# Ferts/Algae -- HELP!! (56k warning)



## thadius65 (Oct 23, 2006)

Sorry for repost, but I really need guidance  :

Please help me identify the algae (GDA, GSA?)










Few Weeks Ago (pre-ferts):









Additional recent photos:


















Should I lower phosphates, black out, Excel, or ??

I had this as another thread, but appears to have gotten to long or to much off topic?

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-fertilizing/32520-ei-am-i-doing-it-right.html

Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!

Ted


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I'm pretty sure you have green dust algae. The method I and many others use for that is to just leave it totally alone for about 3 weeks, so it grows thru its life cycle and changes from a zoospore to an immobile algae. That means don't try to wipe any of it off, even accidentally, for 3 weeks. If you wait even longer the algae should fall off the glass by itself. The green stuff on the plants is, in my opinion, the same green dust algae, and it will go away with the algae on the glass.

Others are doing an intensive wipe it off every day plus water changes technique on this algae, but I'm too lazy to try that.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

thadius65 said:


> Here is the lighting detail:
> 
> IceCap 430
> 2-36" VHO AquaSun -- 95wX2=190watts
> ...


Ted you have a lot of light over a sparsely planted aquarium. I see a mixture of Green Spot Algae (GSA) on the leaves, and Green Dust Algae (GDA) on the glass and driftwood. In order to use be highlight and use EI dosing you'll need some plants in there to consume the nutrients that you're adding.

So I recommend taking a look at this thread that details the definition of heavy planting verse moderate planting. Then I would head over to the For Sale area of APC, and purchase some more plants from your fellow members. At the same time, I would reduce the light to an 8-9 hour photoperiod, and continue regular dosing as suggested in the other thread but do it 2x a week instead of 3x.

Once you get more plants, you can see how the plants and algae do at 2x dosage, and 8-9 hour photo period. I you start noticing deficiencies then you can begin doing the 3x a week dosing.

-John N.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

The H. balsamica certainly looks better in the after ferts pic and there does appear to be some new, clean growth on the Ludwigia species (I think that is a Ludwigia species) in the "after" photo also. Some better shots of the "after" tank would allow everyone to compare the other plant growth better.

Looks like you've been adding the ferts for about a month now with a week of that time following John's recommendation to bump up the phosphate. The plants look good with the exception of the GSA on the older leaves. 

I do think you should have much better growth by now so I would take a good look at your CO2 and maybe bump up all of your ferts to the 100ml level as John suggested in the other thread. Decreasing the PO4 will probably not make things better. Another thing to take into consideration is you may initially need more NO3 when increasing your PO4 levels if your plants were starved of PO4. I have bottomed out NO3 a couple of time when trying to increase PO4 levels in my tanks. 

I also think with good nutrients and CO2 you should be having to trim the H. balsamica every week or two with your lighting levels. I had to trim it in my 75g tank with 110w of CF and 96 w of T-8 lighting every week to two weeks. Unless you are absolutely, positively sure your CO2 levels are in the 28-30ppm range (I don't think we are really able to accurately measure CO2 yet) I would bump it up a bit more. I would only do this when you will be around to watch you fish for signs of stress though. 

The Green Spot you seem to have is usually an indicator of low PO4 or low CO2. You have only been adding the extra 20ml of PO4 that John suggested for about a week now right? Have you cleaned any of the GSA off of the glass to see if it in fact has returned? If not, try cleaning a small area and give it another week or so of the higher PO4 levels to see if you have any results.

I don't have the patience that Hoppy and some others do to "wait out" the GDA  I usually put a diatom filter on the tank and clean the glass every time I walk by the tank while the diatom filter is running. This seems to eliminate the GDA for me after two to three days. 

I don't think I have ever seen green spot go away by itself either but then again I am not patient enough to wait it out and I take the same approach for GSA as I do for GDA. If I keep my PO4 and CO2 levels high GDA does not come back. Once I start to see it on the glass, I know to look at my CO2 and or PO4.

Another thing that may help is decreasing your photoperiod and or light intensity for a while, especially if you have trouble increasing your CO2 levels.

Edit: You did mention adding Excel...I would say if you have it, try dosing some by the recommendations on the bottle, not an overdose. If plant growth increases, then you can be pretty sure your CO2 levels are lower than they should be.


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## thadius65 (Oct 23, 2006)

Thanks for all the info. I was planning to leave it alone "AKA the Hoppy or Fresh_Newby method" for the next several weeks, but my 13year old decided to run the scraper across a large portion of it...  .. Oh well, I just cleaned it all and will await the results.

Over the next week, I will be out of town, so no ferts will be added. Only activity will be CO2 and feeding (that is all I want others to do).

Once I get back, I will address head on.

Thanks again!

Ted


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Before you leave, adjust the light timer so you only get 8 hours on lights-on time. I'm feeling more and more confident that light is the key to reducing the threat of GDA.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

hoppycalif said:


> Before you leave, adjust the light timer so you only get 8 hours on lights-on time. I'm feeling more and more confident that light is the key to reducing the threat of GDA.


And don't forget to adjust the CO2 timer also. You don't want to "gas" your fish by leaving the CO2 on a couple of hours longer than the lights  It's not a pretty sight


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## thadius65 (Oct 23, 2006)

Set lights for 8 hours, dropped overall wattage somewhat. So, I have battened down the hatches as I prep to leave for 3 days of golf in beautiful New Market VA and then heading to Heinz field to watch my Steelers get smacked around by the Broncos... ](*,) 

Thanks for all the help.

Ted


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