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#1
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algae bloom
I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a
planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#2
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algae bloom
wow well if you didnt have a typo
and your ph is 7.8 and your kh is 322.2 Your Co2 is 154.1 ppm which should kill your fish. As far as the algae in teh water, its called green water. Thats about all I can help ya with - I know the other ppl in the group know alot about it. Dustin "Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#3
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algae bloom
kh in PPM divided by 17.86 + dkh
322.2/ 17.86 = 18.4dkh 7.8ph 18 dkh = aprox 8 co2 ppm I just completed a 25 % water change and increased the co2 bubble rate to 30 bpm "Dustin" wrote in message ... wow well if you didnt have a typo and your ph is 7.8 and your kh is 322.2 Your Co2 is 154.1 ppm which should kill your fish. As far as the algae in teh water, its called green water. Thats about all I can help ya with - I know the other ppl in the group know alot about it. Dustin "Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#4
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algae bloom
On Mon, 3 Feb 2003 18:15:52 -0500, "Doug Sheely"
wrote: I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm I hope this is a typo as it makes your hardness 18.5 dh. That means you with that pH you don't have hardly any CO2 in the water. Also your nitrates are rather high. Do you know what your PO4 level is? What fertilizers are you dosing? If you have a micron filter going you should not have green water. GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#5
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algae bloom
I am not sure what my po4 level. no test kit available at this time for po4
and no I do not dose with any fertilizers. I did increase the bubble rate tonight and I will check co2 level tomorrow. "Cannibul" wrote in message ... On Mon, 3 Feb 2003 18:15:52 -0500, "Doug Sheely" wrote: I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm I hope this is a typo as it makes your hardness 18.5 dh. That means you with that pH you don't have hardly any CO2 in the water. Also your nitrates are rather high. Do you know what your PO4 level is? What fertilizers are you dosing? If you have a micron filter going you should not have green water. GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#6
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algae bloom
"Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: The general wisdom seems to be that it will clear in time - it might take several weeks. Doing big water changes only seems to exacerbate the problem so although you must still do them, keep them at the 10-15% level. Keep the nitrates & phosphates down - don't overfeed. Get some fast growing plants in there. Things that will get rid of it quickly a) A UV sterilizer - expensive but permanent cure - also will kill parasites etc - you'll never get Ich with one of these on your tank! b) Black the tank out completely for 3-4 days but obviously this won't do your plants too much good and it may come back. c) There is some stuff you can buy that will clear it (by making the tiny bits stick together into bigger bits that your filters can catch) - again it may come back. Otherwise keep persevering & looking after the tank & it should eventually clear itself. HTH I |
#7
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algae bloom
Your nitrates are a bit high, and probably phosphates too if you could
measure. You seem to have some bigger fish that could create a large bioload on your tank. Make sure you are not feeding too much; once a day is enough, and only as much as they can eat in five minutes. Actually, you should get rid of some of the big guys, especially any big plecos. For a 55g, I would think you need about a bubble of CO2 per second. Look for pearling on your plants; if it's not there you are probably not injecting (or dissolving) enough CO2. You also need to make sure you have a few fast-growing plants to help absorb the nutrients. The Cabomba is good, but you need others. Also, you might want to put your lights on a timer. You said 10-12 hours, and that's a 20% difference. Since you are not sure, could it ever be more than 12? A timer will cut out the guess work; set it for 11 hours and monitor the results. Jody "Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#8
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algae bloom
Thanks for your reply Jody. I have increased my bubble rate to 38 per
minute. As far as the pearling goes it would be nice to just see my plants. I am still trying to locate a phospjhate test but you are probably correcrt that they are high. The thing about the fish load is this was an established tank and I have not added any fish for at least a year. I will however be adding a timer and cut back the light to 11 hours a day. "Jody" wrote in message ... Your nitrates are a bit high, and probably phosphates too if you could measure. You seem to have some bigger fish that could create a large bioload on your tank. Make sure you are not feeding too much; once a day is enough, and only as much as they can eat in five minutes. Actually, you should get rid of some of the big guys, especially any big plecos. For a 55g, I would think you need about a bubble of CO2 per second. Look for pearling on your plants; if it's not there you are probably not injecting (or dissolving) enough CO2. You also need to make sure you have a few fast-growing plants to help absorb the nutrients. The Cabomba is good, but you need others. Also, you might want to put your lights on a timer. You said 10-12 hours, and that's a 20% difference. Since you are not sure, could it ever be more than 12? A timer will cut out the guess work; set it for 11 hours and monitor the results. Jody "Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: PH 7.8 nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm KH 322.2 ppm GH 35.8 ppm co2 injection 18 bubbles per minute from bottle into co2 reactor. hob canister filter with micron filter installed. Fish Load : 4 med angels 1 rainbow shark 2 black skirt tetras 3 bala sharks 2 pearl gouramis 1 silver tip shark 1 pleco 2 pictus cats 2 big cats ??? 1 clown loach substrate small gravel Sorry for such a long post but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. |
#9
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algae bloom
Iain,
What are the pros and cons of a UV sterilizer? Will it inhibit plant growth? I do not want to add any chemicals to the water as I believe that would just throw the balance off. Is there a test for phosphates? I have not seen one at LFS. I will look again tonight. "Iain Miller" wrote in message ... "Doug Sheely" wrote in message ... I need some advice please. My recently converted fish only 55 gallon to a planted tank has a severe algae problem. When I converted to a planted tank I increased my lighting to a 110 watt power compact strip light on for about 10-12 hours a day. After converting a month ago I had some algae growth but it wasn't too bad and I was able to control it by scraping the sides and 25 % weekly water changes. Today the tank is totally green with algae that appears to be in the water. My plants are doing OK. Here are my water readings as of today: The general wisdom seems to be that it will clear in time - it might take several weeks. Doing big water changes only seems to exacerbate the problem so although you must still do them, keep them at the 10-15% level. Keep the nitrates & phosphates down - don't overfeed. Get some fast growing plants in there. Things that will get rid of it quickly a) A UV sterilizer - expensive but permanent cure - also will kill parasites etc - you'll never get Ich with one of these on your tank! b) Black the tank out completely for 3-4 days but obviously this won't do your plants too much good and it may come back. c) There is some stuff you can buy that will clear it (by making the tiny bits stick together into bigger bits that your filters can catch) - again it may come back. Otherwise keep persevering & looking after the tank & it should eventually clear itself. HTH I |
#10
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algae bloom
LeighMo,
I currently am running a Magnum 250 cannister filter with a micron cartridge installed. I have several species of plants : purple cabomba (sp) amazon sword micro sword red ludwig (sp) giant hair grass and a couple other taller plants to total about 20 bunches in tank. I have susprected that my fish load is a little high but I have had most of theese fish for a couple of years and am reluctant to part with them. I will check the nitritre levels again tonight. thanks for your input! "LeighMo" wrote in message ... nitrate 20ppm ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm What kind of filtration do you have? Nitrite should not be measurable in an established tank. Your tank may be overstocked. Some of the fish you have can get quite large -- too big for a 55 gallon tank, in fact. They may have been fine when you set up the tank, but as they grow, it becomes harder and harder to maintain water quality. And you don't say what kind of plants you have. Your tank should be heavily planted, with a lot of fast-growing stem plants. That will help your water quality, and help keep the algae in check. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
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