# Algae issue, which is this? and how to remove?



## Krunal (Jan 12, 2019)

Hello, i have set up planted aquarium using walstad method. 1.5 in dirt and 1.5 in top of white sand.
It is 3ft×11in×11in. 
1 x 18 watt and 2x 9 watt, totally 36 watt light 6500k and 900lm all, right over tank on glass.
I am dosing nutrients using EI method. KNO3,KH2PO4 and other elements. (Bought from a best reviewed website.)
And co2 using citric acid method.

Plants growth is very nice, and all plants are pearling. I am noticing changing coloir of white sand to green from few days. Today I noticed hairy green algae on cabomba. I removed some portion. It feels strong like spiders web. 

I also noticed green layer on some leaves and blackish thing on stems of hygrophilia.

Which algae is this? How to remove it and avoid such problems? Please help me, I am new to planted tanks.


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## Krunal (Jan 12, 2019)

Here are photos of tank and algae


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

The Walstad method does not include adding fertilizers or CO2. If you want to use that method it will be most likely to succeed if you follow all of her directions as described in her book. If you want to get faster plant growth, with quite a lot more tank maintenance, you could be on the right track, but I suspect you have too much light for the amount of CO2 you are using, because of having the lights only about 8 inches from the substrate. It would help, based on my experience, to also use Excel or Metricide, at 2 ml per 10 gallons of water, dosed every day.


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## fischig (Nov 3, 2018)

I have heard from many that brown algae is common in a new aquarium. This has been my experience as well. As the tank matures, you will stop battling brown algae and start battling green algae. 

Though, it did not look like brown algae in your tank.

On the last tank, I was able to (gently) rub most of the algae off some plants. Then, I reduced the lights-on time from about 10 hours to 8 hours. I also got some oto cats. They appeared to be interested in the algae for a few days.

The tank completed its first cycle a few days after I cut down on the lighting. The brown algae was all but gone in about a week. I have not seen green algae.

I added a few fast-growing plants just before the tank completed its first cycle. They took a while to start. I guess the roots needed to get through the non-nutritious sand cap to get to the mineralized topsoil below. The update of nutrients by these plants may be keeping the green algae at bay.


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## Etran006 (Mar 23, 2019)

This is common in new tanks with a high organic load. Seems to be from your dirt substrate. You can remove manually and do frequent water changes until it gets better. Also dosing excel should help.


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