# New 2.5g NPT with a lot of brush/hair algae



## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

I set up a 2.5g NPT a little over a week ago with 1" layer of Scotts Premium Potting Soil and 1" layer of gravel on the top with 14W 5000L CFL (one of those curly ones). A few days ago hair algae started growing on the dwarf sags (no fish in tank), and now they are growing longer and denser by the day. It's pretty much all over the sags now. The algae looks like green beard algae (http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/), but it is not as dense, and the color is more brown or greyish than green. I overdosed with Flourish Excel for 2 days, and it has not made any difference so far.

I was hoping it will just pass, but I'm not so sure it will go away on its own. What am I supposed to do? I really don't want to end up throwing away my dwarf sags as they were quite expensive including shipping.. most of them already look beyond redemption, as the algae cannot be scraped off. Should I restart the tank with a "top soil" instead of the soil I used? The water was initially clear, but it has turned yellow, probably because of tannin.


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## boink (Nov 29, 2006)

Try some water changes/run carbon or purigen. You can try some h2o2 on the algae.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

since there is no fish, add a bunch of flourish excel and it will start falling apart the next day...


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

ddavila06 said:


> since there is no fish, add a bunch of flourish excel and it will start falling apart the next day...


I've been dosing Excel about 4 times than recommended. Should I turn off the light? I'm keeping it off today.


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## haulmark400 (Feb 21, 2009)

I second the hydrogen peroxide. It is way cheaper than excel. Use no more than 2 milliliters per gallon. So 6 mls for a 2.5 gallon tank. Turn off any filtration and apply the hydrogen peroxide directly to the algae using a medicine syringe you would use to give oral medication to a child. The algae will bubble and fizz. Leave the filter off for about ten minutes and then turn it on. Then do water changes.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

lake_tuna said:


> I've been dosing Excel about 4 times than recommended. Should I turn off the light? I'm keeping it off today.


i don't really know, i was pissed because everything was covered in algea so i bought one of the bottles and "poured it in" lol...i killed the fish in there (one lone survivor) but the algea inmediatly started to turn brownish-reddish and falling apart...also a 2.5 ...i have some algea now, again. is been several months, i will try that again but i will take fish and shrimp out


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

I tried the hydrogen peroxide route, and it got rid of the algae on the roots of the java fern I had floating in the tank. I didn't dose the tank however. The dwarf sags were planted, so I didn't want to pull them out. Instead, I just cut off all of the affect leaves, which were most of them. I was told that they will grow right back!


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi,

I think the Scott's potting soil is producing far more nutrients than your tank and plants can accommodate. The algae make use of it, though.

I would suggest that you start over with the cheapest topsoil that you can find, soil with no added nutrients. 

You are not growing geraniums. 

Bill


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

aquabillpers said:


> Hi,
> 
> I think the Scott's potting soil is producing far more nutrients than your tank and plants can accommodate. The algae make use of it, though.
> 
> ...


Hey Bill, I think I might have to take that route of action if things don't stay clean after I cleaned the tank today. It had the thickest mulm/algae or whatever it was on the glass wall that I scraped off with a razor, lol!


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## alang (Jan 28, 2010)

You have to have a different perspective for long term success. Killing algae with Excel or h2O2 may work short term, but you really need to address what is causing the algae or it will just come back.

I think Aquabill has the right idea. You can add lots of fast growing stems and floater until you tank settles in which is a less drastic move than starting over. But because you don't have fish yet, its not an unreasonable course of action.

If you start over, before you replant, a good idea would be to give your plants a 1 minute dip in a 20:1 solution of bleach and water just to kill off the algae that is on them. (Rinse throughly after the dip).

Good luck.


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

Yeah, I'm going to Home Depot to get "top soil" with as little as extra nutrient as possible in it. I'll just re-do it, and clean the plants off before I put them back in. I think I might have bleach, so I'll try that this time if I have it.


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

So, I re-did the tank with topsoil (the package just said "topsoil" for filling holes, etc. and no nutrient info available), and the water is super brown. I've been changing water in the morning when the water is deeply brown/yellow. I think it's probably tannin leeching out from the soil, but when is this going to clear up? It quickly becomes brown after a major water change.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

Try looking here:
http://thegab.org/Plants/setting-up-a-walstad-natural-planted-tank.html
and here:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/31423-mind-boggles.html

good luck and have fun!


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

lake_tuna said:


> So, I re-did the tank with topsoil (the package just said "topsoil" for filling holes, etc. and no nutrient info available), and the water is super brown. I've been changing water in the morning when the water is deeply brown/yellow. I think it's probably tannin leeching out from the soil, but when is this going to clear up? It quickly becomes brown after a major water change.


If you are setting up a tank w/ soil a soil under-layer and the water is "super brown", changes are that you didn't set up the tank properly. Unless the soil has a lot of bark in it (and it shouldn't), the soil shouldn't be leaching tannins into the water (you can always screen out the bark prior to using it in the aquarium). On the other hand, If the soil under-layer is not properly capped, then the water being added to the tank will not be clear from the start (and in fact will probably never be clear - new tanks don't have the bacterial population necessary to coat the soil particles with biofilms which help the soil particles flocculate). You need to be very careful when you add water to the tank so you don't disturb the soil under-layer and make a muddy mess (which is what I think you did).

I recommend that you tear down the tank again and start all over. When you add the gravel or capping material to the top, be sure to have all parts of the soil-layer covered. Add the water carefully so you don't disturb the layers. Then plant your plants, using more gravel if necessary. Drain off all of the muddy water. Fill it back up w/ ~3 inches of water. Is it clear or muddy? If the water is muddy, drain off all of the muddy water and try again. Check that you aren't disturbing the layers. Check that you haven't missed a spot of soil that isn't covered properly. Bottom line, if the water isn't clear when you fill up the tank initially, it won't be clear.

Also, I would suggest getting some floating plants and a lot more plants than general. Just having some "dwarf sag" probably isn't enough plants to use all of the nutrients in the water column. If you have excess nutrients in the water column, you need a lot of plants to utilize them (better plants than algae).

If you haven't read Diana Walstad's book, I would highly recommend it.


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

JeffyFunk said:


> If you are setting up a tank w/ soil a soil under-layer and the water is "super brown", changes are that you didn't set up the tank properly. Unless the soil has a lot of bark in it (and it shouldn't), the soil shouldn't be leaching tannins into the water (you can always screen out the bark prior to using it in the aquarium). On the other hand, If the soil under-layer is not properly capped, then the water being added to the tank will not be clear from the start (and in fact will probably never be clear - new tanks don't have the bacterial population necessary to coat the soil particles with biofilms which help the soil particles flocculate). You need to be very careful when you add water to the tank so you don't disturb the soil under-layer and make a muddy mess (which is what I think you did).
> 
> I recommend that you tear down the tank again and start all over. When you add the gravel or capping material to the top, be sure to have all parts of the soil-layer covered. Add the water carefully so you don't disturb the layers. Then plant your plants, using more gravel if necessary. Drain off all of the muddy water. Fill it back up w/ ~3 inches of water. Is it clear or muddy? If the water is muddy, drain off all of the muddy water and try again. Check that you aren't disturbing the layers. Check that you haven't missed a spot of soil that isn't covered properly. Bottom line, if the water isn't clear when you fill up the tank initially, it won't be clear.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the elaborate explanation.. however, I set up the tank correctly, and I own a copy of DW's book. It's 1" top soil, and 1" gravel (~.5cm diameter) on top. The soil seems to be leaching out tannin or whatever was causing the yellow/brown coloring a lot less now. The water today has been much clearer since last night. I just did another water change to clear the water, and I'll see how it is in about 24 hours. And no, I don't just pour in the water. I use a dish to disperse the water when filling the tank.

As for plants, I have dwarf sags, hornwort, water lettuce, rotala _something_, and another plant type (don't know name). I had a TON of small java ferns floating around, but it looked real messy. Perhaps, I should put these back in there.


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi, Lake,

It sounds like things are clearing up for you. Sometimes filtering the tank through charcoal will hasten the clearing.

One suggestion: For your next tank, soak the soil in a bucket for a few days, changing the water several times. Not only does that help to get rid of unwanted organics, but also you will probably find pieces of bark and wood and other things that you don't want in your substrate.

Good luck!

Bill


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