Black Trhead Algae

shogsten

Junior Poster
Feb 23, 2005
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I have my PH/C02 stablilized and Algae is slowly going away. But now I am have trouble with a black thread algae. Over two/three days I get some really long strands all over the tank. Some of these reach a one foot in length and are very intertwined with plants. I feel like it is some kind of deficiency, over the last few days I've noticed a decrease in perling and a slight (maybe just nerves) increase in algae growth.

Tank (150 Gallons)
KH 18
PH 6.9 - Very stable through the day
N03 40 ppm
Phos 3 ppm

Dosing
3 tsp NO3 every other day
3/8 tsp Phos

50 ml Traces opposite days - CSM+B

Water changes 2 - 25% changes per week to help keep PH stable. I really need to be careful with water changes at this point - If I change much more that 25% my PH is going to crash to the point of killing my fish.

Plants are growing very well - Anacharias is growing 12-18" per week, Hornwort - mass quantities , a forest of Vals probably 40+ plants, two large swords, 6-8 crypts and apogenta (not doing well leaves are still heavily algae covered)


Scott
 

Tom Barr

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Black Trhead Algae

You can cut the ferts in 1/2.
It seems like something CO2 related to me, given the pH/KH, I'd recheck the CO2 real good.

Also, with algae like this, CO2 issues are very very common.
Regards,
Tom Barr
 

shogsten

Junior Poster
Feb 23, 2005
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Re: Black Trhead Algae

Irregardless of PH/KH settings if I increase the CO2 rate my fish get stressed. I tried increasing the rate, to drop the PH to 6.8, and the fish were definitely stressed, they became lethargic, rapid pumping of the gills, repeated trips to the surface, etc. I tried this a couple of times, the last time I adjusted things very slowly and still the fish were stressed.

Scott
 

Tom Barr

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Staff member
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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: Black Trhead Algae

Then perhaps just time is all you need and keep on removal.

You can also raise the spray bar etc so that there is some more exchange with the air and should be able to add more CO2.

Regards,
Toim Barr
 

shogsten

Junior Poster
Feb 23, 2005
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0
1
Re: Black Trhead Algae

I'll move the spray bar up and see if I can get the C02 a little higher.

Scott