Algae problem

[Grangers710]

So I think my tank is starting to have algae come about. My gravel is turning greenish, I'm seeing greenish/brown residue on the glass, and I'm seeing these little tiny green sprout looking things that are tiny and connected to the glass and like a few mms long. Look like little plants growing off the glass (never seen these before). Now I bought a nicer light fixture for my live plants that's like 216 W and I'm guessing this is part of the reason.....I'll be taking pics shortly and posting them as some of the leaves on my plants are turning black/brown....any input is greatly appreciated as to how to fix this issue as I've never had an algae problem before....

[Brhino]

This is stuff you've probably all mentioned in your journal, but just for reference can we get the following info for this thread:

Size of tank
type of lighting (bulb type and spectrum)
amount of time lighting is on
fertilization/root tabs/etc used, if any
CO2 used, if any
Length of time tank has been running

[Grangers710]

75 gal
day 28 of cycle or so
216W lighting, 2 54 W T5 10000k and 2 54 W T5 Blue lighting
Lights go on at 7:00am and off at 10:00 pm
No CO2 and only use leaf zone once a week

I'm guessing the lights are on too much?

[genocidex]

"In lighting, the color temperature of sunlight, expressed in Kelvins, is 6700K, which is a bright, slightly yellowish light. It also is the color temperature that allows terrestrial and aquatic plants to photosynthesize the sugars the plants 'eat'. Conversely, aquatic algae prefers a blueish light, as the color blue transmits through water the furthest. "

straight from the algea primer im guessing kill the blue light

[Grangers710]

Few photos I tried to capture....
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[DylanisHawttt]

How long are you leaving the lights on? Sometimes algae grows because of excessive lights and/or nutrients. Also the brown algae may be diatoms, but I dont have a lot of experience with algae.

[Grangers710]

Lights are on roughly 15 hours a day

[genocidex]

15 seems a bit high. drop down to 10 untill you have some fish in there maybe?

[Grangers710]

I've got fish in the tank and several live plants (see my thread in the General section) for photos. Got 14 fish and some shrimp in it while its cycling...will definitely drop the light time down....should I buy anything that will assist? I just read the algae primer, sounds like my blue lighting might be part of the issue like you said.

[funkman262]

Put the lights on a timer to run for 10 hours a day. You can do it for 10 straight hours or run it 5 on 2 off 5 on. This supposedly helps to reduce algae growth but more importantly helps to reduce heat. You can either remove the blue lights completely or replace them with 6700K bulbs. If you replace them and continue to run 216W of light, I would highly suggest installing a co2 system. By the way, the plant in your last pic looks like the non-aquatic type that Petsmart sells.

[Grangers710]

Definitely can't afford the Co2 system, so I'm guessing no blue lights for me. I definitely wouldn't doubt it about the non-aquatic plant. I think I have a "few" of those that I bought when I went and got all my supplies for my tank to re-set it up...

this darn algae is driving me nuts already, just looks terrible. Will definitely reduce the lighting. I dont plan on getting any high light plants to begin with, so hopefully I can get by with the few lights I got.

Any fish that can assist on eating this junk that would last thru the tail end of a cycle?

[genocidex]

otos should do great if you can find a ligit one....

i wouldnt say you cant afford a co2 system if u get a difussor on ebay it shouldnt be more than say 20 bucks for an entire diy co2 set. im seeing some from 3-10 bucks should be almost free for anything else lol

looks like some of the same growth i had in my tank. after i added a hornwort plant the problem almost disappeared. every week i get 3 quarter sized patches along with some on my decor but its not a big issue with me lol

[funkman262]

To give you an idea on how much unnecessary light you actually have, check out the link in my sig to see what I'm growing in my 90g tank (same footprint as a 75g but taller) with just 186W of T5HO. I use DIY co2 instead of pressurized and have only recently started dosing dry fertilizers in very low amounts.

A nice mix of fish for eating various types of algae include flagfish, ottos, siamese algae eaters, and plecos. Not sure how robust they are though for an uncycled tank.

[Grangers710]

problem is I'm not a DIY type of guy and know zero about co2. If I did get it, I'd have to buy it from somewhere and ask a LOT of questions :-).

[genocidex]

that diy project can be tackled with a drill some tube, hot glue, trash, and almost no experience with diy :P you should check it out. if you are realy in a tuffle tho im sure you can find a kit on ebay i saw one b4

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thats the one im seeing seems over complicated as others ive seen use just water and yeast and sugar .....

[Grangers710]

I think I'm going to try to reduce the light and perhaps add an algae eater and see what happens. If the problem continues in a month or so, perhaps I can look into the co2, but I dont think I have any plants that really NEED it (mainly anacharis) in my tank.

[genocidex]

im not saying you do need it the point im tying to come across on is people think if they need co2 they are dishing out a a few hundred bucks but this isnt true with come research.
im sorry if it seemed like i was pushing that u needed it lol. do you have a bubbler going? if you do then maybe u can stop it (watch for the fish gulping for air tho) it will reduce the waters movement on the surface and keep more co2 in incase thats the issue

[funkman262]

do you have a bubbler going? if you do then maybe u can stop it (watch for the fish gulping for air tho) it will reduce the waters movement on the surface and keep more co2 in incase thats the issue

Sorry but this is incorrect. This would be true had he been using a co2 system but he isn't. In this case, there are a couple factors to consider: how much co2 is being produced by the fish and how much co2 is being consumed by the plants. If the co2 production is GREATER than co2 consumption, then using a bubbler would RELEASE co2 into the air. If co2 production is LESS than co2 consumption, then using a bubbler would ADD co2 from the air. It's all about keeping everything in equilibrium. The air and water are constantly trying to equilibrate. Surface agitation allows this equalibration to occur whereas a calm surface reduces the gas exchange.

[genocidex]

huh i didnt think it worked like that. i thought the agitation worked with oxygen not co2.... learn something new everyday :) thanks

[Grangers710]

very glad I posted this, I've learned a ton. No worries on the Co2 man, I appreciate all your help. I'd like to order a ton of plants at some point, but we'll see if that happens or not. If I do, I might be in touch on the DIY co2 system

[genocidex]

well happy tanking to you. we both learneded something in here :P

[Grangers710]

yea for real! everytime I come to this site I learn something new!

So on page 1, the first photo, the leaf that is black is now perfectly green. Lets just say Otos are unbelievable little creatures!

[genocidex]

they sure are. any idea if you got a real oto?

[Grangers710]

I believe so from what I read up on them. I have a photo (not very good one) in my log in the General Freshwater section under my recent posting.

[chrisfraser05]

I know what I'm going to say has already been said but.....


You are running FAR too much light for not running CO2.

I'd recommend running half the light but even then you need to knock it down to about 8hrs a day. If you really must have it on longer maybe 9-10 at a push.

I'm currently running 162w over my 80G tank with high pressuer CO2 and even in this tank I would be having issues with Algae if it weren't for the fish. I was running 216w at one point but took another bulb out.

I have about 200 shrimp, ottos, platys, a plec and 2 siamese algae eaters to control the algae.

Heres a pic so you can get an idea of how dense my planting is;

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Chris

[Grangers710]

Hey Chris, no man, I took your advice. I knocked the time down to about 10 hrs a day and only doing 108W for awhile to see how it goes. The Otos really helped as the tank is clean now, but I'm interested to see if and how quickly it gets algead up again. I'll be adding some more plants once they arrive in the mail, and might be buying some more anacharis tonight from petsmart since its growing so well, or maybe I'll just cut some of shoots off my current ones and replant...they're already up to the top of the tank

[Angel keeper]

Lights definately affects the algae growth but also if you have more nutrients nah is needed. A really good plant in my opinion in removing such problems in nutrients is Java moss.