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RO water and algae
Does anyone here who uses reverse osmosis to supply most or all of their tank
water have what they would call an "unacceptable" algae problem? I recently
tore down my tank, which had been completely overwhelmed by various algae
types and replaced the topsoil/vermiculite substrate with laterite (1 lb. in
the bottom third of gravel in a 55 gallon tank). I bleached the tank,
equipment, driftwood, and rocks, and used new gravel and water. I did not
bleach most of the plants, but I only put in clippings that were free of any
substantial algae. It's been up and running for a little more than a month
now, and the plant growth and color has been quite good. The algae situation
has certainly improved considerably (it could hardly have gotten worse). But
I still am getting increasing amounts of thread, hair, brush, and green algae
which first began covering the glass and gravel (green and hair) and then the
plants, driftwood, and equipment (hair, thread, brush, green). It's not what
I would call "rampant" in its' growth, but if it were set up where others
could see it, I would not consider the tank to be presentable, as the glass
and some of the plants are more or less completely covered with algae growth.
I had figured removing the rich substrate and placing my 7 SAEs, 6 otos, and
snails back into a tank with almost no algae in it would combine to keep the
algae to a minimum, but this has not happened. I fertilize with CO2 (about 15
mg/l), have a pH of 7.0, GH 9, KH 5, Fe 0.5 mg/l, Phosphate 0.2, and Nitrate
0. Lighting is 160w from 5 Sylvania 48" F32 T-8's. 3 are 5000k and 2 are
6500k. They are on for 13 1/2 hrs a day. I do water changes of 1/3 or so of
the tank once a week. I use tap water that I only add dechlor to (no
fertilizer). The additional fish in the tank are 14 neon tetras, 5 blue
emperor tetras, 4 red eye tetras, 4 rummy nose tetras, 3 blood fin tetras,
and 2 black neon tetras. The plants are Bacopa, rotala indica, corkscrew
vals, Amazon swordplant, ambulia, rotala macandra, broad leaved hygrophila,
hemianthus micranthemoides, anubias nana, red ludwigia, cabomba, green crypt
wendtti, hairgrass, pygmy chain sword, ammania, hornwort, hydroductyle, and
duckweed. I had lilaoepsis (dwarf swordplant) but it wouldn't grow so I got
rid of it. All of these factors have remained basically the same since before
I replaced the substrate.
So, I figure that either there is too much light and/or the water chemistry
is a problem (I don't believe I overfeed my fish, either). That 160 watts of
light translates to 3 watts per gallon, which I believe is not overly bright
(if brighter than what I've seen most others have). I've never had a green
water problem. As a result, I have begun considering getting an RO unit so I
can directly control the water chemistry in the hopes this will reduce the
amount of algae. But before I actually do that, I'd like to hear if anyone
has found or thinks that will make much of a difference.
Thanks for any help,
Matt