[dogdoc]

My setup is somewhat similar to yours 75g. Tek lighting. MY water is softer.

Here's the steps that I would take to combat your algae woes.

1. Leave it at 2 bulbs for now.

2. Get that CO2 running. I would ditch that reactor and either build an inline Rex-type or get an AM 1000 Use a drop checker to help verify CO2. Place it low in tank and as far from the CO2 inlet as possible.

3. Increase flow throughout the tank. Get at least one more large canister. Another fluval or XP3 or XP4, Eheim 2217 or 2028 would be good ones to look at. Use one of the canisters to power your CO2 reactor. You may want to add a powerhead or Koralia type pump too. I have 2 XP3s and a Koralia 2, and a powerhead moving water around my tank.

4. Spot treat the algae with Excel. Turn off all the filters, use a syringe to dose right on the algae. Wait 10 min. Turn filters back on.

5. Load the tank with anacharis, hornwort, hygro, and other fast growing stems.

6. Start ferts back up.

7. Take a step back, breathe deep, repeat...."I will not let the algae defeat me" about 100 times. This probably should have been #1.

That's how I would tackle an "algae outbreak". When it boils down to brass tacks, I've learned that most algae issues come down to 1) Too much light 2) Inconsistent CO2 3) Poor circulation. In that order. Get those straight and the rest should follow.

Disclaimer: I have only been at this for about 3 years. There are many here who know much more than I. The above are all strictly my opinions. I hope some it you may find useful.

 

[dogdoc]

Yep, that was me suggesting finding someone with similar specs. I think that is a good thing to do. More importantly in that same thread, I said find someone who has tanks you admire and follow one person's advice. It is too easy to get too many cooks in the kitchen, get conflicting advice, and get discouraged.

The hardest part for me was accepting that I'm probably not a good enough plant keeper to run all 4 bulbs of my TEK. Once I turned down the light, things got easier.

I still believe that the big 3 are light, CO2, and good flow. Adding another canister, or a couple more powerheads won't be that painful.

The Excel spot treatment will really help kill what algae is already there, as well as augmenting your CO2.

And the BGA was probably brought on by a lack of flow, and bottoming out your nitrates when you stopped dosing.

I really don't know about the AM500 reactor. I was thinking it was one of the membrane diffusers, but I just looked it up and it is not. It may work for you. But I don't see a lot of people advocating them. I do see people using and having success with reactors and venturis, and even modified powerheads if you like mist. I guess it wont matter if you can get your tank to 30 ppm and (more importantly) get that 30 ppm water circulated to all of the plants.

 

[dogdoc]

What all are you having to take out and break down to clean?

Shouldn't have to do that with a powerhead or Koralia. I really like the Koralias, good flow rates that don't seem to blow plants around and easy to direct where you want them.

Another good reason for a second canister. I clean one of mine every two weeks. That way they each get cleaned once a month, and less chance of disturbing the bio-filter. Also if for whatever reason, one fails, the other should hold me over until I can replace it.

 

[dogdoc]

I'm not really looking for anyone to agree with me. I'm just trying to offer some insight as to what helped me with my algae battles.

Note the disclaimer at the bottom. I'm fully aware that there are a ton of people around here who have probably forgotten more than I'll ever know about planted tanks. Robert is definitely one of them.

So fire away, I'm sure he will appreciate any help. I know I would.