Algae Pictures

Frank Lawler

Member
Apr 15, 2009
60
0
6
I thought this was blue green algae, but here it is again after 5 days of ethromycin and a 50% water change. Tank parameters are:
29 gal, 55 watts x 10 hrs, C02 at 3+ bubbles/sec (drop checker green or light green), kh/gh 4/6, ph 7.2 to 6.2 during C02, N 15-30, P 1.0-2.0, and Fe 0.5. Also dose Flourish at 60 gal recommendation.
Any ideas as to what type of algae this is, and what the cause might be? Thanks.View attachment 1441View attachment 1442View attachment 1443View attachment 1444View attachment 1445
 

Gerryd

Plant Guru Team
Lifetime Member
Sep 23, 2007
5,623
22
38
South Florida
Hi,

It may be that the light is driving more demand for c02 than you are supplying....

What kind of lights? How mounted? T5? How many bulbs?

55 watts of T5 for 10 hrs on a 30 gal tank sounds like a lot to me....8 hours is fine.

It seems like not enough c02 to me.........but need more info....

You may want to try SLOWLY increasing the c02 over the next couple weeks, being careful of your critters and observing for overgassing...

Don't adjust up and leave for the day.. Adjust when you know you can check it peridodically. C02 is tough to measure and get right, so be patient.

I like the look of the tank BTW...
 

Frank Lawler

Member
Apr 15, 2009
60
0
6
No, not really. I treated with a 150% dose of ethromycin at 600 mg/day for 5 days, followed by 50% water changes, but to no effect. I had read elsewhere that cynobacteria can shelter within porous rock and remain unaffected by ethromycin, but don't know if that's what happened. However, after a three day blackout, about a month ago, everything was absolutely pristine, but only for a few days.
 

Frank Lawler

Member
Apr 15, 2009
60
0
6
It's a twin-tube CF T5 bulb in an AHSupply 55 watt Brite Kit, 2" above the water. As for c02, a week ago I replaced the original HOB filter with a Magnum HOT 250. Had to play around with it for a few days in order to minimize surface movement so as not to gas off the c02. Very powerful.
One day I did crank up the c02 to the point where the fish were distressed, so now it's back down to the aforementioned 3 bubble/second.
Something else seems odd, however. Recently ph has been 6.0-6.2 before co2 comes on, which is a full point lower that it used to be. Not sure what's going on there.
 

chad320

Prolific Poster
Jun 1, 2010
39
0
6
49
Illinois
This may ahve some relevance to the root of your problem...I noticed in one of your pictures that there is ALOT of sunlight in the background which is probably inadvertently affecting your photoperiod. Not that this is the core of your problem but it is certainly not helping control the amount of light its feeding off of.
 

Frank Lawler

Member
Apr 15, 2009
60
0
6
Interesting. Have always left the rear glass uncovered for better viewing, but easy enough to cover it up and see what happens.