# Slight algae problem



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Hi Guys

I just need a little bit of advise my plants are growing fast and are thriving..but im getting thread algae on my hairgrass and moss..

My lighting is 50 watt of T5 over a 10 gallon tank and i use pressurised co2 at 1 bps

I dose ADA ferts 3ml of brightyk daily and 3ml of step 1 daily..

Should i maybe start dosing brighty special lights as this contains macros??? or i could dose excel in small amounts daily..im not up for overdosing as i have a very expensive zebra pleco in the tank!!!

Any advise on what i could do would be most appreciated

Thanks

Elliott


----------



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Can anyone tell me where im going wrong..or any adjustments i can make to my fert regime???


----------



## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Cut back on the lighting...4 hours per day. Also cut out the water dosing if you have sufficient fish to provide N and P. I prefer to add N-P-K to the substrate as required by individual plant to control algae (macro nutrients not in water column). You may need to add some K and micro nutrients like iron for the plants.


----------



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

I currently only have the 1 fish so i have to dose macro's really..maybe i would be better off dosing them at night...

I would really appreciate it if someone could come up with a weekly dosing plan for me using the ADA ferts brightyk,step 1 and brighty special lights and also seachem excel..i just can't get the right balance yet

Thanks

Elliott


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Can't help with the ADA fert dosing but just wanted to point out that macros in the water column do not cause algae. At least not in my experience and many people dose the water column with macros using a whole range of different fertilization methodologies.

Unbalanced and/or deficient macro/micro levels will cause problems.

Now hopefully someone else with knowledge of the ADA line of ferts can help you out!


----------



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Thanks Guys

So should i maybe start adding brighty lights into my fert regime if macros don't encourage algae....and maybe dose small amounts of excel daily to help stall the current algae growth???

Can anyone help me come up with a fert dosing regime that'll suit my tank using the ADA products i have???

Thanks

Elliott


----------



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Can anyone else give me some advise..i really wanna get my tank looking good???

I bought 10 Amano shrimps today by the way..which is one for every gallon of my tank..

Ive also ordered 7 tiger shrimps from aquaessentials along with a bottle of seachem excel..is this stuff effective without overdosing???

Thanks

Elliott


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Some questions before you start adding anything:

- How long has the tank been setup?
- How densely planted is the tank?
- Are the plants showing any signs of deficiencies? Lush growth? Pearling?

Perhaps you want to start with slightly increasing the CO2 injection while keeping a close eye on the fish (don't do this if you're going to be gone all day  ). 

In looking at the ADA ferts, Green Brighty Special Lights seems to be the only one with N, P and K macros.

If that's your only source of macros, then yes, start dosing that once you raise the CO2 a bit. Since I can't see anywhere how much N, P and K is actually in this product (pet peeve: no detailed content listing = no sale to me  ) I'd start with perhaps half of whatever the recommended dosing is and work from there.

Some input from any ADA experts would be helpful here!


----------



## elliott89 (Jan 21, 2007)

Tanks been going 6 weeks
It is moderatly planted
plants are growing and pearling nicely

Algae is most apparent on slow growing plants

Cheers

Elliott


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Manually remove as much of the algae as you can and then try increasing the CO2 a bit as a first step. I'd also try to get lots of fast growing plants in there to help; it's always easier to start a planted tank densely planted. You can always remove the fast growers later when the tank is stabilized.

Are you using ADA AquaSoil? I've heard that the AquaSoil leaches Ammonia into the tank for the first few weeks and Ammonia can be a trigger for algae. So if you are using AS then perhaps a large water change is in order as well (50%).


----------



## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Have you tested the water recently Elliott?

I'd definitely go with Laith's tips - starting with a large water change. Your Zebra plec will like that too! Syphon out as much of the algae as you can too. Get a load of cheap stems that'll grow like weeds, maybe some floating plants too, they will quickly absorb some of the nutrients and are dead easy to control (unless you add duckweed!)

BTW I hope you're not expecting the Zebra to eat any of the algae, they are carnivorous and prefer bloodworms!


----------

