# recurring algae



## tapscrew (Jul 1, 2006)

Hi, 

I have a 125 liter planted tank, I dose using estimative index but I keep getting a lot of green algae growth. I have overdosed with seachem excel and it gets rid of it no trouble (and the plants grow like crazy when that stuff is in there) but as soon as I stop using it the algae starts growing again. I cant keep using seachem - that stuff is expensive. Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong?

My water stats are: nitrite 0, ammonia 0, nitrate 5ppm, pH6.4, KH 3, GH1, and i use 60watts of light and a yeast co2 bottle.

Thanks


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

One thing you should do is get a drop checker, load it with 4 dKH distilled or deionized water, and use it to determine if you are supplying enough CO2 to the tank. Then, you could set up two DIY CO2 bottles, starting them a week apart and recharging one a week, to keep the CO2 level more constant. Once you get a real bad case of algae going in the tank you just about have to prune away all of the most infested leaves, clean all of the algae off the glass, and do a big water change. Then repeat that every few days until you no longer have algae. That is the brute force method for getting rid of most algae.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I agree with Hoppy. Check your CO2 levels.

The fact that adding excel visibly improves growth could indicate that the plants weren't getting enough carbon: CO2 levels too low.


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