I'm beating green hair but now brown thread algae has arrived

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MrMuggles

MrMuggles

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I'm doing endless hours of daily maintenance, scraping hair algae off everything in this tank nonstop, and with all my other countermeasures it is finally working to an extent.

However, as the thick green carpets disappear, i see more and more brownish colored longer, thicker strands forming at the edges of my leaves. More akin to horsehair. It seems to be sickening the plant tissues where it resides.

To give an idea of how halting the progress is, I removed about 50% of the plant mass from my tank over the last week to deal with algae infected plants. The remaining 50% is already MOSTLY covered with a mix of algaes. Plants grow very rapidly and algae now just grows faster to keep up with them.

I'm removing all decor to scrub algae twice weekly. I'm cleaning the glass at least 2x weekly. Its an insane amount of work.

What do I do now? it begins to feel like a full reset is my best option.
 
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plan for today: 2x 50% water change to reset water column and wait a couple days.
 
Can you tell us more about your tank, routine, parameters etc. The more info the better we can help you.
Ex your type of lights, schedule and intensity. What substrate you have. What type of regulator and CO2 your adding and via what (Diffuser, Reactor etc). Dosing what exactly, how much and when. You get the point.
 
I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I can tell you a full reset is not the best way to go. Let's diagnose the problem and then we will find the solution together. Patience will be required but success will materialize.

As was said above by @BigWave, we need more information to be able to help. Each tank is different so having data is important to see what may be off. I highly recommend that you complete @GreggZ's template and then post it here. If you complete it, you can post it here by taking a computer screen shot of it and attaching it to a post.
 
There were some obvious problems with my system that I found when I inspected everything over the weekend:
1. insufficient flow/dead zones in the back of the tank. All kinds of crap was allowed to rest on leaf surfaces. I opened the drain up more and increased the pump throttle. flow is improved
2. very very dirty neglected bio media chamber. cleaned it out completely and rinsed media.
3. CO2 in-tank diffuser suction cup had detached at some point for a day or two, bubbling chunky and inefficiently

I believe strongly that the main problem is still lighting. I'm without a way to test PAR. I have begun increasing lighting since raising the altitude of my lights a few inches. plants are responding well.

all the fertilizer parameters are consistent with the weekly 50% WC "medium light" regime listed here: Planted Aquarium Fertilizer Guide, Fertilizer Dosing Calculator
"This limits water column nutrient levels to 14 ppm NO3, 1.4 ppm PO4, 18 ppm K, 1.4 ppm Mg, 0.7 ppm Fe(TE)."

I was doing extra water changes for a time to help with excessive plant melt waste, so the water had been a bit leaner, but now I have settled into 50% weekly as described above.

Tank size: 120G 4x2x2'

CO2 is on 5:30am
light duration: 9hrs
lights on 8:30am (2x Kessil tuna sun a360x @ 70% peak. 55 degree reflectors, mounted 14 inches above the water)
lights out and CO2 off 5:30pm

PH high/low is roughly 7.5->6.5

GH boost comes from Equilibrium, tap very low, I add 3 dGH and the tank reads about 6.

Turnover: ~5.5x/hour
System water volume is around 115G and pump with plumping subtractions is set to move roughly 600GPH minimum
 
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I think the first three points you touched on are your biggest threats. Rotting organic material are for sure triggers for algae and keeps it well fed. By addressing that I think you’re off to a good start. You also mentioned the CO2 issue, when was the last time you did a pH test? I know you said roughly 7.5 to 6.5, are you indicating that’s the drop after co2 saturates the water? Or that’s a fluctuation you happen to notice even when co2 has been on and running?
 
Beyond watching the drop checker, I've been looking at liquid test results midday vs. when the gas comes on each morning.

7.5 -> 6.5 is about the CO2 saturation drop, if I trust the clunky liquid tests. Unfortunately my digital probe is expired and unreliable.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
Rotting organic material are for sure triggers for algae and keeps it well fed.
Click to expand...
I was afraid of removing the compromised plant matter for a long time, partly because I was starving the tank of light and plants would not regenerate quickly. Last week I started going Highlander on that **** though
 
Just a note to let you know you would get better help if you kept all this in one thread.

I remember seeing pictures of your tank in another thread but those checking in here have probably not seen them. It helps to solve the puzzle if folks can see what you are growing and how different plants are doing.

I do agree much of your problem likely had to with poor maintenance, but getting CO2 and ferts dialed in can make a big difference too.

I would begin to tackle one aspect at a time. Start with learning more about pH drop from CO2 and how to measure it properly. I hate to say it but right now it seems like a little better than guessing.

Then go on to ferts. The dosing you described (PPS) may or may not be what your tank requires. It's hard to say without pics and knowing the different species you keep.

Then try to find out more the PAR your light produces. If you search around you may find information that will help.

And keep in mind that good maintenance makes everything else easier. Remove dead/decaying plant matter, keep substrate clean, keep up on water changes, keep filters clean, etc.
 
TBF It's not that I'm just guessing about the pH drop. I have a drop checker and liquid test kit that are only so accurate, what I was saying is I don't have a lot of trust in their precision but it's the best I got right now.
 
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I think there's some good advice mentioned in the above comments.

I'm still learning myself, but I did wonder a couple of things, apart from what's already mentioned.

I wondered if perhaps a reactor would be a more effective way for the addition of CO2, considering your tank size, your flow issue and that your using a sump.

Perhaps 9 hours of lighting is too much?

Also, wondered if your actual tank volume could possibly be less than what you've stated? You mentioned 120gal.

I have a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank, (and I'm in Australia, so I go by litres), but my tank volume when empty and if it was filled to the brim would hold 403.8 litres. A little over 106 gallon if I'm correct. Taking into account the soil, the canisters, reactor, and filling tank to 1cm from the brim, my total working water volume is more like 350 litres. (92gal?) Big difference to 120gal.
Something else to think about maybe?

Cheers
 
I am still learning and battling Algae myself so not in a position to advise but I have some resources that I can share:
 
Joel Armstrong said:
I think there's some good advice mentioned in the above comments.

I'm still learning myself, but I did wonder a couple of things, apart from what's already mentioned.

I wondered if perhaps a reactor would be a more effective way for the addition of CO2, considering your tank size, your flow issue and that your using a sump.

Perhaps 9 hours of lighting is too much?

Also, wondered if your actual tank volume could possibly be less than what you've stated? You mentioned 120gal.

I have a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank, (and I'm in Australia, so I go by litres), but my tank volume when empty and if it was filled to the brim would hold 403.8 litres. A little over 106 gallon if I'm correct. Taking into account the soil, the canisters, reactor, and filling tank to 1cm from the brim, my total working water volume is more like 350 litres. (92gal?) Big difference to 120gal.
Something else to think about maybe?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks for the ideas! its important to scrutinize everything because I've overlooked several bits.

This week I did move the diffuser into the tank and the CO2 mist now travels up through almost 20 inches of water, leading to less gassing off at the surface. Putting CO2 closer to where it is needed just makes sense, rather than letting it gas off in the final sump return chamber (no lid). The drop checker is all the way at the opposite side of the tank and responds well to injection, we get to "mellow yellow" notably faster now in the morning.

I can't buy any more equipment for now but will definitely consider a reactor for the future.

indeed 9 hours could be too much, and 8 hours would save a little on CO2 as well.

I once calculated as precisely as I could the tank volume. including subtractions for decor and glass thickness, air space at the top. Tank itself about 96 Gallons, sump is a baffled 29 gallon tank that sits at about 70% full. So the total system volume according to my math is in the ballpark of 115-120 gallons.
 
Current look at the tank:



Newly added P.S. Octopus can be seen flourishing, my goal is to have this plant reach up into the mid-ground and provide enough cover for fish so I can remove the temporary plastic plant

Today I'm re-homing a big cichlid who likes to dig a lot, it will make life easier for me and the plants.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
Is that a Severum? I love them I think they are big beautiful fish.
Click to expand...
Yes! that is Beand. Tank boss and part time aquascaper. My all time favorite fish. I would do anything for him. If he decided all the plants and other fish had to go I would do it for him. Luckily he's pretty chill.
IMG_6083.jpeg
 
MrMuggles said:
Today I'm re-homing a big cichlid who likes to dig a lot, it will make life easier for me and the plants.
Click to expand...
A big thing with algae was probably this eartheater, I had rocks to protect plantings but she would rain sand and detritus down all over the entire 'scape, on plant leaves and everywhere. I swear it was like she wanted to release the sand at the highest possible altitude, to really paint the whole town with it.
Surely that was not helping. I didn't really think about it until now.
 
++ Shortened photo period by an hour.

Maintenance today was a mixed bag!

Burning on the tips of the swords tells me that I had overshot the lighting intensity. This is good, now I know their limit and certainly don't need to even approach it for good growth.

I continue to have carpets of slimy algae all over the swords. new leaves infected quickly. Overshooting the light has sickened them so its going to be a little more battle time with these, I assume.

The PS Octopus and Val are both resisting algae well, save for just a little of the brown stuff.

With the big eartheater gone I was able to rescape things to be more the way I wanted and, I hope, what the plants need.... rather than what she would allow.

Tons of garbage was kicked up as I moved things around. So more big water changes and filter cleaning tonight.

IMG_6243.jpeg
 
I'm still in a place where I grow the swords exactly as fast as I exfoliate older leaves due to algae infection. Green hair and something brown also continue thrive on these plants. New leaves look great for 3-4 days, I get excited thinking ok this is vigorous, finally I'm winning... boom, next day the green carpet appears.

Other plants are relatively much better. Val will show some brown bits but they don't progress and the green stuff is totally absent.

I have more return pump flow now than ever and higher frequency of all maintenance. I wonder if I'm doing too much sometimes.



FA7F65F1-95AE-4C49-8CB2-38D50947F255_1_102_o.jpeg
 
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