# Staghorn Algae troubles



## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

My heavily planted 50g outdoor tank is being affected by what i think is "staghorn" algae-









































These photos don't really show the extent, its pretty bad... My HC is covered in it.

A massive storm blew through the coast and i had no power for week so i had nothing working, since then the algae is winning

My nitrates are around the 80ppm mark, i have performed 25% daily water changes for the last 3 days, its slowly on its way down but ill need to get into the gravel and clean properly. Any suggestions?

Also KH dropped to about 2, it is now back up to the 150ppm mark according to my API master test kit. (not calibrated)

Because its outside, I have a detachable acrylic cover that blocks out all sunlight. Water temps are around 25-28 degrees celcius

2x current sat+ on for 8 hours a day (4 hour break in between)
Pressurized CO2 on just before lights on. Off after lights out.

I am a rookie when it comes to fertilizing, i think i am dosing correctly according to the EI index

-1/2 tsp of KNO3 3x per week
-1/8 tsp KH2PO4 3x per week
-5ml flourish IRON 2x per week
-5ml flourish TRACE 3x per week
-25-30% water change weekly

Any help appreciated 

cheers


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## herns (Aug 28, 2007)

I dont use chemical until Tom Barr mentioned few years ago in another forum about Algaefix. Tried it and it works perfect.


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

How much co2 are you putting in.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Most problems in planted tanks have to do with the bacteria population. You had no filtration or water movement for a week. What do you expect to happen to the microorganisms?

No, they will not die. But they will be replaced with others that can live in the new conditions. Once you turn on the lights/pumps/CO2 even newer microorganisms take over. They are not necessarily the same types that you had before the week of no power.

What I'm telling you is that your tank is going through major changes of the microorganism populations. On the internet, especially in America, all you can hear is chemicals, concentrations of fertilizers, and water changes. That is not what makes a planted tank work.

What happened in your case is that there was a brief jump in the Ammonia concentrations. Most likely too many invisible things died during the week of no power. Short peaks of Ammonia cause staghorn. Don't look at your chemical bag to solve that. Just clean that tank.

And yes, 80 ppm Nitrate is way high. The rule by which a planted tank needs to be run is "the least amount of chemicals possible that let the plants thrive." Nobody can tell you what is that minimum amount. There are general guidelines that have been around for decades - N=2-15, P=0.01-2, Ca:Mg = 3-4:1. All of these must be at their lowest possible values. Everything else is internet science.


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## Cantholdmeback (Aug 14, 2014)

OD on excel buddy


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## marty93aus (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks everyone!

Its been a while since i had this algae problem, luckily a mate recommended using Excel and it worked within the first week.

The tank is now empty as of last week because of the unsafe level of nitrates (over 160ppm)
Relocated the fish to my 100L at work (23 rainbows)

Plants are doing great and i have no algae issues that i can see.

Thanks niko, the week of no power really did cause some issues, not just with plants. Starting to realize how tricky having an outdoor tank is in terms of temperature and sunlight.

Thanks again!


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## krissy (Jun 3, 2014)

Marty, I will give you a simple solution to get rid of all that algae.

1) Decrease your lighting photo period.

2) Increase your co2 levels as high as you can without gassing your fish. You can increase surface movement with a powerhead also, thus increasing O2 levels which will in turn allow you to increase your co2 PPM even higher.

3) Do a large 50-70% water change, and then like 20% every other day.

4) Increase the FLOW in your tank. All the plant leaves should be moving slightly.

5) Dose Fertilizers like only 25% Strength.

6) Trim as much algae and crap off as you can.

GOod luck!

P.S. I dont like to use excel or h2o2 because they sometimes melt certain plants.


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## sushant_sagar (Mar 13, 2015)

I have found SAE very effective against staghorn.

Sent from my SM-A500G using Tapatalk


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