# Help needed to remove algae from a nano



## Thorald (Aug 8, 2009)

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I last posted here, although I was visiting regularly to read about all the beautiful aquascapes that get posted here.

I went through some growing pains with my tank, but now I think have most things sorted out.

My tank:

30litre nano
pressurized CO2
2ml of Tropic Plant Nutrition+ (1ml on Sunday and 1ml on Thursday)
2*11Watts of light (1 lamp is on from 11am till 11pm, the other is on from 2pm till 8pm)
lots of plants (I have almost every inch covered)
about 30 shrimp (cherry and CRS) and 1 corydoras pygmaeus (his friends didn't make it)
GH 8dGH, KH 4dKH, pH 7, Nitrate 5ppm

I installed the pressurized CO2 2 weeks ago in the hope that the additional plant growth would prevent the algae from growing, but no luck. The plants took really fast (I should have installed CO2 from the beginning), but the algae kept on growing and the nitrate dropped from 20ppm to 5ppm.

I'm finally getting tired of the algae and I need some help. It's allover my flame moss and it looks really bad.

Do I need to cut back on the light?

Here are some pics to give you an idea of it's all about:


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Thorald,

It is difficult to tell from your pictures, and I can't be positive, but what I think I see is Cladophora. This is not your typical algae. It can be very difficult to get rid of unless you are persistant and tenacious. I had it once and it took several weeks to get it cleared out.

Here is where I go to diagnose algae issues and get some guidance on ways to get rid of it. Do you think you have clado?


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## Thorald (Aug 8, 2009)

Hi Seattle_Aquarist,

It doesn't really look like the Cladophora in the pictures, mine doesn't branch as much. But from all the algae on that site it looks most like clado.

The site is not very helpful on this one, it just says that the cause is low CO2 and low nutrients. So I'll have to further increase the CO2 and the dosage of Plant Nutrition+?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Thorald,

I don't know if you need more CO2 or not, do you know what your PPM level of CO2 is? If not, read up on using drop checkers with a 4.0 dKH indicator solution. I am not familiar with your fertilizer; I have not seen it here. Are you dosing per the instruction? If so, I would not necessary increase it unless your plants start showing signs of deficiencies.

Pull, pull, pull, siphon, siphon, siphon! I also found that doing 50% water changes 3 times a week helped to slow down the clado (in fact most algaes) and make it easier to eradicate.


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## Thorald (Aug 8, 2009)

Hi Roy,

I've checked my drop checker and I'm at 20mg/l CO2. The recommended dosage for that fertilizer is 1ml/10l, so I'm still under dosing.

I also have EasyCarbo (I've read this is comparable to Excel), but I stopped using this after I installed the CO2. Could it help to overdose this product for some time?

I will start picking it out, but I'm not really up for the water changes 3 times a week. I will also have to trim my HM very short, because it's really taking over that plant.

Thanks for the advice.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Thorald,

From what I understand, eradicating clado is so difficult because it does well in the same conditions that our plants enjoy. When I had clado, overdosing Excel at 2X normal had little to no effect. If you are under dosing your ferts you may want to increase your dose level to the recommended level. Let us know how it goes.


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## Tomtit (May 16, 2010)

Hi, Thorald. How often do you cange water? How much?


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## Thorald (Aug 8, 2009)

@Seattle_Aquarist: ok, so I am not going to be dosing the liquid carbon then.

@Tomtit: I change about 20% of the water every month because I've heard that shrimp don't like when you do water changes. Is this too little?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Thorald,

I didn't say liquid carbon didn't help, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near as effective on Clado as it was on other algae types. Aggressive removal and water changes are two of the best tools for combating Clado. As for how much/how often water changes why not post a question in the Shrimp sub-forum?
BTW, you are asking all the right questions!

BTW, where is Leuven, Belgium? When my wife and I visited Belgium we stayed in Brussels but also visited Brugge, Bastogne, and Paris.


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## Tomtit (May 16, 2010)

I don't know about shrimps, but any algaes like "old water" very much. Your water contents many products of metabolism (NO3, PO4 and other). They are very good food for algaes. I removed some algaes by means of water changing only.


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## Thorald (Aug 8, 2009)

Ok, if the liquid carbon helps a bit I will continue dosing it, because I can use every bit of help I can get. I will also increase the dosage of my fertilizer to the recommended amount. 

I was afraid of all excess nutrients collecting in the water. That's why I stuffed the tank with plants, to absorb all those nutrients. But then I reached the opposite effect (too little nutrients), so I started to dosing liquid fertilizer with added NPK, but then I got afraid of some micro's pilling up, so I underdosed it.

Leuven is a small (93 000 inhabitants) city east of Brussels, it's perhaps most known for the stadhuis (city hall). I actually don't live there, but in a small village (less than 2000 inhabitants) called Sint-Joris-Weert about 10 miles south of Leuven. It's nothing Seattle, but I like it 

Did you enjoy your stay in Belgium? I think Luxembourg (the province Bastogne is located in) is one of the nicer areas in Belgium, because of the nature and the relaxed people.

I hope to visit the States someday, but it's so big that I have no idea which parts to visit  I would also like to see some parts of South-America to see some the nature there.


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