# algae problem in 10liters



## toribio (Mar 3, 2009)

Hi!im from mexico City,and this is my problem....

i have a 10 liters nanocube,i have it since two years, but since one moth ago the algae problems start..

tank: 10 liters
real :aprox. 7 or 6 liters

light:1 t5 6400ºk
co2 : by nano difusser with home making sistem.

substrate : azoo grower bed (black)

plants:

rotala nanjenshan
rotala wallichii
cardamine lyrata
eleocharis parvulus
pogostemon helferi
hemianthus callitrichoides "cuba"

shrimps:

8 bee shrimps

every week i change 50% of the water,and put auxin,glibberelin and zeatin hormonas,trace elements,fluorish exel ,fluorish iron, and potassium...now im not fertilizing per the algae problems...a photo:



















now ,,the algae is like this one :









the one on the right and up side.

and this algae is in all the H.C...

what can i do???

one friend suggest me to do this:

50%water chance,

put kNO2 every day since green point algae apears (is correct the algae name,,,jejeje?)

and in the 7th day another 50% water chance...

other friend tell me to put the light 5 hours,,,then turn it off per 3 hours, and then turn it on per 5 hours more,,this for make weak the algae....

thanks for your help! and sorry per my english jejejeje

regards!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

That appears to be Staghorn algae, which is usually caused by high ammonia and/or low C02. Try removing it manually from the leaves, increasing C02 levels & decreasing ammonia levels.


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## toribio (Mar 3, 2009)

thanks trenac!

amonia i dont think,because i usually make water changes and i use in the filter purigen and phosguard, the first for eliminate amonia and the next for the phosphate--

and the co2, i use sugar method,so is so unestable, and i have a little fear to increase it too much and kill the bee shrimps...meanwhile what can i do?

thanks a lot for your help!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I would first remove as much manually as possible, removing any leaves that are affected badly. If you are afraid of increasing the C02 injection, then start adding some Seachem Excel (carbon source). You can also spot treat with Excel. Keep up on your weekly water changes & make sure that your lights are on for no more then 10 hours daily.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

+1 for Trena's recommendation on excel. Also, I had this algae once and bought black mollies to eat it. They ate ALL of it.


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## toribio (Mar 3, 2009)

Thanks again!!

ill try with the exel and water change,but to me is rare because all the weeks y make those changes,,and i dont know if now they are going to work vs. algae...

the molly is a good idea,,but is a very samll cube,,so the fish i get in get so afraid and stressed and do not work,,, i made that with a crossochelius,about 2 centimeters.but even that he was stressed and do not do his work as a algae eater....

what do you think to medicate whith H2O2 ??? and the do a water change...

regards!


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

Nice looking tank. What's all the white spots on the top? The plants can't be pearling that much... powerful lights. Never had those algae before so don't know what to say about dealing with them. Since, you had it for 2 years, you must be doing something right. However, given the time, have you changed the light since? It might be old bulbs have changed the spectrum more to the algaes liking. It looks like only the Val looking plants are affected. Maybe trim them off to control the outbreak. I don't know much on high-tech setup like yours though.


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## toribio (Mar 3, 2009)

Hi Alex!

the spots at the top of the tank are O2 bubbles jejjeej
now the algae problem is lower than some weeks ago,, the problem was that i fertilize (is correct this word...??jeje,sorry) a lot , now im only using potasium(KNO3) and making water changes every 4 days,,the algae is going away..

thanks for your answer!


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