Threads loving my waterchanges :(

[oveb]

Hi

For a couple of months I have had problems with hair/thread-algae's.

I've been trying a couple different strategies but they seem to beat me anyway. This is how they look:

http://apps.berthling.com/jGallery/images/Vaxtburk/L1040359.html

I tried:

1. Lots of everything (KNO3,KH2PO4 and Micro) together with almost lethal levels of co2. My angels even tried to escape from the tank.

2. Lots of everything but Micro.

3. Tried to add one teaspoon of Seachem Equilibrium when doing waterchange.

The strange thing is that they seem to grow more 2-3 days after a waterchange. In the end of the week things usually start to look a bit better.

Then I change water and I'm back there growing hair/threads instead of plants...

I also noticed that my tank eat a lot more KNO3 (almost 2 teaspoons/day) than expected and less KH2PO4.

It looks like this:

http://apps.berthling.com/jGallery/images/Vaxtburk/P1010258-modd.html

Other details are:

300 liter
4*54 W T5
PH-controller (Aqua-medic)
Auto-dosing of Fertilizer half an hour before light goes on
UV a couple of hours every night
5 Angels and a couple of ancistrus/corys
Tapwater is ph 8,3 and I take it down to 6,3-6,4.
KH is 4

Everything that can help me out with this is appreciated, I am sick of pruning/picking...

 

[Cornhusker]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

you may try florida flagfish to rid your tank of this algae. i once had this situation, so i tried these ugly fish and it worked.two weeks and it was gone.it could have just been luck too. regards,cornhusker

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Thanks but the problem isn't to remove them, thats easy.

I'm just seeking the reason why they appear after 2-3 days again ?

I think that's the key to the proper solution...

 

[Simpte]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I'm thinking you have too much No3 in your tank. Have you tested you No3 levels?

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

My dosage is 30ppm (right now) after waterchange then I add another 10-15 ppm each day.

Problem is I also tried to keep it really low, adding just one teaspoon after waterchange and then pearling stops before night is over. So I believe I really need to add pretty much !

A simple JBL-test says about 20-30 ppm this evening (yeah it's evening over here)...

So if KNO3 is buffering up during the week, howcome it looks better after another couple of days ?

 

[Simpte]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Your No3 is 20-30?????? Thats high. No wonder your Po4 cant keep up! Try lowering it to 10-15ppm Keep your PO4 where it is. Your plants may need a wekk to adjust but they will start pearling again. A plant can be healthy and not pearl much.

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I might be wrong but I have never considered 20-30 ppms of NO3 to be much...

 

[alexperez]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Thats alot of KNO3 for a tank that size.
I have a 75G with 6X54 T5 and I only add 3/4 tbs 3X a week.
and still have 20-30 ppm of KNO3 before water change.
I just can't see a tank that size needing that much KNO3.

Have you tested the water your adding to the tank
to see what is in it?

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

My tapwater contains:

NO3 0,21ppm
NO2 0,001ppm
NH4 0,062ppm
PO4 0,005ppm
Ca 34ppm
Mg 4ppm
K 2,7

Average figures but pretty normal water in Sweden i believe.

alexperez: You add about 36-40 milliliters of KNO3/week, I add about 45-50. That's not a huge difference is it ?? Do you also consider yourself being in trouble when you have 20-30ppm in the end of the week ??

And another fact remains, when I was adding a lot less the problem was the same !

 

[alexperez]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I haven't had a problem with KNO3 being at that level.
I have had problems with CO2 though. With that much light one slip
up with the CO2 and Bam! Algae.

You Say
"My dosage is 30ppm (right now) after waterchange then I add another 10-15 ppm each day."

if you add that then you should be at about 90ppm at the end of the week.
(Not counting Uptake)
+ 30ppm afte WC.
+ 60ppm (10ppm X 6).
Have you tested your tank just before doing the water change?

I do a 75% water change so I start off with a lot lower NO3
and I only add NO3 3X a week.

I wonder if it could be the fact that your tap water has NH4?
when I set up my Tank I used ADA Substrate and that has NH3/4 in it.
I couldn't add any NO3 or I would get Algae.
I think Tom said since I had NH3/4 in the tank and I was adding NO3
the plants was using the NH3/4 and leaving the NO3 alone.
Its been about 2 month now and Due to the large water changes
I think most of the NH3/4 is used up from the substrate. So I started adding
NO3 and haven't had an issue.

Sometimes trying to chase down a problem can be a PITA.

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I don't measure much any longer, it just makes things more complicated.

But if I add just 5ml KNO3 after a waterchange then pearling stop after about 10hours. If I then add another 5ml it restarts immidiatelly. * sorry for my spelling*

I don't test before I do waterchange. But I believe I change more or less all my water. I poor in/out at the same time for as long as it takes to fluff/pick/prune/arrange, usually an hour or more.

This is how my watersurface look like in the end of the day:
http://www.berthling.com/oblog/P1040344.jpg

So my belief that it eats a lot of KNO3 isn't a guess.

 

[Simpte]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Why would the plants need to pearl after 10 hrs? How long are your lights on?

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Thats by lunchtime the day after waterchange, total of 10 hours with lights on.

I realize that nothing is consumed during night !

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

CO2.

Plants do well for 2-3 days then decline?
You may want to add some MgSO4 also after the water change.
That might be it also.

So CO2, add more, don't worry, just do it and add it slowly till the plants look good.

Next add 1 teaspoon of MgSO4.

Also, do not trust the KH/pH controller.

Set the CO2 flow based on your measurement(both KH/pH, do not assume the water is always KH of 4!!!!!!!)

I would reduce the KNO3 by about 1/4 and leave it.
Unless you are trimming the tank a great deal, it's unlikely the tank is eating this much.

Also, you may want to vacuum the gravel substrate if it's been in place and not uprooted etc in 1-2 years.

Regards,
Tom Barr







Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I believe I already tried that but I'll make another try ! Luckily I just have a bunch of Angels and not Discus

Sometimes I wish that it was possible to buy a ph 6.3 reference-liquid to use to calibrate instead of those far-away references (4.0 & 7.0) !

 

[reiverix]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I dunno if I read something above wrongly or not but I figured I'd just mention this to be on the safe side...

1 ppm of z in a 1g tank is not the same amount as 1 ppm in a 10g tank. In fact, it is only 1/10 the amount.

The measurement is a ratio relative to a certain volume of your water (parts per million), not a weight or volume measurement of z itself. So if you have 1ppm in a tank with only 1 million parts and you compare that amount of z to the amount in a tank with 1ppm and 10 million parts, your ppm readings will be identical but the actual amount of z in the larger tank is 10x more.

So if my 55g tank has 15ppm No3 and my 1.3g tank also has 15ppm, it doesn't mean my smaller tank is overdosed or my larger tank is underdosed. It only means the ratio of No3 to H20 is the same in both tanks.

 

[defdac]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

I think you posted in the wrong thread random_alias?

 

[Laith]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

Your No3 is 20-30?????? Thats high. ...

That's not that high. I like to keep mine at 25-30.

The JBL nitrate test kit is a pretty good one (I use it all the time). I would still test it against a known NO3 level to make sure its still giving good readings. I've even had a LaMotte test kit give me bad readings when tested against a known solution.

Try adding more CO2 (slowly) to get your pH down to 6.1 or 6.2 and see if that makes a difference. Increase of CO2 is the only thing not on your list of things you tried...

 

[oveb]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

CO2.

Plants do well for 2-3 days then decline?
You may want to add some MgSO4 also after the water change.
That might be it also.

So CO2, add more, don't worry, just do it and add it slowly till the plants look good.

Next add 1 teaspoon of MgSO4.

Also, do not trust the KH/pH controller.

Set the CO2 flow based on your measurement(both KH/pH, do not assume the water is always KH of 4!!!!!!!)

I would reduce the KNO3 by about 1/4 and leave it.
Unless you are trimming the tank a great deal, it's unlikely the tank is eating this much.

Also, you may want to vacuum the gravel substrate if it's been in place and not uprooted etc in 1-2 years.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I tried this for a week now, it really scared my Angels to go down to 6,0-6,1.

But I see no improments for my plants.

I've considered going down to just 0,3W/liter (half) , do you believe that a good idea ??

I'm pretty sure that co2 isn't an issue here, a Krause-test gave me ph 6,3 and that's about the same as the controller tells me.

I've also added a teaspoon of MgSO4 (2 days ago) with no improvements

Darned how I hate them threads...

 

[Simpte]

Re: Threads loving my waterchanges

To quote a wise man.......................
"95% of all algae problems are CO2 related."
Adding too much of a fert and not enough of another (which is the same when you think about it) is also a problem.