Help 4yr+ old tank, first time getting multiple forms of algae without changes.

[JohnPilon]

Hi all!

Been battling this tank for 2 months, so decided to checkin with the forum and see what everyone thinks.

My tank has been going for 4+ years. Has gone through 2 moves, and multiple heavy replants. However, I have noticed some algae that has gotten out of control, and cannot seem to get a good handle on it. Parameters have NOT changed in the slightest over the years and my regimen has stayed extremely consistent.

• APT e for dosing
• 50% water change once a week
• ADA amazonia aquasoil, replenish root tabs every handful of months when replanting.
• Consistent 30-35ppm CO2. Regulator has also stayed same BPS since start of the tank (i know this may be irrelevant).
• No changes to dosing, water changes, plants, etc.

I am noticing staghorn algae for sure, and have been trying to remove as much as I can. Additionally, most algae can be rubbed off, its just the hydropiper carpet that is suffering the most as a result. Unfortunately for me, this is the FIRST time my hydropiper has done so poorly.

I have tried: spot dosing, excel, trimming affected leaves, deep cleans.

Any insight would be extremely appreciated!

 

[PeerUnk]

Hi,

I am a firm believer in: lots of happy plants minimize chance of germinating algae.

So you are combatting algae, you should make your plants happy. Not all have the same wish list though…

So we are looking for signs of unhappiness. The fastest growing plants are giving the fastest response when something is wrong.

Do you have fast growing stem plants in your tank? Or even better, do you have Frogbit or RRF in your tank? (Floaters benefit from lots of light, no need of CO2 from the water column, and don’t have the substrate as a nutrient buffer)

Cheers!

 

[Kwyet]

I would also suggest regular water changes. Most here do 50% weekly. In a low tech tank with lots of plants you can get away with less often/less amounts, but even then I prefer at least every other week, and yours isn’t low-tech.

 

[techman81]

• APT e for dosing
• 50% water change once a year

Legit, one WC a year while using APT E? I would have crazy algae if I didn't do weekly water changes.

 

[Aquajack]

I wonder if you were meant to say 50% weekly?
I've had a similar issue in a high tech tank the last couple months. Still getting to the end of it.
I think mine may have been caused by transitioning from commercial ferts to DIY - which was an increase in nutrients.

Looks like a similar type of algae that i have/had.. I had the same issue on a low tech tank but just persevered, focusing on the fundamentals and flow along with keeping the tank as clean as possible. For the high tech tank i've been spending 5-10 min each day ripping out the algae. Patience is a virtue they say!

 

[Sulla]

I also question the once a year water change? Can you confirm?

Either way..by process of elimination if it's not you changing something then something out of your control has changed.

Could be the plants - maybe their demands have changed with maturity? Aquasoil needs more tabs because it's even more depleted than before? Tap water has changed? Temp/season change? Livestock dead somewhere you can't see that's shifted balance a bit?

 

[SingAlongWithTsing]

could have too much of something built up? not sure if that green hair algae is some type of clado but I would test po4 levels just in case seems clado loves po4.

apt e doses around 7 to 8 ppm po4 per week doesnt it?

 

[JohnPilon]

Hi,

I am a firm believer in: lots of happy plants minimize chance of germinating algae.

So you are combatting algae, you should make your plants happy. Not all have the same wish list though…

So we are looking for signs of unhappiness. The fastest growing plants are giving the fastest response when something is wrong.

Do you have fast growing stem plants in your tank? Or even better, do you have Frogbit or RRF in your tank? (Floaters benefit from lots of light, no need of CO2 from the water column, and don’t have the substrate as a nutrient buffer)

Cheers!

Hi!

I am a believer of such as well. My stem plants are doing fantastic, and even my slowest plant (pink flamingo) is still sending out beautiful shooters and new leaves look great. I do not use floaters since they would heavily shade out my plants. I do however, have alot of emersed pinnitifida growing out of the tank.

 

[JohnPilon]

Legit, one WC a year while using APT E? I would have crazy algae if I didn't do weekly water changes.

Oh my god i did mean once a week.

 

[JohnPilon]

I also question the once a year water change? Can you confirm?

Either way..by process of elimination if it's not you changing something then something out of your control has changed.

Could be the plants - maybe their demands have changed with maturity? Aquasoil needs more tabs because it's even more depleted than before? Tap water has changed? Temp/season change? Livestock dead somewhere you can't see that's shifted balance a bit?

Yes i did mean once a week lol. Would be INSANE that it would last 4 years dosing EI and WC 1/year.

I do use remineralized RODI, and have checked my RODI recently to ensure something wasnt leeching through (of course this is anything i can properly measure). No dead livestock. Temps/season has changed since it has been swinging wildly between 30-80 here but I do have a heater and keep the house very consistent in terms of ambient temp. However, i could see temp being a potential avenue to explore here.

 

[snowballs99]

What i usually do if I wanna smoke out all the algae is a good deep gravel vacuuming session with a massive 100% water change if you can.

Dim the lights by 50% after for a few weeks. Pretty much have a 100% success rate with this.

My rocks turn from green and slimey to super clear as shrimp, otos and snails clean up all the algae since there's not much left to eat with the detritus out the tank.

 

[DutchMuch]

What i usually do if I wanna smoke out all the algae is a good deep gravel vacuuming session with a massive 100% water change if you can.

Dim the lights by 50% after for a few weeks. Pretty much have a 100% success rate with this.

My rocks turn from green and slimey to super clear as shrimp, otos and snails clean up all the algae since there's not much left to eat with the detritus out the tank.

Hello,

I wanted to chime in here as well. I’m with Snowball here, I think a good deep “house cleaning” on this scape wouldn’t hurt at all.

The result would be beneficial either way even if it didn’t work to inhibit further algae growth.

I also did the same thing similar during a re-scape and so far have, surprisingly, faced no algae at all yet. So I can attest to what snowball is saying as well!

 

[snowballs99]

Hello,

I wanted to chime in here as well. I’m with Snowball here, I think a good deep “house cleaning” on this scape wouldn’t hurt at all.

The result would be beneficial either way even if it didn’t work to inhibit further algae growth.

I also did the same thing similar during a re-scape and so far have, surprisingly, faced no algae at all yet. So I can attest to what snowball is saying as well!

Important part I wanna highlight in the last post people may skim by:

Nerite Snails, amano shrimp, ottos go hungry and start going crazy on the algae after a deep cleaning. Maybe they have nothing else to eat. Maybe the algae becomes weakened (or stressed?, if plants can get "stressed" and melt do algae experience it as well?)

Only blackbrush algae seems to not care as nothing I have is willing to eat them. Excel spot treating is the only thing for that.

 

[JohnPilon]

Important part I wanna highlight in the last post people may skim by:

Nerite Snails, amano shrimp, ottos go hungry and start going crazy on the algae after a deep cleaning. Maybe they have nothing else to eat. Maybe the algae becomes weakened (or stressed?, if plants can get "stressed" and melt do algae experience it as well?)

Only blackbrush algae seems to not care as nothing I have is willing to eat them. Excel spot treating is the only thing for that.

Ill give it a shot then! I do got shrimp, but no snails or otos. It is a 10G tank so i will not keep otos in this setup, but for future ones yes!