# Algae problem



## jaguayo (Oct 26, 2011)

My tank has been taken over by brown algae. It's all over the place: plants, decorations, gravel, filter, glass....

I have live plants and started using root tabs a couple of weeks ago. I'm currently doing two 5 hour light periods a day.

How can I get rid of it and control future blooms?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Need all info about your tank and your light.


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## jaguayo (Oct 26, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Need all info about your tank and your light.


29 gallons, light consists of 4 cfl bulbs totalling 6000 lumens, 2 tetra whisper ex filters (a 30 and a 45), tetra 45 air pump and a 10" air stone, a mix of live and plastic plants, although most are live, substrate is blue gravel, fertilizer is Seachem Flourish Tabs, population is 5 red line barbs, 8 guppies and 2 synodontis zebra hybrids, 30-40% water change every week. I was away for 10 days and left fish feeder blocks in the tank.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

What is the actual wattage of the CFLs (not the equivalent) and what kelvin rating are they?


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

jaguayo said:


> 29 gallons, light consists of 4 cfl bulbs totalling 6000 lumens, 2 tetra whisper ex filters (a 30 and a 45), tetra 45 air pump and a 10" air stone, a mix of live and plastic plants, although most are live, substrate is blue gravel, fertilizer is Seachem Flourish Tabs, population is 5 red line barbs, 8 guppies and 2 synodontis zebra hybrids, 30-40% water change every week. I was away for 10 days and left fish feeder blocks in the tank.


Lumens is the better indicator of light output than wattage, by far. And my good man, that is way too much light for a tank of your size when you aren't dosing liquid ferts and CO2 supplementation, ideally with a laterite clay substrate base. Remove two bulbs until you get to the point where you are sufficiently equipped for that amount of high light output. Even 3k lumens is quite a lot and may still be too much.

High power professional grade CREE LEDs dont even output that kind of light. I think you might be confused. You probably have a 6k color spectrum bulb, NOT lumens. Are you really sure about your numbers?


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

Yeah, your numbers seem way off. Puny CFLs compared to these reef LED setups? No way you're doing 6k lumens. Re-check your numbers, that isn't even close to realistic... Even with some consumer grade metal halides. I'm running a high tech 200 gallon tank off of one of those TMC GroBeam strips, granted its not done... I'm still going to add three more. But even then I won't be running as much as 6k. And you are doing that kind of light over 30 gallons? No way.


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

pH7 said:


> Yeah, your numbers seem way off. Puny CFLs compared to these reef LED setups? No way you're doing 6k lumens. Re-check your numbers, that isn't even close to realistic... Even with some consumer grade metal halides. I'm running a high tech 200 gallon tank off of one of those TMC GroBeam strips, granted its not done... I'm still going to add three more. But even then I won't be running as much as 6k. And you are doing that kind of light over 30 gallons? No way.


LEDs I'm talking about imported from the UK, still und patent... Got mine here LED Aquarium Light; Reef Lighting, AquaRay AquaBeam, GroBeam, Cree XR, XG


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## jaguayo (Oct 26, 2011)

pH7 said:


> Yeah, your numbers seem way off. Puny CFLs compared to these reef LED setups? No way you're doing 6k lumens. Re-check your numbers, that isn't even close to realistic... Even with some consumer grade metal halides. I'm running a high tech 200 gallon tank off of one of those TMC GroBeam strips, granted its not done... I'm still going to add three more. But even then I won't be running as much as 6k. And you are doing that kind of light over 30 gallons? No way.


I have 4 of these bulbs:


http://genet.gelighting.com/LightPr...lf-Ballasted_Spiral®_T3&ModelSelectionFilter=

If each bulb is 1600 lumnes isn´t my total output 6400?


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## jaguayo (Oct 26, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> What is the actual wattage of the CFLs (not the equivalent) and what kelvin rating are they?


They are 26W, 6500K and 1600 lumens each


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

Remove the bubbler, it releases CO2 from the water and the plants need the CO2 to grow without algae on them. sounds like you need ferts/CO2.


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

jaguayo said:


> They are 26W, 6500K and 1600 lumens each


Again, that is a lot of light. Bear in mind also that the lumens on these bulbs are stated as "initial" lumens because the actual number of lumens decreases dramaticaly with both distance from the source and with time. The lumens actually reaching the bottom of your tank are much fewer in number than the inital lumens on these bulbs (which are not designed or intended for aquarium use).

Th 6500 range is good for lighting things up in a room and makes colors "pop", but you run into trouble with algae because so much of that color spectrum isn't even photosyntetically available radiation. Take a look at lighting articles that adress this topic, such as those linked to from the page I shared in my previous post. In simple terms, a lot of the light you provide from those "daylight" bulbs isn't available to plants. Most of it, in fact, is not. Algae however relish it. When you light up a tank with colors that plants don't use and which algae find beneficial, you're feeding the problem, literally.

So you have some options. First, you really need to cut down on the light unless something is using it, and you can't possibly cram enough plants into a 30 galon tank to absorb that amount of light. Second, to combat algae, don't feed it light. Get a CFL for aquariums that doesn't include the colors that algae like. Go back to my original link and poke around for the section on that website that sells CFLs for aquariums.

Third, nourish your plants to the degree that they will out-compete algae for nutrients in the tank. This is actually harder than it sounds. It takes a good deal of study and practice to master, and it takes both time and money to make that happen. Look up "estimative index" on google, or go to Aquarium Plants - Barr Report - Subscribe to the Barr Report and learn how to set up your tank as a planted tank that will flourish and remain free of algae. If you insist on higher light, you will need to supplement CO2. Unless you are a plant afficionado, you may not find this worth the cost in both time and money. If you don't want to learn how to use CO2 /correctly/ then cut down on the light.

Please also remember that the old watts-per-gallon rule is out the window with newer light technologies. Really that became irrelevant with the onset of the T5 flourescent bulb generation, and CFL bulbs even moreso.


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

joevw007 said:


> Remove the bubbler, it releases CO2 from the water and the plants need the CO2 to grow without algae on them. sounds like you need ferts/CO2.


Yes, joevw is right about this. If you are changing your water regularly like you should and you have healthy plants as well, your water will have more than enough oxygen to foster healthy fish.


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## jaguayo (Oct 26, 2011)

Ok, so I've removed the bubbler and I will be installing lower wattage bulbs (didn't like the dark areas that resulted with removing some bulbs). Might introduce CO2 this weekend (DIY of course). Let's see how things turn out.

The link that PH provided gave me tons of info on the lighting subject! Thanks!


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## iadubber (Nov 6, 2011)

joevw007 said:


> Remove the bubbler, it releases CO2 from the water and the plants need the CO2 to grow without algae on them. sounds like you need ferts/CO2.


Not wanting to threadjack, but I had an outbreak of brown algae that I just can't kick. And now that you say this, it has been ever since I put a bubbler back into my lightly planted 55. I'll take it out along with a few day blackout and see what happens.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Kill the lights, stop using the root tabs, stop feeding.

The algae will die off.

You just got too much nutrients and light for the plants to handle. killing the lights and feeding will rebalance the tank and kill off the algae.

then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust to the plants thrive and not the algae.


my .02


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## pH7 (Dec 5, 2011)

beaslbob, how could root tabs providing nutrients under the substrate affect algae above it? I don't agree that the tabs should be removed. They have little to do with the water chemistry above the substrate at all.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

pH7 said:


> beaslbob, how could root tabs providing nutrients under the substrate affect algae above it? I don't agree that the tabs should be removed. They have little to do with the water chemistry above the substrate at all.


IMHO ammonia/nitrItes/nitrAtes are ions the diffuse through the entire water column.

my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

pH7 said:


> beaslbob, how could root tabs providing nutrients under the substrate affect algae above it? I don't agree that the tabs should be removed. They have little to do with the water chemistry above the substrate at all.


You're right, but you can overdo them. They can cause high nitrates in your tank, if you got standard aquarium type. As long as you didn't overfeed, you should be okay to leave them.

Generally and despite what many people believe, algae growth has very little to do with nutrient content of the water.


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## iadubber (Nov 6, 2011)

How long do you kill feeding and lights for?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

iadubber said:


> How long do you kill feeding and lights for?


Until the water clears.

Usually 3 days to a week.

But in extreme cases it can take up to 2-3 weeks.


my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

There is no need to kill the lights for long periods, but you do need to keep it to around 8-10hrs I would think. Much of that is diatom algae that will reduce over time, regardless of the amount of light.


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