Algae bloom since installing c02

[xrboy_85]

Hey guys

Just trying to get my tank right after getting back in to it, having a few dramas as the algae that was in the tank re c02 now seems to be getting worse. iv been water changing every 2nd day to keep the phosphate levels at bay and have had stints of blackouts with no lights and blankets, only to now have my 1 week old tiger lotus/s and a few other plants start disintegrating. im not adding any ferts other than c02 and am trying to keep my kh around 100ppm. i have just installed a 36w uv sterilizer and ordered some matrix to top up my fx5 basket.


Any suggestions would be much appreciated
Cheers Justin

[ILLUSN]

Algae is the result of imbalance in your tank. What lighting are you using? You say your doing water changes to keep phosphate levels ok please post your phosphate nitrate nitrite and details of your lighting and substrate

[xrboy_85]

so far this morning

ph:7
kh:100
po4: 0.5
No3: 5 mg/l
calcium: 0

lighting is a t5 unit with 4x54w tubes with 3 white 10k tubes and a blue i think 12k.

Substrate is 3mm coffs gravel

[ILLUSN]

Sweet cut your light back to 2 10000k tubes only set your co2 at ~ 30ppm this will overclock your plants and make them out grow your algae if you still have strong algae growth in 4 days put a sheet of toilet paper between the lids and light to diffuse it untill your plants get control of the algae

[swampy1972]

Hi Justin,

If your Tiger Lotus dies let me know and I can send you a pup from from the parent plant in my tank.

http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showthread.php/26427-2ft-cube-revamp...-picture-heavy!/page2

[xrboy_85]

thanks guys

jothy whats 30 ppm in terms of bubbles/sec??

[mawhins]

Mate, I had the same prolonged algae problem. Tried a bunch of stuff but it wasn't till I changed my globes from 10k to 6.5k that I got control. Has only been a week since I changed but I'm calling light colour/temperature as the problem. Gotta keep the ferts and co2 up and make sure the water temp doesn't get too high. As illusn says put the plants into overdrive!

[ILLUSN]

it varies tank to tabk i aim for bout 2-3 bps and it brings my pH down to 6.5-6.7

[xrboy_85]

wondering if temp could be playing a part too. its sitting at 28 currently?? im wondering if i have to bang an order through online to get some more plants to stock it right up and give the algae some competition??

[mawhins]

I take the line that bold is better but you have to ramp up in balance. With extra plants you need extra resources. If they can't get the resources they need they won't grow and won't outcompete the algae. I backed off on light and ferts when I first tried to battle my algae problem but that was the worst thing to do. Plants suffered and algae thrived. Also factor in fish bioload. Water changes I think small and regular is good.

[xrboy_85]

at present am back to two light tubes only and am changing about 25% daily, c02 is pumping around 3b/sec and have had a crack at some api algafix, so far it has killed off allot of the annoying stringy stuff and i have just been sucking it out every day, so far so good.

we are moving house in a fortnight so i am planning on bringing in another bag of gravel to bring the thickness up a little as it has thinned out over the year, would anyone suggest using any other form of substrate other than gravel?? clay types as iv heard and read a little about???? now that this house is actually mine i am going to get a little creative and maybe have my water change tank in the roof so i can have it plumbed up all the time and gravity feed the water down via a float switch. the roof is kind of a room more than an attic pretty cool

[ILLUSN]

gravel isnt the best for plants unless its been enriched with mulm over some months/years

your better using a comercial substrate as a base, i've had good results with flora base, dupla ground, eco completes, i found flourite a bit harsh on stem plants and onxy seemed to depleat too fast but buffer my ph nicely against CO2.

to save money i've used a 1-2 inch deep comercial substrate with some laterites and a pinch of osmocote native plant mix and topped off another 2-3 inches with gravel.

[xrboy_85]

ok i was wondering about some of those, how much would i need for the 4x18??

here are the two i was thinking??

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4014&catID=65

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=3608&catID=65

would i get away with one of each??

[ILLUSN]

Depends on the colour you want the base of the tank, if your using a brown gravel use dupla ground, if your using a black gravel use eco complete, both are just as good as each other, eco complete has a more soil like feel dupla ground is more lie a gravel but the roots penetrate into the particals nicely.

[xrboy_85]

at present its the good ol 3mm coffs which is white ish with the yellow through it, black might be a go though jsut to make the fish stand out a little more, do you think 20 ltrs would be enough or would i need 40??

[ILLUSN]

Do the maths and work out how my Liters you need if your foot print is 4x18 then 120x45=5400, multiply that by the height (in cm) and divide by 1000.
so for 1 inch (2.5cm) you need 5400x2.5/1000 = 13.5L

for 2 inch thick you need 27L and so on.

[xrboy_85]

bought 40 ltrs just to be sure, just wanting this to be done right now im sick of always battling algae poor plant growth and doing it dodgy to fix problems,

So c02 check
subtrate check
fx5 with 36w uv check
stash of big L and prazi check
water change tank and pump check
hmm light tubes need to be replaced i think i have 3x 10k tubes and a blue coral star

can you think of anything else i should add to the check list to do this once and for all????

[mawhins]

Fertiliser