# What should I do now to stop the Algae?



## Jag1980 (Aug 1, 2008)

1.3 grams = 1/4 tps - KNO3 = Friday - Sunday - Tuesdays 
0.35 grams = 1/16 tsp - KH2PO4 = Friday - Sunday - Tuesday 
0.53 grams = 1/8 tsp - CSM+B = Friday - Sunday - Tuesday 
0.40 grams = 1/16 tsp - K2SO4 = Friday
Thursday = Water change

Lights on about 1+ hour after Co2 turns on or when Drop checker starts to show green. Lights off about 1+ hours after Co2 is turned off.
Drop checker shows a very light green to yellow before lights go off.
9 Hours of light per day
pH about 6.5
kH 3
Tank is fully stocked with plants. 

Tap water shows no High amounts of anything. 

I just replanted and trimmed all the plants in my tank so there was no Algae when I finished, now after a couple days you see here in picture.. 

BBA is growing strong.. 
SAE Does nothing at all and these Nerite snails are not going after what is there...









...


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Looks like you are doing a form of EI dosing. I have read that if you dose traces on the same day some of the traces combine with the macros and then it's not available to the plants.

*APC EI chart* 
20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

*Greg Watson EI chart*
20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/2 tsp GH booster once a week(water change only)
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

Try spot treating with Excell. You need to get rid of what's aready in there. Cut back on your photo period. You didn't say how large your tank is. Dose it fall in the above range? Do you have enough water movement to get the CO2 and nutrients all around in your tank?


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## Jag1980 (Aug 1, 2008)

My tank specs are in my Sig below

I should have enough movement now since I added a Korilia Nano, I will be going back to the EMP-400 soon and modifying it so it doesn't gas off all my Co2.

That could be part of the issue, I will change my Micro dose on the off days and see what happens with that. 
I will drop my lighting to 8 hours per day. 
Does 1 hour different really make that much difference for algae control?

What should I do with this bag of Iron Chelate? 
Should I dose this on the days I did not dose the Micro nutrients?

What about the K2SO4? Should I fit this into my dosing somehow?

I can't use Excel because it kills moss and I have 4 different types of moss in my tank that is recovering from the last time I used Excel.

Thank you for your help.

Here's a picture of my tank.


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## Jag1980 (Aug 1, 2008)

Does this look like a better dosing schedule from what I was using before?
29 gallon tank. 3.3 watts per gallon. Pressurized Co2.

*Thursday*...........50% water change. Add 1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/64 tsp = KH2PO4, 1/8 tsp = K2SO4, 1/32 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (NO3=7.25 PO4=0.55 K=8.05 Fe=0.14) 

*Friday*...........Add 1/16 tsp CSM+B, 1/16 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (Mg=0.07 Fe=0.52)

*Saturday*.........Add 1/4 tsp = KNO3, 1/64 tsp = KH2PO4, 1/8 tsp = K2SO4, 1/32 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (NO3=7.25 PO4=0.55 K=8.05 Fe=0.14)

*Sunday*....Add 1/16 tsp CSM+B, 1/16 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (Mg=0.07 Fe=0.52)

*Monday*........Add 1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/64 tsp = KH2PO4, 1/8 tsp = K2SO4, 1/32 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (NO3=7.25 PO4=0.55 K=8.05 Fe=0.14)

*Tuesday*.............Add 1/16 tsp CSM+B, 1/16 tsp = Iron 10%
Adding this ammount to the tank - (Mg=0.07 Fe=0.52)

*Wednesday*.........Rest day = Do nothing

If I have 8 hours of light. How long should I leave my Co2 bottle on for,
30 mins before lights go on, turn off 1 hours before lights go out?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I does extra iron on my trace days. I dose extra potassium on my macro days. It works well. I also does excel with my mosses. I have even dosed it on my mosses before - spot dosing. I have had no issues. It didn't seem to bother them. I do have a lot of water movement in my tank so maybe it moved on quickly enough. 

Yes an hour can make a differene. I might even try 7 hours and then work back up. The worse that happens is your growth slows down some.


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## Jag1980 (Aug 1, 2008)

My water movement was not good when I dosed Excel, that might be part of that issue I had.

We posted at the same time, I created a new schedule. What do you think?

I noticed some people say not to dose K2SO4 and some dosing charts say to Dose..


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Your water change and rest day is supposed to be the same day to let the plants have a rest from all the ferts. I don't know if it makes a big difference or not. 

The charts say +/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week and you do:
1/64 tsp = KH2PO4, 1/8 tsp = K2SO4

That's way less phosphates and way more potassium. Is there a reason you do it this way? Since your substrate is black sand it's inert. Your not getting any phosphates there. Does your water naturally have high phosphates? 

I leave my CO2 on a solenoid in my big tank. I have CO2 on a timer in my other tanks and it doesn't fall much over night. As long as it can get up to 30ppm by the time your plants need it, it doesn't matter when it comes on.


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## Jag1980 (Aug 1, 2008)

Tex Gal said:


> Your water change and rest day is supposed to be the same day to let the plants have a rest from all the ferts. I don't know if it makes a big difference or not.
> This would be a good thing to know what the difference would be, I use to do it that way but I wanted to try out something different. I could go back to the water change being the no dose day?
> 
> The charts say +/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week and you do:
> ...


Does this sound correct?


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## algaehater (Jul 18, 2008)

Tex gurl is right you need more po4


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

The staghorn and BBA you have is not a result of a nutrient issue, it's a CO2 issue. Try lowering your pH to around 6.0-6.2 via CO2. With good circulation, this should solve the problem. 

I dose a very similar nutrient regimen to what you posted in my 29g with no issues. I dose a little more because I have more plant biomass. I dose everything but iron every other day, and iron on the 'off days.'


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