It's getting too much light. You'll have to block it.
Losing the war against algae
My tank is overrun with a long, filamentous algae. I believe it's spirogyra. I've tried removing by hand with weekly 30% water changes, but it bounces back super fast. It's also a pain to remove because the shrimp and snails love hanging out in it. I wouldn't mind leaving a little for them, but it grows so fast it threatens to overtake the tank.
The tank is in the corner of a North-facing covered patio against a dark wall, so I wrapped a dark sheet around the 2 outward-facing, brightest sides. Duckweed and floating hornwort filter most of the light from above. I also hung several emergent plants to the side of the tank to help improve filtration/nutrient competition, and have a Fluval FX canister filter going.
I meant to keep it wrapped up in the sheet for a few days, but there wasn't much change, so now I've left it on a week. I think it's impaired the algae's wild growth, but it hasn't died.
Is there anything else I can try? I've read about Flourish Excel in the forum, but it isn't available here.
The tank is in the corner of a North-facing covered patio against a dark wall, so I wrapped a dark sheet around the 2 outward-facing, brightest sides. Duckweed and floating hornwort filter most of the light from above. I also hung several emergent plants to the side of the tank to help improve filtration/nutrient competition, and have a Fluval FX canister filter going.
I meant to keep it wrapped up in the sheet for a few days, but there wasn't much change, so now I've left it on a week. I think it's impaired the algae's wild growth, but it hasn't died.
Is there anything else I can try? I've read about Flourish Excel in the forum, but it isn't available here.
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
how's other plants in your tank doing?
I've struggled to grow immersed plants (gravel/sand substrate), especially while battling the algae, which smothered some of my efforts. Anubia is hanging in there. Noticed the guppy grass is growing. Hornwort and duckweed are super. Just added some potted Pogestemon octopus and Hygrophilia angustifolia.how's other plants in your tank doing?
Are you using any fertilizer? In my experience algae does best when not all of the nutrients plants need are present. There are 14 nutrients plants need to grow and if just one is not present the plants will not grow.
give SL Aqua Z-3 BBA remover a try. it removed all of algae in my tank. the box states that it removes filamentous algae, Blue Algae, Brown Algae as well as BBA. Dose the tank exactly as stated in the instructions . Remove all the snails and shrimps that you want to keep from the tank. if your tank tends to have green tint to the water consider a UV in line sterilizer. I use a sump filter on my tank and have a Black light LED fixture hanging above the filter.
JN
JN
I've been working on bringing down the pH, which may have been part of the problem for the plants. They are doing better now. The algae has stopped growing wildly, but hasn't disappeared. The algae has visibly reduced in the end with the guppy grass and the java moss, though. I may try adding a lot more java moss at the other end and see what happens.
Many fertilizers use iron EDTA. It is only usable if the PH is below .6.5. If you PH is above that the iron would be unavailable for plants.I've been working on bringing down the pH, which may have been part of the problem for the plants.
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
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