First Algae Bloom

[ice-nine]

Aack. My tank is as cloudy as when I set it up originally. I can't see the filter intake! Green. Quite the earthy bouquet too. The fish are probably enjoying the cover. I just finished adding some LED lights that pretty much doubled the wattage of the stock bulb. Keeping the light on for 12-15 hours a day probably helped kick this one into full bloom. It doesn't help that where I live I don't even get astronomical darkness at night at this point in the year.

[pjaldave]

12-15 hours? You are crazy, that's too much for lighting period. I hope you have a lot of plants to battle the algae, if not, then i would suggest cutting back your lighting to only 6 hours. If you have plants 8-9 hours of lighting should do them good.

[Cliff]

Direct sunlight from a window will also help algae to grow in your tank.

What type of LEDs did you just add to your tank (wattage and K rating). it almost sounds like as soon as you added the LEDs you got the algae.

Lots os extra water changes for the next little while will also help. If you don't have any plants right now, leaving the tank lights off for 2 days would help as well to get rid of your algae

How long has the tank been set-up and what are your nitrates at ?

[escamosa]

12-15 hours? You are crazy, that's too much for lighting period. I hope you have a lot of plants to battle the algae, if not, then i would suggest cutting back your lighting to only 6 hours. If you have plants 8-9 hours of lighting should do them good.

I would suggest that you might like to think about how you talk to people in future, pjaldave. Telling someone that they're crazy for possibly making a mistake is a bit of a low act. Not everyone knows everything, and you are one of those people, just remember that. I think an apology might be a good idea here.

Sorry that I pushed in here, Cliff, and i'm sorry if i've stepped on anyones toes, but that's not right. Everyone deserves a fair go, and to be treated like that is disgusting.

Work with Cliff, ice-nine, and you can't go wrong. thumbs2:

[ice-nine]

Hey Guys, no worries. Because of Pjaldave's input on a previous thread of mine I ended up getting an awesome LED setup that didn't break the bank. I knew that the amount of time the lighting is on would probably lead to this. I just figured I'd give the plants an extra boost as they were quite unhappy before I upgraded the lighting. Didn't realize that the algae bloom would take off like it did. Heh. It's all part of the mad scientist/crazy biologist experiences this hobby offers. :hmm3grin2orange:

To answer a few questions. The tank is a 46 gallon bowfront and is not in direct sunlight. The lighting originates from two 8k Panorama Pro LED modules - 19watts each. Here's a thread relating to the lighting upgrade in the Tank Setup area of this forum:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=89169

My nitrate level is usually between 10 and 20, but I haven't had a chance to check (or do water changes in the past week) due to family stuff and the flu going through my household. The tank is about 4 months old at this point including the month it took to cycle (fishless cycle) so it is still probably not fully matured. LED Lighting has been running in it's current capacity for about a month now.

I do have a dimmer switch in series with the LED modules so keeping the intensity down during the day and turning it up in the evening when we do our viewing is definitely an option. Either that or I'll have to invest in a timer.

I'm thinking that maybe two or three days of leaving the lights off completely with a couple of big (~30-50%) back to back water changes. Gotta invest in a Python, this'll be lots of buckets.

Pics to follow shortly.

[pjaldave]

Sorry for the kinda unthoughtful post. I kinda ran out of words to put in there, lol. Thanks ice-nine for understanding. Thought he's a friend, and that's how i speak in real life, telling my friends they're crazy when, well, they're being crazy. xD

That aside, I still stand by my suggestion to shorten the light period. You said you have plants also, a total blackout might not be beneficial to them, or maybe just do a day of blackout and reduce the lights until the algae is gone.

Again, sorry. :22:

[Cermet]

You will not give an 'extra boost' to your plants by running the lights to the point algae grows so heavily. Not only will the algae steal all the critical nutrients the plants must have but will cover the leaves of the plants and rob them of light, too.

Your best course is to empty much of the water, clean all the algae off the glass and plants/substrate and refill. Try running the lights no more than 8 hours and if algae starts, reduce to six. IF it gets worse, the tank is out of balance or the lights were not intense eought (longer time will not solve that issue.)

If out of balance, nitrates may be too high (aquatic plants do not use nitrates as easy as ammonia so these may build up if the fish waste - ammonia - is being produced by the fish before the filter removes it fast enough - result: nitrate buildup with plants!:ssuprised: )

One choice is to use a very inexpensive yeast based CO2 generator and/or add any missing ferts. :hmm3grin2orange:

[ice-nine]

Two 30 % water changes so far. One yesterday and the other one today. Still pretty cloudy in there. I finally caved and put the LEDs on a timer. 9 hours a day now. Maybe I'll leave the lights off for a day or two altogether. Not sure how much difference that would cause.

One of the bonuses of this is that I had an excuse to buy a python. No more buckets!thumbs2:

[ice-nine]

One choice is to use a very inexpensive yeast based CO2 generator and/or add any missing ferts. :hmm3grin2orange:

Hmm, I've got some old brewer's yeast kicking around. Maybe a lager yeast? Gonna have to look this concept up on the web. How would this cut down on the Algae growth?

[Cliff]

You will not regret getting that python. I would never be without one now.

You might want to try larger water changes than 30% for the next little while.

[Cermet]

Hmm, I've got some old brewer's yeast kicking around. Maybe a lager yeast? Gonna have to look this concept up on the web. How would this cut down on the Algae growth?

Here is a thread on yeast based systems (really the mix/feeding):

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=90904

Here is the main algae 'sticky' - good to read all of it:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=24570

A few details on the yeast method - a mix of yeast and sugar in water is place in some type of bottle (most use a 2 l soda bottle.) An air line is affixed through the bottle top and run to some type of diffuser (air stones are often used.) This is placed in the tank - the CO2 gas gets into the water and feeds the plants. This, with strong light (9 hours is long) and IF no other critical nutrients are missing, then the plants out grow the algae by using up all nutrients so the algae starves. :hmm3grin2orange:

Also, really helps plants get big, fast. thumbs2:

[ice-nine]

Awesome. I already have a yeast culture I can pull from. Plenty of fresh yeast (Fermentis S23) from a Munich Lager that's been lagering in my beer fridge for the past 6 weeks. It'll probably start up in a few hours. The only problem is that I have to bottle my beer first!

Can you overdose on the CO2 in the tank? The 2 litre pop bottle idea would probably fit in the tank stand.

Time for another big water change.

[ice-nine]

Well it's been a few days since the last water change. A couple packets of brewers yeast and some sugar has been pumping CO2 into the tank steadily thru an airstone. Plants look happy. There's an odd abrupt transition from light green to dark green on a couple small javafern leaflet sprouts growing out of a rhizome. I wonder if this has to do with the CO2 addition.

Best of all, the tank looks pretty clear! thumbs2: