me.
 
Damn! That sounded frustrating as hell! I had algea problem the 2nd weeks of setting my 100g planted tank! Could not get rid of it! Until I bought me 7 Siamese algae eaters they are awesome. They cleaned and ate all the algae in a few day. Best and hardest working fish you'll ever see.

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Lol, see why! yeah I had the same idea but failed then decided to get the algae eater. Honestly the Siamese algae, are pretty fast little guys if there is hiding place I think you should be fine. Try it, it wouldnt hurt... They're only $3-4 buck at the Lfs. Make sure you get the correct kind and not the Chinese algae eater. But if you do a little research youll be able to tell them apart. It's either that or get more plants they'll help absorb all the nutrient in the water so the algae won't grow or atleast not out of control. Btw, love your arrowana GRANDE! How big is she and old?
 
Phosphate is the building block of molecules for algae. Try RO/DI, it's the most cost effective solution, trust me. This tank is lit with 2x65w power compacts 1 150w 6700k hqi

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I can see how the arowana would be a potential problem with algae eating fish, but you could try tiny bristlenose or oto's he might not even see them? If your other fish do I guess its show over though.

Tried nerite snails?
 
The aro is about 14" probably a bit less than a year old. He doesn't usually bother smaller fish, he's in there with some very small green terrors right now and doesn't look at them twice. But he has eaten a dojo loach in the past, and a small angel. It would be a toss up on whether he would go after the algae eaters. Is there actually a difference between Siamese and Chinese algae eaters? I have thought about ro water, but a water change with ro would take forever on my 250 unless I stored the water, and I just don't have the space for water barrels. I'm also unsure about how to get my kh and gh back up to where they need to be. Bristle nose might work, but it seems like a band-aid to me. I have been wondering if a C02 system would help though. I just worry that adding C02 would kill my fish, or just get cycled right back out of the water by my trickle filter.
 
I have co2 running 24hrs a day with no problem! And about the Siamese algae and Chinese algea eater. There is a big difference between the 2! The Chinese algae only eat certain kinds of algae but the Siamese algae, those guy will eat pretty much any algae except the ones that build up on the glass and Pleco is perfect for that job! Best of luck bro! Let me know what you decide on doing maybe I could learn a few things myself!
 
I added 4 SAE's to my aro tank, also planted, as the aro has never been fed feeders, and there were a few juvies in the tank without him taking notice of them, I thought the larger SEA's would be fine, big mistake, the were gone in two days.
You need to get the balance right (plant, fert, light), give it time to settle, my diatoms disappeared after 6 weeks, if you change too drastically, too soon, you keep on throwing things out of kilter, some LFS have excellent contacts to solve algea problems, if others can gro algea free tanks so can you, get some assistance to find that sweet spot.
 
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