KiwiGal77 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hi all, I'm having some issues with what seems to be an algae bloom in my tank. I bought some Seachem Flourish for my plants a couple of weeks back and added the recommended dose, since then the water keeps going cloudy with a strong green tinge. I haven't added any more flourish, and have done 30-50% water changes every 3 days since the problem started to try and get rid of what I assumed was excess nutrients. But I'm having absolutely no luck clearing up the water, within a day or two of the water change it's back to being green and cloudy to the point I can barely see the back. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is <5. Tank is about 50% stocked (according to aqadvisor) and all fish are healthy and counted for. Some plants are looking a little sad, but have put that down to too low light. I've heard that doing too frequent and big water changes can actually remove the organisms which competes with algae, which results in an algae bloom. So perhaps I should leave it for a week and stick to weekly 30% water changes to see if that helps? Also wondering if higher light would help the plants grow better and therefore compete for nutrients over the algae? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Hmm - I've personally never heard of WCs causing more green algae. Typically it's the recommendation as it helps to reduce nutrient levels. Is your tank near a window or other source of sunlight? How long are your tank lights on for, and how old are the tubes/bulbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I hadn't heard of it either until I read an article on the matter, shame I didn't save the link. Light tubes are fairly old, needing updating, so currently light level is low. They are on for 10 hours a day. There's large windows in the room but the tank doesn't get any direct sunlight at this time of year. No algae build-up on the glass or ornaments, but the super fat oto's might explain that one :lol: I'd say my tank would be looking pretty bad if it wasn't for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 You can try UV sterilisation etc but a much cheaper option is to turn off the lights and covering up the tank for 4 days (black out). The algae will die out but plants are hardy enough should survive (the sad ones may take a bit more time to recover). Do some water changes during and after this time because as the algae dies off and rots the ammonia and nitrate levels will rise. Test your phosphate as well because a high phosphate reading may mean the algae is taking advantage of it and using up a lot of the other nutrients (nitrate's etc) before the plants can grab it. Plants will out compete algae if everything is in balance but if there is an excess of a nutrient (like phosphate) then the algae is more adaptable and will take advantage of it leaving none of the nutrients for the plants. So you can continue to use Flourish after the water has cleared but I would suggest thinking of the recommended dose as being the maximum and starting off with only 1/4 the amount. Keep increasing it slightly over the following weeks as the plants grow and keep pace with the dosage. If you really want to see the plants take off then use CO2 along with increased lighting. But the same thing goes as above - start off slowly and increase the CO2 and light to keep pace with the plant growth as too much too suddenly will mean algae will take advantage of the surplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I hadn't heard of it either until I read an article on the matter, shame I didn't save the link. Light tubes are fairly old, needing updating, so currently light level is low. They are on for 10 hours a day. There's large windows in the room but the tank doesn't get any direct sunlight at this time of year. No algae build-up on the glass or ornaments, but the super fat oto's might explain that one :lol: I'd say my tank would be looking pretty bad if it wasn't for them! +1 to the above about doing a blackout with a water change afterwards (due to nutrient build-up as algae dies). I'd personally lean towards lowering the lighting hours to 8 hours and replacing the tubes - as tubes age their spectrum shifts and can become a spectrum which feeds algae more than it does plants. My favourite T5 brand is Giesemann, however they don't do T8s - for T8s our best brand is probably Hagen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Flourish or Flourish Excel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 It was normal flourish. Thanks for your suggestions everyone I've turned the lights off and covered the tank, will leave it like that for the rest of the week then do a 50% water change on weekend and look into getting the new light. Hopefully that will do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redracer77 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Try some flourish excel or CO2. You might have excess of nutrients but no carbon source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 At this time of year I find that the sun beng lower in the sky causes more issues with my tank, which faces large windows yet receives no direct sun on it, than the in the summer. I would expect your blackout to assist greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I have found indian fern is a great plant to assist with excess nutrient removal. This may help if the black out does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Blackout seems to be doing a good job. Has been 3 days now and the water is looking much more clear. Just did a 50% water change and will probably do 1 more day of blackout. Most of the plants are fin except the wisteria, which was looking a little sad pre-blackout anyway so I'm not surprised it's dying. Hopefully it might bounce back once I get the new lights this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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