# Problems with my new 66 G - Help Please !



## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

Hi folks,

I have recently setup a 66 Gallon Tank with following specs
Mediumly planted
Lighting : 36 W X4 PLL. 6500K.
Substrate:1 inch of laterite as the base layer and topped it up with atleast 3 inches of white quartz.well I must say it was white when I started .
Presurrised Co2 with bubble rate of 1-2 BPS .
Diffussing is done by plonking the Co2 tube in my internal power filter and allowing the bubbls to pass thru the impeller.

Now the problem.
The tank was setup on 11 Feb 2007 and i started dosing Macros(KNo3 and K2So4 ) and micros on alternate days from the very day it was setup. Things looked OK for a week. Last Saturday(on the 7th day) I started noticing brownish growth on the leaves of Amazon sword. I did a 50% water change immediately (7th day) and didnt dose anything there on for 2 more days.
In the mean time the brownish growth grew real rapidly all over the tank and caught up every leaf off every plant in the tank and in many places it has grown elongated and has formed a cobweb kinda structure entabgling many leaves within itself.

Wonder what it is.
Could anybody please help me with it?
I dont have a picure of my tank right now...will try to post one soon.

Looking forward to your comments.

I did some reading all over net and think it is BGA.What I dont understand is why is Blue Green Algae brown in color and the cobweb structure of this algae puzlzles me.
Thanks
Rohan


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

Update : 21 Feb '07

When I reached home last night I found that the algae had grown real fast all over.
Assuming that it is BGA and reading up one of Tom's post.
I tried to removed it from the leaves using my hand and i found that it gets removed real easily.I mean it was not that sticky as beard algae is can be easily scrapped off my cardime lyrata.
Steps i did :

Tried cleaning it up as much as possible.
Removed and Cleaned the Filter.
Did a 50% water change.
Added 3/4 Tsp of KNo3 and 1/4 tsp of K2So4.
Shut off Co2.
Shut off all lights.
Covered the tank on all sides. Complete Black out.

Will wait for three dayes before opening the covers.
In the mean time, Does anybdoy else have any comments please ?

I am not really convinced that this is BGA.

Thanks
Rohan


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

If the algea comes of easily as sheets and not attached to any plant or other material as all other algea do, then it is cyano. It is most common to have this algea in recently setup tanks. They mostly get thick where the current in the water is less or not present at all. The main reason for this algea to appear is related with nitrates. When nitrates are very low and all other nutrients are present or vice versa when all other nutrients (esp PO4) is low and nitrate is high this algea (in fact bacteria) is very likely to appear. Improving the circulation is a good way to deal with them. H2O2 is also another possible method other than a good blackout. When it is in small amounts hungry kept small guppies (esp females) are also helpful to keep it at bay. Waiting to hear how you proceed with any possible picture.


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

Thanks for your reply.
I intend to keep this a fish less tank for sometime.Will add fishes as the tank settles.It becomes difficult to catch the fishes later on in a planted tank.

I know a picture is worth thousand words.Will get a chance to click a pic after my tank is out of the blackout stage on 24th Feb.
Hopefully by then it will be cleared off all the algae and wont recurr.
As i read more , i think i have screwed it up on the dosings of macros.

Any more comments / suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
Rohan


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## nswhite (Aug 25, 2006)

I dont think you have BGA. which is really hard to say without a pic but I think you have diatoms which is normal for a newly planted tank. You need to manually remove all algea by gravel vac and you need to clean filters and everything it gets on. Eventually it will go away, all newly set-up tanks go through a algea faze. But from what you said in your first post you say your dosing KN03 and K2S04 but what about PO4 have you tested your water peremeters? If so what are they? You need to have a 10 to 1 ratio of nitrates to phosphates to help prevent algea outbreaks.


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

I assumed it to be diatoms too but then when it grew all over the tank in elongated form and forming a cobweb kinda structures, I had my own doubts.
Anyways..
Will have to wait and see on the saturday.
Thanks for your reply


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## nswhite (Aug 25, 2006)

rohansd said:


> I assumed it to be diatoms too but then when it grew all over the tank in elongated form and forming a cobweb kinda structures, I had my own doubts.
> Anyways..
> Will have to wait and see on the saturday.
> Thanks for your reply


Well diatoms can do the same thing. I have seen some crazy growth from diatoms.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

As was mentioned, a balanced fertilization plan goes a long way to helping the plants grow better and therefore reduce algae.

You don't mention PO4 in your dosing plan...


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

I did dose PO4 1/4 Tsp. once in that week.
I figure I screwed up with the dosings.What happens if I dose less quantities of Macros ?
For instance,
I figured my teaspoon was actually smaller than the standard teaspoon and moreover I dosed just 1/4th spoon KN03 instead of 3/4 .K2So4 was also dosed less than the recommended.
ditto with Po4 and Micros.
The reason behind doing this is , I feared that 144 Watts (36W X4 ) of 6500K is not vey high light for a 66 G tank.
My assumption was that it wouldnt harm much except that the plants would grow slower than expected.
Am I wrong here?


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

rohansd said:


> I did dose PO4 1/4 Tsp. once in that week.
> I figure I screwed up with the dosings.What happens if I dose less quantities of Macros ?
> For instance,
> I figured my teaspoon was actually smaller than the standard teaspoon and moreover I dosed just 1/4th spoon KN03 instead of 3/4 .K2So4 was also dosed less than the recommended.
> ...


I wouldn't get too hung up over the exact dosing. I idea with EI is to dose frequently so the ferts are always available within a certain range. It is suppose to be "estimate".

Couple of things I noticed you did that is probably not a good idea.

1. I think your first post said you pour 3" of white quartz (sand) over laterite. The sand will pack down the laterite tightly and cause anaerobic conditions that are not for the tank and the biofilter will be overburdened trying to deal with it.

2. If I read it correctly, you dosed right before doing a blackout. Just in case you didn't realize those ferts will do nothing. With the lights out those ferts will not be utilized by the plants since they won't be photosynthesising show they can reach levels that wouldn't be go for water quality, etc.

3.After a blackout it's really important to do a big cleanup since your basically killing either bacteria or algae. This will produce alot of organics in the tank that need to be cleaned out.

4. Also from my experience you'll save yourself alot of grief if you limit you lights to about 7 hours and then slowly increase the duration as your tank matures.


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

Allright.
Makes sense. Thanks.
It didnt struck me about the ferts doing unutilised with the lights out.
But I guess need not be concerned as the tank doesnt have any fauna right now.But yes it is a point to be kept in mind.

I am not sure about the anaerobic conditions due to 2-3 mm gravel.The mere thought of cleaning up 50Kgs of gravel and seperating the laterite from the gravel makes me go crazy:Cry: 


Will keep this thread updated.
Thanks
Rohan


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## rohansd (Oct 10, 2005)

*Problems with my new 66 G - Help Please ! Pics Inside*

Hi Folks,
Check out the pic of my tank.
The BGA has cleared up decently.I did a 80% WC y'day and have dosed macros as follows
3/4 Tsp KNo3,
1/4th Tsp K2So4
3/16th Tsp: PO4. though i dont know how to measure that small amount.

Please let me know your suggestions.








Thanks
Rohan


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