I have a 20 Gallon planted Aquarium that has been up for about 2 years now. I have always had issues with green hair algae growing on the plants and glass of the aquarium. Here is a little about the setup:
1) I use Seachem Fluorite as the gravel
2) I am currently using (2) 55 Watt 5500 Degree PC bulbs as light (AH Supply).
3) I use CO2 dosing with a controller to a pH=6.8
4) I use an Eheim 2213 Cannister Filter
5) I use a Hydor external heater set to 83 Degrees F. I would rather do a substrate heater but too late now.
6) I use a powerhead for extra water movement and to force water into the CO2 reactor.
7) I have a fully grown pair of discus (5"), 5 rummy nose tetras, 5 cardinal tetras, 8 ottos, 3 corys, and (10) amano shrimp in the tank.
8) The discus get fed 2 cubes of frozen Hikari bloodworms per day. The rest of the fish get small portions of flake food.
9) The plants I have are vallisneria, rotala indica, rotala walachii, java fern, ozelot sword, glossostigma, riccia.
3 weeks ago I did a rejuvenation of the plants and added all the plants above new except for the vallisneria (that was doing the best of the older plants). I took all the older green algae infested plants out.
The most recent set of test results (using Hach and LaMotte test kits) are:
1) pH = 6.8
2) KH = 4DH
3) PO4 = 0.4 ppm
4) NO3 = 15ppm
5) FE = 0.15mg/L
All of the plants seem to be growing well but algae has been creeping into the tank the past 2 weeks. It seems to be getting worse. There is green hair algae on the java ferns the worst (probably because a relatively slow grower?). The ozelot sword is the next with green hair algae. The indica has no algae on it all all. The same goes for the riccia (which is growing furociously). The glosso is growing very well with new shoots everywhere but it is developing green hair algae on top of it. The Vallisneria has new shoots growing everywhere as well. All the fish seem to be doing very well. The discus have already spawned on the filter intake. They ate the eggs or the filter sucked them in.
I have been doing many water changes lately to try and combat this (3-4 times/week; 5 gallons each change). I use San Diego tap water. Then add 0.75ml Seachem Prime, 10ml DuplaGan, 0.25 DuplaPlant tablet, and 6ml of homemade phosphate mix (I found the tank to not produce enough PO4) to each 5 gallon water change (done every 3 days). I use the Dupla fert stuff because I got it for free. I used Seachem line before but still had algae problems. Thought I would try the Dupla being I had it laying it around. I do a 5 gallon change so the pH doesn't rise too drastically. I only allow CO2 to drop the pH (SD tap water is over pH=8).
I am wondering what I should do next to stop the green algae growth? Any recommendations? I was thinking that perhaps my problem was because the NO3 was very high due to the Discus but I don't think that is the problem after doing water changes every 3 days. The NO3 is always in the 10ppm-25ppm range. Perhaps 2 Discus for a 20 gallon is not going to fly for a densely planted aquarium?
I have also noticed that the tops of the Vallisneria is turning a reddish/brown color. This is only on the Vallisneria that is near the top 3" or so of the water colum. The Vallisneria below that looks very green. I don't understand this as well. Nutrient deficiency?
I think that the tank takes about 0.2ppm PO4/day. I dose this amount during my water changes. I have seen suggested PO4 of 0.2ppm to 1.0+ppm. Any suggestions? I keep it in the 0.1 to 0.6ppm range depending on when the water change is made.
Overall, I have had problems keeping the green hair algae completely off of the plant leaves and glass. It never gets out of control (grows about 0.25" but thick) but it is definitely there. Seems to get to slow growing plants more. The amano shrimps or ottos don't appear to eat any of it. The ottos do suck on everything but don't actually seem to eat the stuff. Any recommendations of what to try would be great or let me know what foolish thing I am doing wrong...
By the way, nicely designed website!!
1) I use Seachem Fluorite as the gravel
2) I am currently using (2) 55 Watt 5500 Degree PC bulbs as light (AH Supply).
3) I use CO2 dosing with a controller to a pH=6.8
4) I use an Eheim 2213 Cannister Filter
5) I use a Hydor external heater set to 83 Degrees F. I would rather do a substrate heater but too late now.
6) I use a powerhead for extra water movement and to force water into the CO2 reactor.
7) I have a fully grown pair of discus (5"), 5 rummy nose tetras, 5 cardinal tetras, 8 ottos, 3 corys, and (10) amano shrimp in the tank.
8) The discus get fed 2 cubes of frozen Hikari bloodworms per day. The rest of the fish get small portions of flake food.
9) The plants I have are vallisneria, rotala indica, rotala walachii, java fern, ozelot sword, glossostigma, riccia.
3 weeks ago I did a rejuvenation of the plants and added all the plants above new except for the vallisneria (that was doing the best of the older plants). I took all the older green algae infested plants out.
The most recent set of test results (using Hach and LaMotte test kits) are:
1) pH = 6.8
2) KH = 4DH
3) PO4 = 0.4 ppm
4) NO3 = 15ppm
5) FE = 0.15mg/L
All of the plants seem to be growing well but algae has been creeping into the tank the past 2 weeks. It seems to be getting worse. There is green hair algae on the java ferns the worst (probably because a relatively slow grower?). The ozelot sword is the next with green hair algae. The indica has no algae on it all all. The same goes for the riccia (which is growing furociously). The glosso is growing very well with new shoots everywhere but it is developing green hair algae on top of it. The Vallisneria has new shoots growing everywhere as well. All the fish seem to be doing very well. The discus have already spawned on the filter intake. They ate the eggs or the filter sucked them in.
I have been doing many water changes lately to try and combat this (3-4 times/week; 5 gallons each change). I use San Diego tap water. Then add 0.75ml Seachem Prime, 10ml DuplaGan, 0.25 DuplaPlant tablet, and 6ml of homemade phosphate mix (I found the tank to not produce enough PO4) to each 5 gallon water change (done every 3 days). I use the Dupla fert stuff because I got it for free. I used Seachem line before but still had algae problems. Thought I would try the Dupla being I had it laying it around. I do a 5 gallon change so the pH doesn't rise too drastically. I only allow CO2 to drop the pH (SD tap water is over pH=8).
I am wondering what I should do next to stop the green algae growth? Any recommendations? I was thinking that perhaps my problem was because the NO3 was very high due to the Discus but I don't think that is the problem after doing water changes every 3 days. The NO3 is always in the 10ppm-25ppm range. Perhaps 2 Discus for a 20 gallon is not going to fly for a densely planted aquarium?
I have also noticed that the tops of the Vallisneria is turning a reddish/brown color. This is only on the Vallisneria that is near the top 3" or so of the water colum. The Vallisneria below that looks very green. I don't understand this as well. Nutrient deficiency?
I think that the tank takes about 0.2ppm PO4/day. I dose this amount during my water changes. I have seen suggested PO4 of 0.2ppm to 1.0+ppm. Any suggestions? I keep it in the 0.1 to 0.6ppm range depending on when the water change is made.
Overall, I have had problems keeping the green hair algae completely off of the plant leaves and glass. It never gets out of control (grows about 0.25" but thick) but it is definitely there. Seems to get to slow growing plants more. The amano shrimps or ottos don't appear to eat any of it. The ottos do suck on everything but don't actually seem to eat the stuff. Any recommendations of what to try would be great or let me know what foolish thing I am doing wrong...
By the way, nicely designed website!!