# weird algea problem



## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

My plants don't look so good. They have gone through the process of losing the leaves and have grown back but they pretty much stopped growing and don't look very healthy at all. There is also this funky white stuff on the heater and scattered everywhere else in smaller spots. The ambulia hasn't grown much at all and now looks like it could be dying. I heard that stuff should easily grow but it isn't. The dwarf hairgrass hasn't spread out much at all. The swords pretty much stopped growing. the corkscrew grass hasnt made much progress either.
The tank was set up on 3/11/13.
has HAGEN dbl t5ho lights
diy co2
flourish excel once or twice a week 

What is wrong with my tank or what am i doing wrong??!


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Your plants do not grow well. This is the only problem. If they take off your minor issues will disappear.

What is your substrate? 

If it does not feed the plants what do you think will happen? And what will happen if on top of the inert substrate you add a little bit of poison used to clean barnicles off ships' bottoms (Excel)?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Like Niko said, the plants don't do well. They miss some nutrients. You say you add excel and DIY CO2. Do you add anything else? Plants need NPK and traces and CO2 (and light and water off course). If you only add excel and CO2, your plants still starve from the others. Try to find a trace mix at least. CSM+B, Seachem flourish etc are quite easy to find. Next your plants need PO4 and NO3. This comes from fish food but you might need to add extra if this is not enough. Good luck!


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## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

Ok thanks, and i have eco complete substrate. And sorry i do use seachem flourish and not flourish excel.


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## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

Would i need anything else?


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## herns (Aug 28, 2007)

fishtankman said:


> My plants don't look so good. They have gone through the process of losing the leaves and have grown back but they pretty much stopped growing and don't look very healthy at all. There is also this funky white stuff on the heater and scattered everywhere else in smaller spots. The ambulia hasn't grown much at all and now looks like it could be dying. I heard that stuff should easily grow but it isn't. The dwarf hairgrass hasn't spread out much at all. The swords pretty much stopped growing. the corkscrew grass hasnt made much progress either.
> The tank was set up on 3/11/13.
> has HAGEN dbl t5ho lights
> diy co2
> ...


What is the size of the tank?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

It would be easier to help with some extra info:

- Tank size
- Amount/type of light, bulbs
- Filtration
- What do you throw in? How much of each? daily/weekly etc.
- Did you measured any water parameters?
- How many plants/fish?

And anything else you think could be useful


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## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

55 gallon 
hagen glo t5 double
seachem flourish once every 1 to 2 weeks
3 gouramis 8 corys 5 tiger barbs
penguin 350 and also have a power head to move the water
10 1/2 hours of light
diy co2


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I think this tank is seriously lacking most of the fertilizers. 

Carbon: DIY CO2 from yeast and sugar can be a decent supply for tanks up to about 20 gallons. I used 2 or even 3 bottles for larger tanks, and this helped, but was really not as good as pressurized. Start using Excel, and see how things go. 

Nitrogen (N): Some comes in from fish food, but you probably will need to supplement it with KNO3 to keep the nitrate between 5-10 ppm, and a bit higher is OK, too. 

Phosphorus(P): Some comes in from fish food, but you probably will need to supplement it with KH2PO4 to keep the phosphate around 1ppm. 

Potassium (K): Is not usually present in high enough quantity in fish food. Rarely in water. Best to add some. If you need to add nitrogen, and use KNO3, that can be a good source. Some GH boosters add K, also. You can use K2SO4 for potassium, too. 

Calcium, Magnesium. These are tested as GH. I think the white crusty buildup on the heater is from calcium and magnesium carbonates. If the GH is under 3 German degrees of hardness, then use a GH booster that contains Ca, Mg, probably K, but NO sodium chloride (salt). If the GH is over 3 degrees then assume that the Ca and Mg are OK. (They might not be, but lets deal with other things first)

Iron(Fe): This is the one trace mineral that is tested for separately. You can add Fe by itself, or in combination with the trace minerals. 

Trace minerals: a blend of all the elements that plants use in tiny amounts. Some of these come in from fish food, some in the water, but a low dose of trace minerals is a good idea. Don't overdose, though. CSM+B is one good product. 

Read the label on the Flourish. Seachem makes a whole product line with that name:
Seachem Flourish Nitrogen
Seachem Flourish Phosphorus
Seachem Flourish Potassium
Seachem Flourish Comprehensive, a trace mineral blend with very low levels of the first 3 fertilizers.
Seachem Flourish Excel, a carbon source.
Seachem Equilibrium, a GH booster that also has K and a few other minerals. 

If you want to use the liquid fertilizers, that is fine, but use all of them (N, P, K, Fe and traces). The plants need all of them. They are bottled separately so you can customize the blend based on your tanks needs, and what other sources you may have. Any one by itself is not complete nutrition for your plants.


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## herns (Aug 28, 2007)

fishtankman said:


> 55 gallon
> hagen glo t5 double
> seachem flourish once every 1 to 2 weeks
> 3 gouramis 8 corys 5 tiger barbs
> ...


a DIY CO2 for 55 gal is not really good if you grow plants in it. 
I have a 20G with DIY co2 ans still algae would appear always until I switched to pressurized. It is expensive on initial setup but will payoff later on.


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## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

ok ya i thought about pressurized co2 but i thought diy would work, i have 2 2 liter bottles for the co2


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## herns (Aug 28, 2007)

They do work on smaller tank. 
The only problem is, DIY fluctuate often.


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## fishtankman (Jan 3, 2013)

Ok i know it has been a while since this post was made, but is there a product that has all of these nutrients? (N, P, K, Fe and traces)


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## foster (Mar 7, 2013)

Check out greenleafaquatic they have many types of ferts. I use the PPS-Pro. My algae problems disappeared after getting the right balance of ferts, co2, and light. It takes a bit, but can be accomplished.


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