Brown and green algae that grows on sand?

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Bobtastic6 said:
There is brown and green algae that it starting to show up ON TOP of the sand in my planted tank. Has anyone else experienced this? Am i over-fertilizing?


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First thing is you can't over fertilize. Do you have pictures of the algae? How long has the tank been running? What do you have for light? How long do you run the lights for? What are you doing for a fertilizer program?

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Could potentially be free floating algae that has settled on the sand, However sand shouldn't really settle long enough to get algae, if you haven't stirred it for a while give it a good stir but follow it on with successive large WC's


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lennym said:
Could potentially be free floating algae that has settled on the sand, However sand shouldn't really settle long enough to get algae, if you haven't stirred it for a while give it a good stir but follow it on with successive large WC's


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It only takes about 4 days in most case if there is enough light. The algae description is that of diatom algae. Normally happens when a tank is cycling. Or new substrate

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sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this post....my tank has been running for about a year. i have all live plants. have been having brown algae problems due to the high amount of silica that is present in the sand substrate i have (i've been told it is a major contributing factor). the light cycle is roughly 12 on 12 off. for lighting, T5 HO with two 54 watt bulbs. i use a comprehensive supplement, organic carbon supplement and an iron supplement.

here are a few pics of the algae that has been popping up...
DSC01553.JPGDSC01554.JPG

i have been combating this by using a turkey baster to suck it off the surface of the sand, which as you can imagine, is VERY tedious.

DSC01553.JPG

DSC01554.JPG
 
Bobtastic6 said:
sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this post....my tank has been running for about a year. i have all live plants. have been having brown algae problems due to the high amount of silica that is present in the sand substrate i have (i've been told it is a major contributing factor). the light cycle is roughly 12 on 12 off. for lighting, T5 HO with two 54 watt bulbs. i use a comprehensive supplement, organic carbon supplement and an iron supplement.

here are a few pics of the algae that has been popping up...
View attachment 903302View attachment 903303

i have been combating this by using a turkey baster to suck it off the surface of the sand, which as you can imagine, is VERY tedious.
Click to expand...

This only happens on your substrate doesn't it? Mine comes and goes. Its diatom algae. The silica content plus light triggers it. How many inches is your light from your substrate? Are you dosing both macro and micro nutrients? What's your comprehensive mix? How much iron do you dose?

Pretty sure its a light anf silica issue. Finding the sweet spot of distance for the light plus light on time can make a difference.

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my light is as close to the top of the tank as possible. there are 24" between the light and the sandy bottom of the tank. the comprehensive supplement is called Flourish by Seachem and does have iron in it. the main iron supplement i use weekly (i may start to dose more often, still trying to find an acceptable balance to keep red plants healthy and looking their best) raises the iron concentration by .5ppm per 1 oz. dose (in a 160g tank). my tank is 120g and when i dose with this, i dose 1 oz.
 
Bobtastic6 said:
my light is as close to the top of the tank as possible. there are 24" between the light and the sandy bottom of the tank. the comprehensive supplement is called Flourish by Seachem and does have iron in it. the main iron supplement i use weekly (i may start to dose more often, still trying to find an acceptable balance to keep red plants healthy and looking their best) raises the iron concentration by .5ppm per 1 oz. dose (in a 160g tank). my tank is 120g and when i dose with this, i dose 1 oz.
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You need to raise your lights higher above the tank. My tank is 24 inches tall, and I have my lights hanging 6 inches above that. I may raise it a couple inches more to reduce intensity.

Flourish is only micro nutrients. Several plants benefit from iron, not just the red plants. If your not dosing npk (macro nutrients) you are most likely missing important nutrients for your plants. Your iron the instant you dose it goes down. I have to dose iron every other day with my micro nutrients. Then the other days I dose the npk macro nutrients. Provides non limiting nutrients so their aren't deficiencies.

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Aquaticfan said:
You need to raise your lights higher above the tank. My tank is 24 inches tall, and I have my lights hanging 6 inches above that. I may raise it a couple inches more to reduce intensity.

Flourish is only micro nutrients. Several plants benefit from iron, not just the red plants. If your not dosing npk (macro nutrients) you are most likely missing important nutrients for your plants. Your iron the instant you dose it goes down. I have to dose iron every other day with my micro nutrients. Then the other days I dose the npk macro nutrients. Provides non limiting nutrients so their aren't deficiencies.

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Great call on the macro nutrients. I've been only fighting half the battle. You really think i should raise the lights? I have < 1 watt/g, raising the lights wont hurt plant growth? Or is this "less light plan" what i need to kill the algae growth developing on the bottom?


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watts per gallon rule is old and no longer useable. Its all about PAR output from a light. What brand of light is your light? A higher quality made light that uses quality ballast, higher quality of reflectors will have a higher PAR out put then a cheaper series of light.
 
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