# Help with Brush, Beard,Fuzz, GS and Hair algae?



## josh (May 1, 2005)

Hi,

I have a 46g bowfront with a 96w 6,700k coralife cf, eco-complete, diy CO2 w/ hagen diffuser, an Emporer 400 power filter (soon to be a Jebo 828 Odyssea CFS 4 ).
My water parameters are: K=4, GH=12, PH=7.0, Amonia=0, NO2=0, and NO3=15. These are all that I can test for now.
The fish are 6 blackskirt tetras, 6 zebra danios, 6 julli corys, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 clown pleco, 2 yo-yo loaches, 4 otto's and a few little snails.
As for the plants I have crypt wendetti, crypt balansae, dwarf sag, wisteria, java moss, java fern, anacharis, tropic sunset, and needle leaf ludwigia.

My problem is that on the the glass I have green spot algae, and on my java fern, crypts, moss, and dwarf sag's I have what I think is fuzz algae?. It is light brown in color and is growing only on the leaves of the plants it is about 3/8" long little threads. Question is how do I get rid of it along with the green spot algae?

I have just purchased some Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel. What dosing should I do?

Thanks,

Josh


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Welcome to APC!

Your CO2 is at 12mg/l. Try to get it up to 30mg/l (pH of 6.6 at a KH of 4).

I find that low levels of PO4 induce green spot. Also I'd be surprised if you have 15mg/l of NO3 with that fish load in a well planted tank. Your NO3 levels might be lower than you think... perhaps have your LFS test a water sample to double check your test kit? Or you don't have enough plants...

Some would say that having just over 2wpg of lighting is a bit on the low side but I try to recommend between 2 and 3wpg instead of higher levels; much easier to manage.

I have not used either of the Flourish products but Flourish is mainly trace elements and Excel is a carbon source. Neither provides other macros.

Get your CO2 levels up, that should already be a big help. Next double check your NO3 and PO4 levels and make sure you have lots of plants.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Josh, I would suggest getting a phosphate (P04) test kit. This is important nutrient to keep balanced along with the nitrates.

Having nitrates at 15ppm is a little high they are best maintained between 5-10ppm along with P04 at between 0.4-1ppm.

You are currently setting at 12ppm of C02, it needs to be kept at between 20-30ppm. To accomplish this you will more than likely need to add another DIY C02 bottle to your tank.

I would suggest to start dosing at half the dosage recommended on the Seachem bottle, if needed then you can increase the amount of ferts. The Excel is really not needed since you are already injecting C02. Besides the Seachem Flourish I would also get Seachem Trace and iron. You may need other ferts as time goes on.

Also make sure you are doing weekly water changes (25%-35%) and your lights are on 10-12 hours daily.


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## josh (May 1, 2005)

trenac said:


> Josh, I would suggest getting a phosphate (P04) test kit. This is important nutrient to keep balanced along with the nitrates.
> 
> Having nitrates at 15ppm is a little high they are best maintained between 5-10ppm along with P04 at between 0.4-1ppm.
> 
> ...


I went and bought Seachem's Phosphate tester and my tank was off the chart (over 3.0)? I used the reference water and it tested at 1.0 where it was supposed to be, then I tested my tap water and it was about 0.07. What would cause my tank water to test that high? I do have a piece of petrified wood in it. Would that cause it? Now the bba on the leaves is getting greener and it getting a little longer.

I know also have Flourish Trace, Iron and Phophorus, waiting to start dosing untill I have some structered dosing regimint.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Josh, I'm not sure what is raising your P04 levels in your tank. You can use Phos-Guard to remove the P04 from the water. You do not need to add phosphorus to your tank at this time since the levels are already high. You can start dosing other ferts as long as they don't contain P04.


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