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[APD] Re: Dust algae with skunky smell



<The malodorous stuff is often a sign of the so-called
<blue-green algae, aka BGA, which is a cyanobacteria that
<can spread quickly, had an unattractive odor and will grow
<on top of other alagae. BGA usually has a more blue-green
<color than the green dust that grows on the glass. Once it
<gets going it tends to spread like a film and the "film"
<can be lifted and pulled away for whatever solid object it
<is holding onto.
<
<While diff algae have diff odors, BGA is noticeably
<unlikable as an olfactory experience.
<
<You didn't mention potassium other than what's in the trace
<mix. I would add potassium (potassium sulfate), about as
<much as the nitrates you are adding, just on GPs.

Yeah, I was thinking it might be BGA. When really thick and scraped off with a razor it had a sliminess and clumped together.
Doesn't grow everywhere like other BGA explosions I've seen posted though.


Yep I do add potassium and some magnesium, both from the same hydroponic fertilizer source (all seperate doses)

<If the growth is just the ordinary green dust that grows on
<the glass, you probably have too much nitrate for the
<amount of phosphate and potassium in the water. If there is
<too little of one or both of the others, then the plants
<are not able to use up all of the nitrates, which is a
<condition the green dust algae seems to relish. It would be
<worth checking if you have a good quality kit (e.g.,
<SeaChem or LaMotte) that can measure nitrates in increments
<less than 10 ppm. If the nitrate is too high, back down on
<the nitrate dosing or up the dosing on the others to get a
<ratio roughly 1:10:20 ppm for phosphates, nitrates,
<potassium, respectively. Also, 1:10:20 is a good target for
<levels of those macro nutrients.

Can never find those kits, the Hagen/Nutrafin kits seem to have replaced everything. Not bad themselves (well made at least and consistant) but it's only in 5-10-20-50 steps with the 5-10 being the only easy comparison. Don't have a potasium kit, that's hard to find. Just did a test and nitrates are between 5-10 (It's hard to keep those steady as the plants just suck it up :P ). Phosp is around 2 (another Nutrafin/Hagen hard to read due to close colours test kit), I gave it a double initial dose after the last water change to try something different. Might have helped as this week it's not so bad.

<It's a good idea to manually clean up as much of the algae
<as you can just before each water change. Brushing or
<scraping doesn't remove what is brushed or scraped from the
<aquarium; it merely moves it off of the glass. But to the
<extent that it becomes waterborne for a while, some of it
<can be sucked out with a water change or get an opportunity
<to ride the UV express ;-)  . Scraping alone is good for
<cleaning the glass but it doesn't have much to do with how
<much algae in your aquarium. Balanced nutrients and lush
<plants seem the best thing for limiting algae growth.

Yeah, been scraping and cleaning as much as possible before every water change. A little hard for all the glass behind the plants (ticks my fish off too). I've been combining this with putting the UV on after
a change/cleaning also but I don't want to run it too long as I find it seems to suck the iron (I think) out of the water. If I run it for more than 4 days my fast growing stem plant (a cabomba like plant) goes mutant and new leaves are twisted. Still one of the most useful things I've brought for the aquarium ;-)


Thanks for the thoughts, looks like I'll keep the phosphates boosted and keep up the cleaning/waterchanges and see what happens.
Pete.


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