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Fine tuning against algae, your help is really welcomed.



Bonjour everybody, from France

I set up eleven weeks ago a little tank very heavily planted. 
Since, i've had to face, successively, three kinds of algae. 
Not a lot, but each times enough to alert.

I think i'm seriously wrong in the "tuning" of this tank, 
but i don't know where and what. lighting, nutriments, ... ?

I would like very much to have your advice, opinion , critical 
on what i did and should do .. to be more secure on this point. 
Feel free , every word of you is welcomed !.

Parameters of this ( beloved ) tank :

80 water-liters : 21 US gallons : 18 GB gallons,
water lenght is 32 inches, widht is 12, height of water is 14 inches 
(water in centimenters is 80*30*34-high).

Fishes : 
12, little, rather algae eaters, never fed.
( I clean the bottom every week, but it's not dirty in fact ).

Lighting : 
72 watts , with 5 news "fluourescent tube" of 18 watts, 
12 hours a day with a timer
        1 : triton , interpet
        2 : biolux , osram
        3 : biolux
        4 : grolux , sylvania
    and 5 hours a day 
        5 : solar lux, actizoo.
In the beginnings i did the mistake to use a blue moon, ...i
put it off quickly, and red algae slow down.
No glass between the tubes and water. And tubes are very clean.

Plants : 
100 % of the ground is planted , 70 % of the tank volume 
is occupied by plants , 
Alternanthera reineckii , Anubias barteri , Ceratopteris  ,
various Cryptocorynes , various Echinodorus, 
a lot of Cabomba caroliniana , Didiplis diandra , 
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Riccia fluitans, Vallisneria , ...
Hygrophila died quickly, don't know why.

Red plants are red ...but very very slow growth,
Anubias seems ok, a little bit victim of red algae, 
green plants are going fine but are algae-attacked as i 
describe it below.

Green plants bubbles after 5 or 6 hours of lighting.

Soil is made with :
- underneath , 10 centimenters high : 
        45 % mould (mold) we call here "terre de bruyère" , 
        45 % real green clay
        10 % latérite + river sand unwashed
- above , 5 centimenters : river sand unwashed.

Fertiliser : i add since one month fertiliser
- duplaplant 24 ( every day drops as indicated on the notice )
- duplaplant ( pills every water change as ... )
- Ferrogan Fluid ( Fe, every day as ..., since two days )

Water today is ( in ° , or , ppm = mg/liter ) :
ph :                7.5
gh (°deutsch) :     5          th (°french):       8.95
kh (°deutsch):      5          THca (°french):     8.95
No2 :               0
No3 :               0
Po4 :               0
Nh4 :               0
Fe :                was 0 ( is 0.5 now :) , i plan to rise it to 1 ppm
Co2:                +/- 10 ( small Tetra system )
Temp :             26 ° celsius
conductivity :    300

i plan to down the ph to +/- 6.5 when i'll find how to.

Water change : 25 % every week with "empty-water" , not tapwater.
i mean it's a water i buy to my petshop which is empty of any 
nutrients, calcium, nitrates, chlore , ..etc.
In the beginnings i used tap water, much too hard...and polluted.
("empty water" is very cheap around here)

Filter ( since this week ) is an Eihem 2213 
( 480 l per hour , 100 gallons an hour ) wich give a very slow 
and a very soft move to water. Very, very slow.

I don't use bubbles, to keep the co2. fishes seems ok.

Water is clear.

Algae troubles ! :(

in the beginnings i had to fight red algae, now it's residual.
then i fought against clear-green hair algae, nows it's residual,
...
but now a green, a little bit green dark, new algae is trying to 
cover the top of highest cabomba ( like a "veil" ) under the lights
just below the water line.
It seems to be "fat" under my fingers, like a thin cloth.
It's easy to hand-scrapp it, but still comes back.
I notice that since the beginnings i noticed there is no algae 
in the darkest part of my tank. 

Thanks in advance for any advice, opinion, critical you will give
me about my tank's parameters. It will be helpfull.

I know i did mistake in the beginnings ( blue moon, tap water, 
rising and decreasing lighting intensity or duration when i was 
against hair algae, etc..).

Today i'm afraid i still do some others, but which ?
Your help is welcomed.

Forgive me for this ( much too ) long message.

-- 
Cordialement - Best regards ,
Daniel DESURMONT mailto:ddesurmont at nordnet_fr