[rollie]

I have a problem with alge on my plants. Im not sur what kind of alge it is. The alge is a dark color and looks like hair or fur. It is really covering the leaves of many of my plants. I was wondering if anyone out there has any possible solutions for me. How do I get rid of this alge. can I perhaps remove the plants a couple at a time and soak them in a solution of bleach and water or maybe spray them with flourish excel. Surely there must be some way to clear up this alge problem. These plants are in a 55 gallon tank with pressurised co2 injection a 130 watt light and the light is on a timer set to be on about 10 hours a day. .out:

 

[hoppycalif]

If this is black or virtually black it is probably black brush algae. BBA ruins leaves it grows on, so you might as well remove the leaves that have it. Excel will kill BBA, so you can use a syringe to squirt the full tank dose of Excel directly on the BBA you want to kill. That makes it turn reddish, followed by white, when it is dead. BBA is generally started by not having enough CO2 in the water. Do you use a drop checker?

 

[Tex Gal]

Here is a great site to read about algae and it's causes/treatments. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Hoppy is right. You need to find out what is causing the problem. You can kill it but it will just come back. It'll become a vicious cycle.

 

[rollie]

no Hoppy I dont use a drop checker. I have a small glass bulb with a liquid color indicator in the tank and it turns color depending on the level of co2 in the water. blue is low green is good and yellow is too high. the bulb is attached by a small suction cup to the inside of the glass. It came with my co2 injection system.

 

[Tex Gal]

no Hoppy I dont use a drop checker. I have a small glass bulb with a liquid color indicator in the tank and it turns color depending on the level of co2 in the water. blue is low green is good and yellow is too high. the bulb is attached by a small suction cup to the inside of the glass. It came with my co2 injection system.

That is a drop checker. Do you use 4dkg water in it? If you do then you can accurately tell how much CO2 is in your water. I keep mine at a lime green. My fish do fine at that level. The other issue is circulation. You need enough circulation for the CO2 and the nutrients to get to all the plants. There can be a HUGE variation in just a few inches from where the CO2 is released in the tank and elsewhere. With enough circulation, CO2 and nutrients the goal is to have your plants out compete the algae. Even with slight fluctuations you can get an algae outbreak. It's a delayed reaction of a week or more. So frustrating. That's why consistency is SO important in dosing, lights, CO2, circulation...

Good luck!

 

[rollie]

Sorry I didnt realize that was a drop checker. A small bottle of co2 indicator came with the injection system. It calls for 2 drops in the checker using aquarium water. As for 4dkg water Im afraid I dont know what you mean. Could you explain please?
I have been keeping the filter shut off during the day because it causes surface turbulance and I know that can lead to loss of co2 from the water. I also do not have any air stones or devices of that sort for the same reason. I would run the filter only at night. I have a Hot Magnum canister filter which hangs on the back of my tank. I always use the micron cartridge to polish the water. So in other words I have had no circulation in the tank during the day when the light is on,only at night.

 

[abcemorse]

4 dKH water is a solution of R/O water (important) that is at a known KH with no minerals, phosphates, or other buffers to alter pH readings. You can buy it premade or make your own (Barr's site has an easy recipe, look for the "drop checkers how and why" thread). Using tank water will not give nearly as accurate of readings. My guess is the CO2 is probably lower than you think it is, combined with the filter not running during the day and that's a recipe for BBA. Maybe try some 4dKH water in the DC and let the filter run 24/7. With pressurized CO2 you shouldn't have to worry too much about the surface agitation, it's good for the fish anyway as it keeps good O2 in the water.

 

[rollie]

Thanks for the explanation Abcemorse. I will definately get some of that R.O. water for my drop checker. I will also run the filter all the time from now on. I think I can add to the length of the outlet on the filter so that it discharges lower in the tank to cut down on the surface turbulance. I have also been overdosing on excel hoping it will kill some of the bba in my tank. Thanks again for your advice and my thanks to Hoppy and Texgal.

 

[Tex Gal]

Thanks for the explanation Abcemorse. I will definately get some of that R.O. water for my drop checker. I will also run the filter all the time from now on. I think I can add to the length of the outlet on the filter so that it discharges lower in the tank to cut down on the surface turbulance. I have also been overdosing on excel hoping it will kill some of the bba in my tank. Thanks again for your advice and my thanks to Hoppy and Texgal.

I hope you understand that it's not just RO water. It's water that has a 4 degrees hardness. You can also buy it from Greenleaf aquatics. The degree of hardness is set at 4 so that it will be green with the reaction of the agent. It is this known hardness that gives the ability to calculate the 20-30ppm of CO2 in the water at the color green.

 

[rollie]

yes texgal I did understand what abcemorse said. I did indeed get some of that water from Greenleaf Aquariums website. I also bought a double check drop checker from Greenleaf as well. I plan to have 2 drop checkers in my tank. One located at each end of the tank. The double check checker on one end and my other checker on the other end.