Understanding algae and nutrient deficiency

i’ve been battling algae in my 10 gallon, lightly planted tank for some time. the algae is the kind that grows all over the plant leaves and im also getting lots of hair algae.

my tank has one dwarf gourami, 5 neons, jungle val, hornwort, ludwiga repens, rotala indica, an anubius, some dwarf hair grass, and a baby sword and java fern. i dose 1.75ml of nilocg thrive once a week, use the thrive root tabs in my regular sand substrate, and have recently started dosing 2.5 ml of flourish advanced everyday.

my light is a hygger 16w light (the one with the red, white, and blue leds) running for 6 hours a day at 77% (decreased to 6 hours because that’s what everything says to do but i haven’t noticed a difference). it sits about 13 inches from the sand. i change around half of the water once a week.

everything i’ve read has talked about the balance between nitrates and phosphates so i tested them and ill attach a picture of the results as well as a picture of the tank.

my plants just look sad because they’re overcome by algae. a few weeks ago, i took out the ludwiga and bleached it to remove the algae, which worked and they have new growth again, however the algae has started to grow back on the leaves. i also placed an order for a few more plants to hopefully boost the amount of healthy ones as i’ve read having a good amount of healthy plants can help out compete algea (this might be totally stupid lol)

any good advice on how to eradicate this? everything i have read just says to “find a balance” without actually giving a good way to do so.

 

I've had good luck with Seachem Excel reducing or eliminating some forms of algae, like staghorn algae, but it doesn't seem to help with hair algae.

More live plants may help.

 

Did you just clean the algae off prior to your first photo? It looks rather nice with the light coating I can see. Certainly not overtaking the tank.

 

Did you just clean the algae off prior to your first photo? It looks rather nice with the light coating I can see. Certainly not overtaking the tank.

no i’m actually due for my weekly cleaning/water change today lol. i can attach some close ups when i get home from work. the algae is growing all over my poor plant leaves which is my main concern. i wouldn’t mind it if it grew on the glass but it’s preventing my plants from growing

I've had good luck with Seachem Excel reducing or eliminating some forms of algae, like staghorn algae, but it doesn't seem to help with hair algae.

More live plants may help.

i’ve heard good things about the excel! i keep jungle val though which i’ve heard doesn’t like excel and i don’t want them to melt

 

Do you have any snails? Many do eat the algae.

 

Do you have any snails? Many do eat the algae.

yes i do but clearly they’re not helping lol
also, would it make sense to dose my all in one fertilizer when the nitrates get low? could my problem be that i’m not dosing enough fertilizer?

 

Is it just me or does the phosphate test not match any of those colours on the chart ? Your nitrates are practically zero so up the plants and ferts and wait and see if it helps. When you change so much any things it’s hard to know which one helped sometimes.

 

Is it just me or does the phosphate test not match any of those colours on the chart ?

No, it's not just you, I thought the same. But I never did a phosphate test so have no experience with it.

 

i’ve heard good things about the excel! i keep jungle val though which i’ve heard doesn’t like excel and i don’t want them to melt

I've heard that too, but I have it in two tanks, and the Excel doesn't seem to bother it. I can't promise similar results in your case. Maybe it reacts differently in different water parameters? Or maybe that information started when someone added Excel to a tank with vals and they declined for a completely unrelated reason?

 

Is it just me or does the phosphate test not match any of those colours on the chart ? Your nitrates are practically zero so up the plants and ferts and wait and see if it helps. When you change so much any things it’s hard to know which one helped sometimes.

My interpretation is that you're supposed to look at the hue, not the darkness, in which case it's 1 ppm.

BTW I already commented this same thing about this same test on Lithuanian aquarium group not so long ago, and that person also said they have 0 nitrates - only the hand was different - moldy are you by any chance the same household ?

So in that guy's case, the problem was that his filter had activated carbon which has a property of collecting nitrates - any chance you may have it in your filter too?

 

My interpretation is that you're supposed to look at the hue, not the darkness, in which case it's 1 ppm.

Well they’ve made as clear as mud and as easy as wrestling the hulk, huh.

How old is the tank out of curiosity?

 

I've heard that too, but I have it in two tanks, and the Excel doesn't seem to bother it. I can't promise similar results in your case. Maybe it reacts differently in different water parameters? Or maybe that information started when someone added Excel to a tank with vals and they declined for a completely unrelated reason?

i suppose it may be worth trying! say hypothetically the excel helps combat the algae, would it just be covering up a different problem such as imbalances somewhere?

My interpretation is that you're supposed to look at the hue, not the darkness, in which case it's 1 ppm.

BTW I already commented this same thing about this same test on Lithuanian aquarium group not so long ago, and that person also said they have 0 nitrates - only the hand was different - moldy are you by any chance the same household ?

So in that guy's case, the problem was that his filter had activated carbon which has a property of collecting nitrates - any chance you may have it in your filter too?

nope we’re not from the same household lol. i don’t use any activated carbon since is sucks up nutrients (so i’ve heard). all i’ve got running in my filter is a coarse sponge, a fine filter floss, and some ceramic rings.

Is it just me or does the phosphate test not match any of those colours on the chart ? Your nitrates are practically zero so up the plants and ferts and wait and see if it helps. When you change so much any things it’s hard to know which one helped sometimes.

i did a water change last night and then tested the nitrates and the color looked right around 20ppm. say i test it in 3 days and the nitrates are down again, should i dose more fertilizer?

Well they’ve made as clear as mud and as easy as wrestling the hulk, huh.

How old is the tank out of curiosity?

it’s a little more than a year old

 

So the nitrates were near 0. You dosed more ferts. Then did a wc and it was at 20 or did you add ferts after the wc ? Just need to clarify that it’s the ferts upping your nitrate and not a dodgy test ( eg not shaking bottle 2 enough )

I was asking to see if it could be a new tank diatom bloom but clearly it’s not that. Some fast growing stem plants should quickly start to out compete the algea. Are you lights able to be dimmed ? If not could you maybe take an hour or two off the amount of time they are on .

 

So the nitrates were near 0. You dosed more ferts. Then did a wc and it was at 20 or did you add ferts after the wc ? Just need to clarify that it’s the ferts upping your nitrate and not a dodgy test ( eg not shaking bottle 2 enough )

I was asking to see if it could be a new tank diatom bloom but clearly it’s not that. Some fast growing stem plants should quickly start to out compete the algea. Are you lights able to be dimmed ? If not could you maybe take an hour or two off the amount of time they are on .

sorry for the confusion! i dosed my fertilizer after the water change.

i have 2 amazon swords (not super fast growing i know lol) , some ludwigia repeans, and some water sprite coming in the mail tomorrow. are there any other fast growing plants you could recommend?

 

Don’t be sorry ! I’d you dosed after wc then don’t dose again today. Some people do but they have worked out a specific set of micro and macro nutrients they want to dose ( usually ei dosing ) , it’s very fine tuned. Just do what it says on the bottle for now.

Just a heads up , Those swords will need root tabs regularly . I’m a huge fan of limnophilia sessiliflora myself , so fluffy and fast growing. Bacopa caroliniana is another easy one, water wisteria is another option . Are you buying plants online or from a store ?

 

Don’t be sorry ! I’d you dosed after wc then don’t dose again today. Some people do but they have worked out a specific set of micro and macro nutrients they want to dose ( usually ei dosing ) , it’s very fine tuned. Just do what it says on the bottle for now.

Just a heads up , Those swords will need root tabs regularly . I’m a huge fan of limnophilia sessiliflora myself , so fluffy and fast growing. Bacopa caroliniana is another easy one, water wisteria is another option . Are you buying plants online or from a store ?

i have some of the root tabs from the thrive line already in my sand so i’ll probably stick one under the swords when i get them!

i ordered them online from modern aquarium. i’m hoping they’re good quality!! tracking says they’ll arrive tomorrow so we’ll find out.

i’m hoping adding more plants actually helps outcompete the algae because i’m sick of looking at it on the plants that are in there right now haha

So the nitrates were near 0. You dosed more ferts. Then did a wc and it was at 20 or did you add ferts after the wc ? Just need to clarify that it’s the ferts upping your nitrate and not a dodgy test ( eg not shaking bottle 2 enough )

I was asking to see if it could be a new tank diatom bloom but clearly it’s not that. Some fast growing stem plants should quickly start to out compete the algea. Are you lights able to be dimmed ? If not could you maybe take an hour or two off the amount of time they are on .

also i forgot to add that i already dimmed my lights about a month ago. it’s running 6 hours a day on 77% intensity

 

I really hope it helps your algea problem , but give it some time and stay regular on your dosing and water changes.

Once your stems settle and start growing healthy, you can cut them and replant the tops so you end up with lots for the price of one plant. Fingers crossed for you this helps !