[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

RE:Major algae



Sean Wrote:
this past July 7th I have had my first ten gallon
planted tank up
and running.  The first month I battled Diatoms which
I took care of
with 2 otto's, now I have green algae growing at a
rapid rate on my
glass and very long, brownish green clumps that grow
over night and get
a few inches long.

Here is my problem...I have no more money available to
add any more
algae eating type fishes (honestly, bills come first:(
).
-------------------------------------------------------
For a ten gallon tank a few sanils and a otto or so
should be fine.I don't have any thing besdies some
snails in a ten gallon tank.
------------------------------


I have been changing 2-4 gallons of water a day for
over a month...stuff
keeps coming.
------------------------------
Stop doing this. Try feeding your fish and doing
25-60% weekly changes. Add the
nutrients(fertilizer-trace and macro and a good
feeding for your fish).
--------------------------------------------------- 

Do I keep up with the water changes 

--------
No.
---------
or do I just let it run it's course
and not do any more water changes.
-------------------------------------
Yes, get a few fish for your tank and feed them.
Guppies shouldn't cause you to break the bank? Just a
few fish or snails(pond, MTS or ramshorn will do
fine-these are free typically and many folks give them
away as they feel they are pest)and adding some food
should help. 
---------------------------------------

Tank info.

2 otto's
1 bunch water Wisteria 
1 bunch  Egeria Densa
1 bunch Sagitaria subluvata
Fluvial 1 internal filter
CO2 injected into filter, silicon tubing, yeast DIY..1
bubble every 3-5
seconds.
Compact fluorescent light 6 inches above water....20
watts 1260 lumens
82 CRI
plus south window light through lacey curtain
3 inches gravel with jobe's spikes ( I put in too many
I fear) and root
tabs (0-0-3+iron)
PH of 7.2
I have only a PH test kit to do any kind of
testing...no money right
now.
I have read archives for weeks and they don't seem to
help.  I bought
some Seachem Flourish for trace elements...would that
help?
-----------------------------
Yes.Feeding the fish/snails will also help. Manual
removal algae will too. Check your tap water also. It
may be very soft/hard etc. Ask the local utility for
the amounts of GH/KH(general and carbonate hardness
and divide the mg/l by 17.1 to get german units). A KH
of 4 or so is good but a KH of 2-8 is fine too and the
same is true for the GH. I think based on your bubble
rate/tank size and ph you likely are fine in the KH
area. If you take a reading in the morning and one in
the evening and compare the measurements this would
give us a better notion of your CO2/KH. If it's
starting around 6.6-6.8 in the morning and rising to
about 7.2 in the evening before the lights go out I
doubt it's your CO2/KH etc.
It would be your nutrients in this case. I think your
removing too much in an effort to stop the algae. It's
a balance but its also a *biological* balance and
removing everything does not not allow for your plants
and cycling to get established since neither has any
food. You need to add fresh nutirents back to your
tank each time you do the water change.
---------------




__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/