# please help me to identify this one!



## ado0001 (Aug 27, 2007)

hi guys my name is Adrian from Mexico city and im very honored to become part of all this great site!
first af all let me introduce my aquarium characteristics so you can help me better to resolve my problem guys..

180L (1.20cm long 30cm wide 50cm tall)
ph 6
kh 4
gh 6
temp 27C
co2 home made (u know just the classic formula)
one bluble per second

light 3 lamps:
1 pl 2x36w (10 000K)
1 dymax 2x28w cu(6500k)
1grolux 40W (pink light)

my filter is a 305 fluval
i use flourish potasium 7ml 3 times a week
and excel 10ml everyday
only and very few water changes 1 every month 30% 
my sustrate is azoo grower

plants damaged by algae are:
musgo de java
bolbitis heuleodoti
Marsilea hirsuta
Proserpinaca palustris ''Cuba''
Hygrophila corymbosa angustifolia
Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis'
Crinum calamistratum

i took some pics from my acuarium so please if someone knows which type of algae do i have and how can i attack it, i will really aprecciate it thank you all
you can see the pictures to identify this kind of algae:

http://ado0001.spaces.live.com/


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I can't see any pictures on the link but...

You have about 3.6wpg of light and most probably not enough CO2. You're also not fertilizing any macros or micros besides potassium so your plants may be starving...

Concentrate on getting healthy plants and the algae problems tend to be minimized. Also make sure you have lots of plants, especially fast growers at the beginning.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I can't see the pictures either. Is the Azoo substrate supposed to contain phosphate and nitrogen? If not, you should consider dosing those along with some micro nutrients as Laith suggested.

Oh, and welcome to APC. It's great to have you here.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Bienvenido a apc, Adrian! (Welcome to apc) The pics are accessed from the forum - helps to know the language. 

Looks to me like it's bba, for the most part. As Laith said, with that high a lighting, on an approx 50gal tank, you should go with pressurized CO2. You also need to add a full spectrum of fertilizers, both macro and micros. Here's some links which might give you some info on healthily growing plants:
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html
http://www.rexgrigg.com/

On the Spanish forum there are folks who are suggesting that phosphates and fertilizers cause algae. *THEY DO NOT!!* However, a lack of them, most certainly will.

Overdosing Excel (2x recommended doseage) has been shown to kill bba in a lot of folks tanks. BUT, some plants could be affected by it, and I don't know if your discus will react to it.

For starters, I would do a major water change (50%) and manually remove as much algae as you can. Trim the leaves that are overly badly affected and toss them. Then start a regular fertilizer regimen. You can look under the fertilizer forum for different ways to fertilize.

Buena suerte, ojala que esto te ayude.


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## ado0001 (Aug 27, 2007)

hi friends thank you for all taht answers im very sorry some of u were not able to see the pictures i will give you a new adress so u can take a very close look to them...
http://ado0001.spaces.live.com

let me tell u guys what i have done to try to solve the problem:

-i got flourish (the regular one)
-i got flourish trace
-i introduced 5 molies (i heard that this fish is good eating this algae im not suere if its truth
-i introduced 10 otocinlus by the way 7 dead instantly maybe i failed in the way i introduced them
 i think there lot more delicated than discuss..
-im thinking on introduce a killer algae destroyers 100 cherry caridina!!
-i cut out most of the algae leaves but still marsilea´s little leaves are imposible to reach without making a mess on tue aquarium =(
-i changed 50% water 
-reduced lighting time from 12 hours to 9

so far thats what im doing to solve the problem what do you think??? any advices are VEEERY WELCOME thanx u guys Berth H thank u so much.. let me know if im doing something wrong...rayer:

Adrian


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

You're still not adding any nitrates (NO3) or phosphates (PO4). Look over the stickies in the fert forum for EI and for PPS for ways to fertilize. Again, I will mention with that much lighting, you really need to stay on top of all the plants needs. The only fish which will readily eat bba are siamese algae eaters (SAE).


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Some of that algae is black brush algae, which usually shows up when you don't have enough CO2 in the water and have a lot of light. For the size of your tank you need around 3 bubbles per second, not one. This is a very crude way to measure CO2, so if you get a drop checker and use it with 2-4 dKH distilled water in it, instead of tank water, you can much more accurately tell how much CO2 is in the water. One thing you can easily do is add another DIY CO2 bottle, and change the contents of the two bottles, one bottle per week. And, as Bert said, you have to supply nitrates, phosphates, and potassium, along with your trace elements (Flourish), or the algae will take over.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I agree with everything that has been said here. The key to keeping algae away is to first consider the needs of the plants. Once the plants are happy the algae will not proliferate. Any algae that is already present will need to be removed manually. Apart from high-dose Flourish Excel there doesn't seem to be anything that removes BBA once it is established. SAE's and shrimp might help a bit but honestly, not much.

There are two formulas for success. The first is to use high light (like you already have). This drives the system very hard - think of a race car. Everything else must be perfect - CO2, Nitrates, Phosphates, Potassium, trace elements. If anything is missing the sytem breaks down and algae win.

The second is to use less light. Growth is slower - think of a horse-drawn carriage. Nutrients aren't in crucial demand. Plants do fine, the algae doesn't have much light to work with so it can't survive as well. Using CO2 with low light is a very stable method that is quite algae resistant.

You cannot use high light without being very careful about every other parameter. Done correctly, high light produces some fabulous growth and coloration. Done incorrectly, algae will win every time.


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## ado0001 (Aug 27, 2007)

thank you all guys again, this time i would like to ask you guys yesterday i just found this 
"Plant Dosing Chart" on this link and for the answers that you all guys gave me im trying to follow and create a discipline here for myself to help my acuarium become beautifull-

check it out on this link and simply click on "Plant Dosing Chart"
you may wat to check it if u guys aprove it i will have to go find the missing elements:

i have already
excelrayer: 
trace
potasium

flourish regular one i just found this one provides:
Total Nitrogen 
0.07%
Available Phosphate ( P2O5) 
0.01%
Soluble Potash 
0.37%
Calcium (Ca) 
0.14%
Magnesium (Mg) 
0.11%
Sulfur (S) 
0.2773%
Boron (B) 
0.009%
Chlorine (Cl) 
1.15%
Cobalt (Co) 
0.0004%
Copper (Cu) 
0.0001%
Iron (Fe) 
0.32%
Manganese (Mn) 
0.0118%
Molybdenum (Mo) 
0.0009%
Sodium (Na) 
0.13%
Zinc (Zn) 
0.0007%


i need to get:
iron 
phosphorus
nitrogen

what do u think about this plan guys?? would it be healthy?

ps. the nitrates problem is solved maybe here. i forgot to mention the habitants on this acuarium:

4 disc
14 neon cardenal (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
9 Hemigrammus Rhodostomus
1ramirezi
10 more other different tetras
5molies
their food is based on tretra min and azoo pellets for disc sometimes i feed them red blood worms.
maybe this is the nitrate we were looking for dont u think guys?

i really apreciate all of your replys thank you sooo muuuch !!


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

id go PPS-Pro man i just switched about 3 weeks ago from seachem's line and couldn't be happier low start up cost low cost in general and SOOOOOOO easy youll save alot of cash more co2 will get rid of the stuff and proper dosing will keep it gone.you can kill it have it eaten do a list of things but until CO2 and other nutrients are balanced it will only come back trust me been there :-Doh BTW defiantly BBA


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