# Another victim of algae. Help!



## natdc2 (Mar 2, 2008)

29Gallon tank/110 watt pc lighting
Magnum 350 filtration
16 Tetras
My diy CO2 result ppm with a drop checker is measuring green and sometime yellow in the morning.
Dosing Flourish, Flourish excel, N, P, K.
50% weekly water change
I'm having problem with green hair algae on the tank glass and some weird algae on the rocks, which I cannot identify. It might be green hair algae also, but I'm not sure.
Is my problem coming from not enough plants in the tank? Here are some pictures.


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## mtoler820 (Jan 10, 2008)

I by no means am the expert around here, however... I woulod think that if your fertalizing your tank with what little plants you have in there your probably just creating an environment begging for algae. I try to give mine only what the plants themself need. The Excell probably isn't hurting anything but if your adding ferts... I would use caution. I would say your tank in general is an extremly lightly planted tank therfore the more ferts you add, the more likely you will have continued algae problems.
There is also a thread in these forums (post the link if someone knows what I am talking about) I cant find it right now but it explains with pictures the differences between lightly planted, moderately and then heavily planted. It was looking at that thread that made me realise I too was having algae problems probably due to trying to give my plants too much suppliments. I've backed off the ferts, added more plants and so far (fingers crossed still) there has been no more algae issues.

Just as a guideline here is what they say over at www.aquariumgarden.com when purchasing plant assortments.

Recommended tank sizes:

12 plant assortment: 5-10 gallon
24 plant assortment: 20 gallon
36 plant assortment: 30-40 gallon
48 plant assortment: 30-55 gallon
60 plant assortment: 55-75 gallon
80 plant assortment: 75-100 gallon

Good luck, & hope this helps some.


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

It kinda looks nice on those rocks. They look very natural. But I understand why you would wantg to get rid of it. Good luck, I hope you can get it all under control.


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

I wouldn't add plants just to get rid of algae. If you like your scape as is, then just find a way to get rid of the algae. The first thing I would suggest is adding some herbivores. Cherry shrimp are my personal favorite because they are cheap and reproduce very quickly. If money isn't a problem, get some Crystals. They just look awesome! I'm not a big fan of siamese algae eaters, but they will get the job done if they are young. 

Option number two is Flourish Excel. It works well when you spot treat the algae, or just do like I do and add some daily.

The other factor is the length of time your aquarium has been running. If it's new, I tend to just let it ride. I find that most people want to do something right away, but algae is just a part of the experience. Just don't do anything drastic or sudden. Most people who try multiple approaches at once end up making things worse in the long run.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

How are you dosing. EI.

You might want to cut back to about 1/2 of what you are dosing.

How long are you running your lights.
You could cut that back, or if you are running two 55 watt PC bulbs and have separate plugs / switches, then you can start to do mid day blasts and run one of them for the whole photoperiod and the other for about 2-3 hours in the middle of it to represent NOON.

All things to consider. Yes, I agree, it is something you have to experience, Live and Learn, but you also don't want it to get out of hand and destroy your tank and have to start all over.

You can add plants and not plant them, like some Anarachis, that is a good one for sucking up Phosphates (I think) and you can just leave them banded and let them float in your tank for a while until it settles down.

Get some Amano Shrimp and or Cherries and a couple of Otto's, maybe a few Nerite snails to help, the Nerites will help keep the glass clean and maybe the rocks. Problem with them is they leave Egg sacs in the tank, on the glass and plants, but they will not hatch, only in SW.


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## natdc2 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I have only 6 large amano shrimp in the tank right now and they are fairly active, but won't touch the green hair algae aha. I only let my light on for 7-8 hours a day and no more than that ever. I'm dosing base on the recommended Seachem dosing chart. I'm adding around 10 stem of Blyxa, Rotala, and Diandra in a couple of days..so hopefully those will help somewhat.


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