nailalc

I'll be paying attention to this thread for sure. I've got a case going in a twenty gallon right now. I've tried letting it go for three weeks before I cleaned it off, but it's come back with a fury in the last two weeks.

I've got a AHS 1X55 and the customary 15 watt bulb that came with the tank for lighting, as well as a EI fertilization scheme with Greg Watson ferts. I've also got three otos residing in the tank.

I'll try either cutting the nitrates from the fertilization schedule or turning off the 15 watt bulb. What does anyone think will work the best?

geezer

my nitrates have always been pretty high when i've tested, so i'm not sure if that's the cause.

my phosphates are always around 7-10ppm also! so i'm not sure if that's the cause either my phosphates have never really been that low (i dose 8th of a teaspoon over the EI)

I've decided to stop scrubing it with the magnets everyday and leave it on for a few weeks to go through the cycle

Ultimbow

I turn off the light during the day for 3 hours (11am to 4 pm and 7pm to 2am I work evening )most algae have a hard time with this, speacially every algae that is green. The plant grow a little slower but they still look very good.

Freemann

Same here aswell high nitrates cause GDA, I would say that a combination of high light for long daily periods together with high nitrates causes more of it. It will go away even if not scrubed if this 2 are reduced.

user367

I have very many plants in tank-more than clever man have
And I think thats why I have green algae in a small amount

Marilyn1998

I have a slight case of GDA in a beltlike fashion on the two sides and back of my tank at plant level. (about 12").
I dont know what causes it as my lights are 1.5WPG for 10 hours, my nitrAtes are 20-25, and my phospates are 5.0.
I have decided to let it go for 3 weeks. I am in day 8, and the thickest areas have gone from green to brown. The rest of the glass now is showing dusty green. So I must have had more than originally thought. Maybe that is why it never goes away??
I will be keeping an eye on this thread for sure!!

hoppycalif

I notice that Tom Barr is now suggesting that a 3 day blackout can be effective against all forms of algae. He suggests starting by doing twice a week 50-90% water changes, cleaning the filter and substrate, adding Excel, then doing a three day blackout. Make sure the blackout is total, no peeking, no light leaks. Following that, do daily 80% water changes, manually remove all of the algae you can find, add 1 1/2 times the water change dose of Excel, fertilize per EI, and repeat this every day for three days. Then keep the lighting to 2 - 2.5 watts per gallon, for 8 hours or so a day, and all of your algae problems will be history - if you use pressurized CO2 and keep the bubble rate up as high as your livestock can live with, and maintain a good fertilizing schedule for all of the needed nutrients. I think this could be called the "work your head off" method! But, I think I will try it after I scrape off the GDA next week. Of course then I will never know which method was the one that got rid of the GDA.

yxberia

After removing intense lighting (2 x 36 watt CF), GDA is greatly reduced.
Now that I've put back 2 x 36 watt FL, they start to show up but not that bad compare to CF case.
Waiting for their lifecycle to mature doesn't make sense to me. My tank looks dirty like not changing water at all even after large water change+maintenance.

redstrat

***UPDATE***
3 weeks ago tomorrow I started to wait out the lifecycle of GDA in this time I have noticed the following changes.

1 week - GDA was at its worst, thick green coating on the front glass and some plants, my large amazon sword was hit the hardest.

2 weeks - no additional GDA I started to notice some snail tracks and marks from my ottos eatting the GDA

almost 3 weeks - the GDA has almost dissapeared on its own, some of it has even turned brown and appears to be fading away. there is probably 20% of the intial GDA on the front glass and I know it cant all be dissapearing from the fish and snails.

tomorrow I get to scrape it all off and see if it comes back.

so far I feel pretty good about it I have to say it was easier to wait 3 weeks than I thought, especially considering that it started to fade away after 1 week.

John N.

For whatever reason the leave it alone method doesn't seem to work 100% for me. It'll be clear one week (month) and then dusty etc out of no where. Nothing changed in between.

I'm curious if anyone else has succesfully solved this puzzle, or has additional feedback with the method that worked for them.

-John N.