[MoneyMitch]

knew it was going to haapen soon or a later

anyways x2 55 watt t5Ho over the length of the tank, 55 gallon

dose flourish x1 a week iron x2 a week and potassium x1 a week

50% w/c

photo period about 11-12 hrs

so its the hairy crap growing on the plants dark green in color, hair algae YUCK. so im going to contiune with the weekly water changes and reduce light to eight hours a day and see if this is going to help. if not going to look into a DIY co2 system ive found a method using a powerhead and airstone inside a siphontube as a diffusion method.

but the core of the issue here i belive is the light period what you guys think?

 

[Boredomb]

I would begin with reducing the photo period as you stated. Do you have any floating plants?? If you don't I would try that next.

I have used that method of DIY Co2 on a 55 and it defuses good but DIY is hard to control.
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[MoneyMitch]

I would begin with reducing the photo period as you stated. Do you have any floating plants?? If you don't I would try that next.

I have used that method of DIY Co2 on a 55 and it defuses good but DIY is hard to control.
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yea i have some floaters, want to avoid using any excel or co2 booster type stuff. i just dont feel comfortable with using it with the fish. the co2 may be a little inconsistent but better then nothing as long as i keep the ferts in check and gas off at night i should be ok im thinking.

 

[MoneyMitch]

yea i have some floaters, want to avoid using any excel or co2 booster type stuff. i just dont feel comfortable with using it with the fish. the co2 may be a little inconsistent but better then nothing as long as i keep the ferts in check and gas off at night i should be ok im thinking.

light has been taken from 13 hours down to 8 also removed both bio wheel parts from the filter to keep in as much co2 as possible. hopefully ill see some changes in a week or so.

 

[BWG]

Since you decided against CO2 have you considered raising the light so you can keep the fixture, but it's not as strong? 6 or 8 inches doesn't sound like much, but it could make a world of difference.

 

[MoneyMitch]

Haven't thought of that option yet gunna try the reduced period for now until get get around to making a co2 system but ill keep or in mind if the reduced period doesn't help in the mean time
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[Mikaila31]

You need a lot better fertilizers with that lighting.

As long as you have some floating plants to diffuse the lighting IMO CO2 is not required. You are pushing it with light levels though. You must do the same with fertilizers or algae is unavoidable.

 

[MoneyMitch]

Maybe double doses ten you think? I'm getting about quarter to half inch of growth on stem plants now and still getting the algae and that was with above dosings and photo
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[Boredomb]

In this case Dry fertilizers would be better I would think even with out Co2.
Yeah I definitely would stay away from the liquid Co2 supplements as they are pretty nasty stuff (well atleast Excel is).

 

[Mikaila31]

agreed you are going to want dry fertilizers. You are missing some important macros with your current dosing which is likely your main issue, both nitrogen and phosphate(and yes those are in flourish but not anywhere near the amounts you likely need). Fertilizing using liquids is likely to cost more then you want to spend, hence why dry fertilizers are recommend. Dry fertilizers and CO2 do not have to be used together. Dry fertilizers simply give you more control at a lower cost then liquids, whether the tank be low tech, high tech, or in-between they still offer an advantage. I also suggest not bothering with anything like excel or even yeast based CO2, both are more trouble then they are worth.

Your growth should be better then that IMO, which again points to fertilizers.

My 55 gallon has almost identical lighting, 2x55 watts but of power compacts with high efficiency reflectors. This tank does for the most part get pressurized CO2, however it is not absolutely necessary. All it really does is additionally increase growth. The tank can run for months without any CO2 and be fine. I have a 40 gallon running similar high light levels, 8x13watt spiral CFLs that are 16" from the substrate, no CO2, but it is getting pretty much the full EI fertilizer dosing. This tank does have some algae, but it is only about 9 weeks old and still establishing. In comparison my lowest light tank, 1.5wpg of NO T5s, is a total algae mess:roll:.

 

[MoneyMitch]

The plants aren't showing any deffiamcya here but I understand the point about the dry fert dropping the liquid frets isn't practical for me right now they are brand new and. Good amount of cash was spent on them I have to work with what I have for now not town toon for the micros I have extremely hard water 15+kh and get calc deposits all over the house from where water was I may be able to get n and phos dry fert to use with the liquid
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[Mikaila31]

You would want to order all the types of dry ferts you will need either way. At the levels you need that flourish will be lucky to last two month s. You can certainly still use up the liquids you have, its just that it won't take long. In comparison the dosing I do would use about 30ml a week

 

[MoneyMitch]

Just so i understand correctly your saying the liquids aren't enough and causing te plants to slow grow causing the algae so should I tripe dose and bring lights back to 11-12 hours thought algae came in to use excess frets when light was too high
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[MoneyMitch]

just a update here, tested nitrates at 10 ppm also have some pics of the plants. they are still growing and very much alive but the algae that is growing on all of them everywhere is even worse. the algae that is on the leaves is easily rubbed off. ive looked at pictures online and best i can comeup with is hairalgae or bga. i also have some areas on the substrate starting to go green, no slime though and almost smells like cut grass. im totally in the dark here, the light peroid started its 8hr cycle today and literally overnight the algae has gotten worse.

 

[MoneyMitch]

also going to add that there is no algae on my driftwood or rocks that reseblems this, the algae on the plants is soemthing hairy and dark in color that will rub off, it seems to start off as a brown then thats where the algae starts and turns into the deep greenish blue algae with hairs. the only place the hairy algae is on the plants, the other algae in the tank is just normal greenspot algae the stuff on my rocks and sides of tank etc etc

 

[Byron]

Mitch, you PM'd me and asked me to comment in this thread, and here I am. First off, let me say that Mikaila has given very good advice, but this is not the course I would suggest. The algae in the photos is some form of brush/beard algae, and I have dealt with it since the mid 1990's. I have it well under control, and I know exactly what causes it to increase in my situation.

And the answer is, light that is higher in intensity and/or duration that what balances the available nutrients. Mikaila and I agree this far. But I would bet that your CO2 is no where near sufficient to balance this light, and increasing the other nutrients in my view will not help but may make it even worse.

First, on the light in general. I had this algae increasing fairly rapidly, and I took the advice of some of my colleagues on plant forums that the light was the issue, so I reduced the duration in increments. I knew with my moderate light (two T8 48-inch "daylight" tubes over each of my 70g, 90g and 115g (5 foot length) tanks the intensity was not the issue, but duration. Once I got the duration in balance with the CO2, which turned out to be 8 hours, end of algae increasing. I used CO2 as the nutrient involved because I was adding everything else via Flourish and adjusting that had no effect. To further prove the light point, I then found that every summer the brush algae would increase. I concluded that the additional brighter and longer daylight entering the room was doing this, so for the past 3 summers I kept the windows heavily draped. No increase in algae. This has been steady now for 3 years.

To the matter of increasing the nutrients without adding CO2. Since late last year, I have been experimenting with nutrients to solve some specific plant issues. Something interesting happened in one tank that I think is directly related. I was dosing Flourish Comprehensive twice weekly in all 7 tanks [this certainly helped to solve some of the plant issues]. I suddenly had this brush algae increasing in the 90g, to the point that within just a couple weeks, it covered every sword leaf. I cut the Flourish back to once weekly. Within 3 weeks, problem over; all new leaves were algae-free, and now some 3 weeks later, still are. This tank gets once weekly dose, the others get twice.

CO2 is the only nutrient I do not add in any form, but rely solely on natural. I am quite convinced that whenever I have algae problems, it is because the CO2 is not sufficient to balance the other nutrients and light. Light should be the limiting factor to plant growth; otherwise algae is a given.

I believe you have double the light necessary. Two T5 HO tubes is equivalent to three T8 tubes of the same length and spectrum. I know that if I added a third tube even over my 5-foot 115g tank, I would have a real issue with brush algae, because there is no where near sufficient CO2 to match.

Duration can play into this too, but if the initial intensity is greater than the nutrient availability, duration is not going to have much impact in solving algae. You could go down to 6 hours daily, but I would expect algae still to be an issue. Heavy floating plants will help. But if you increase the organic nutrients, cyanobacteria on the floating plants might result. I had that in one tank.

Hope this helps. By the way, it would be better if you re-sized the photos before posting so everything remains within the screen frame.

Byron.

 

[MoneyMitch]

thanks for the imput, so if i comprehend correctly i need to reduce my light duration but with the intencity i have it may not help at all. but rather more ferts to help reduce it? im confused to what i should do other then lessen the light duration.

 

[Byron]

thanks for the imput, so if i comprehend correctly i need to reduce my light duration but with the intencity i have it may not help at all. but rather more ferts to help reduce it? im confused to what i should do other then lessen the light duration.

You can reduce the duration as I said, plus have a good cover of floating plants, and it may help. But in my view the intensity is too strong and cannot be balanced sufficiently by nutrients, especially the carbon.

Adding more of the other nutrients is not something I would do because I think there is insufficient carbon. Now, increasing the other nutrients may not have much of an impact with respect to increasing the algae at least initially because plants can take up some nutrients in excess; but at some point this is going to be exhausted.

One must also bear in mind that every planted tank is different in terms of the biological makeup. In my 7 tanks I am often intrigued that what works in one does not in another, etc. As my illustrations previously indicate. But I think you are pushing the light envelope a lot, and I can't see you being able to balance it.

Byron.

 

[MoneyMitch]

so along with mikilahs imput here some co2 and ferts to balance out the light intensity then? that or a ton of floaters?

 

[Byron]

so along with mikilahs imput here some co2 and ferts to balance out the light intensity then? that or a ton of floaters?

If you decide to add diffused CO2, then you should have algae decreasing because the plants will then be able to use all the light and additional nutrients. In my 20+ years of planted tanks, I have never added any form of CO2, and I have always kept algae under control by limiting the light.