What is this algae?

[Dantel]

I have this algae problem for the past 2 month I think.



What is this algae above? I also feel the water to be thick or of high viscosity, if that helps.

Also, this was on top of the water due to neglecting the tank for 3 weeks.

I added a ton of Monte Carlo, did a 100% water change, and cleaned to fight the algae back.


Tank details: has a filter, CO2 (not in the picture), no livestock, it's 2.5 years old, soil and sand for substrate, no fertilizer at the moment, but planning to start soon.

 

[Mudminnow]

The algae in the first few shots is cyanobacteria/Blue-Green Algae/BGA.

Also, the surface of the water in your tank looked like that after just 3 weeks? You may want to consider more surface agitation and/or surface skimming.

 

[orandaman]

Low flow is your enemy. If you set up a higher flow filter it will clear it but also clogg it. It's best to add a larger air stone and remove it with suction. Also if you do a few water changes you can halt it's growth.

 

[Dantel]

The algae in the first few shots is cyanobacteria/Blue-Green Algae/BGA.

Also, the surface of the water in your tank looked like that after just 3 weeks? You may want to consider more surface agitation and/or surface skimming.

In just a week, the surface starts to get white. It is very odd because the water in general looks thick, too. If you look at images closely, you can see very small straight particles everywhere in the water. First, I thought it was my filter material (white wool kind of thing), but after I changed it, it's the same. I am not sure if those particles are small algae particles, but I can't seem to remove them even with a full water change.

Low flow is your enemy. If you set up a higher flow filter it will clear it but also clogg it. It's best to add a larger air stone and remove it with suction. Also if you do a few water changes you can halt it's growth.

Actually, the flow is pretty good. I made a custom outlet that makes the flow go everywhere in the tank, but despite this, I can't stop the algae. Is it because I have CO2 and strong light but no fertilizer? But the plants are growing quite well, I just can't get rid of the algae

I want to add some shrimp, but I am worried I just can't make a stable environment for them. I wonder if I do water changes every 3 days, I can win over

 

[Mudminnow]

Is it because I have CO2 and strong light but no fertilizer?

A tank with only carpeting plants is more challenging than pretty much any other type of planted tank. These plants typically grow right at the water's edge where they have access to lots of light and CO2. Therefore, they'll typically need high light and CO2 in the aquarium. But, too much light invites algae. So, you'll need just the right amount of light without skimping on the CO2.

CO2 injection's easy to mess up too. You'll need to keep it steady and high enough when the lights are on. If the CO2 concentrations vary too much when the lights are on, the plants will get stressed--inviting algae. And if you overdo it, you can kill any fishes or other animals that might be in the tank. Clean, agitated surface water is key. It allows you to raise CO2 to a target point more quickly and hold it there as excess CO2 more easily off gasses.

In a tank like yours, you'll need to fertilize eventually. The light and CO2 these plants need keeps driving them to grow even when they run out of nutrients. Thus, they'll get deficient and stressed--inviting algae. Even with fertilizers, carpeting plants aren't as good at defending themselves from algae as some other plants. So, it's usually smart to mainly fertilize the substrate and lightly dose the water column.

If you wanted, you could make things a lot easier on yourself by adding a bunch of hardy, fast-growing stem plants in the back. Having such plants would give you a lot more flexibility in terms of lighting and fertilization.

Also, BGA can sometimes be pretty tough to get rid of once it establishes itself. A product like Chemiclean, Aquarium Treatment can help a lot.

 

[Dantel]

A tank with only carpeting plants is more challenging than pretty much any other type of planted tank. These plants typically grow right at the water's edge where they have access to lots of light and CO2. Therefore, they'll typically need high light and CO2 in the aquarium. But, too much light invites algae. So, you'll need just the right amount of light without skimping on the CO2.

CO2 injection's easy to mess up too. You'll need to keep it steady and high enough when the lights are on. If the CO2 concentrations vary too much when the lights are on, the plants will get stressed--inviting algae. And if you overdo it, you can kill any fishes or other animals that might be in the tank. Clean, agitated surface water is key. It allows you to raise CO2 to a target point more quickly and hold it there as excess CO2 more easily off gasses.

In a tank like yours, you'll need to fertilize eventually. The light and CO2 these plants need keeps driving them to grow even when they run out of nutrients. Thus, they'll get deficient and stressed--inviting algae. Even with fertilizers, carpeting plants aren't as good at defending themselves from algae as some other plants. So, it's usually smart to mainly fertilize the substrate and lightly dose the water column.

If you wanted, you could make things a lot easier on yourself by adding a bunch of hardy, fast-growing stem plants in the back. Having such plants would give you a lot more flexibility in terms of lighting and fertilization.

Also, BGA can sometimes be pretty tough to get rid of once it establishes itself. A product like Chemiclean, Aquarium Treatment can help a lot.

I am working on a system that automates many functions of an aquarium; hopefully, that will take care of the things that I keep neglecting.

CO2 is giving me lots of trouble because the bubble coming out is not steady. Sometimes it's going fast and sometimes slower despite not touching the knob. I think the problem is mainly the water flowing back up and down in the CO2 tubing. Despite installing some backflow thing that should prevent this, the water keeps going back down on the tubing, and therefore takes 2-4 hours for the CO2 to push the water back up on the tubing.

I am not sure how to solve this problem anymore, except maybe opening the CO2 at some intervals to prevent the water backflow.

Furthermore, for BGA, I have some hydrogen peroxide. Should I use that? And since I don't have any livestock, can I double-dose to kill the algae fully?

 

[DaveKS]

I have this algae problem for the past 2 month I think.

What is this algae above? I also feel the water to be thick or of high viscosity, if that helps.

Have to ask. How is the extra deep end of this tank built up? Is that just a5-6” deep layer of soil?

 

[goodbyeforever]

I have had success for cyanobacteria with a lights out, that kills the algae, but also is hard on plants. I don't remember if it was only 2 days or 3. The last time I tried Easy Life BlueExit that might work too. Manually removing it won't help, it has all to die. It hasn't come back since. It should be easy without any fish to add chemicals safely, overdosing won't help. Also when I stopped feeding flakes to the fish, it never came back, maybe when surface doesn't flow too much, algae grows when there is nutrients flowing around.

 

[Mudminnow]

I think the problem is mainly the water flowing back up and down in the CO2 tubing. Despite installing some backflow thing that should prevent this, the water keeps going back down on the tubing, and therefore takes 2-4 hours for the CO2 to push the water back up on the tubing.

I am not sure how to solve this problem anymore, except maybe opening the CO2 at some intervals to prevent the water backflow.

3 things come to mind:

1. Make sure you have a high-quality check valve
2. Make sure you have CO2 tubing.
   • CO2 can leak out of other tubing.
3. Make sure you have a dual stage regulator.
   • Single stage regulators vary in their CO2 output relative to how full the CO2 tank is.

Furthermore, for BGA, I have some hydrogen peroxide. Should I use that? And since I don't have any livestock, can I double-dose to kill the algae fully?

I don't know, because I've never tried H2O2 for BGA. I have my doubts. But considering you have no livestock, I suppose it's worth a try.

 

[DaveKS]

Original poster is MIA it seems.

 

[Dantel]

Have to ask. How is the extra deep end of this tank built up? Is that just a5-6” deep layer of soil?

not really. It is 4 inches at most, but there is a cave built under the dirt. So most of the places are not even filled with dirt that much

3 things come to mind:

1. Make sure you have a high-quality check valve
2. Make sure you have CO2 tubing.
   • CO2 can leak out of other tubing.
3. Make sure you have a dual stage regulator.
   • Single stage regulators vary in their CO2 output relative to how full the CO2 tank is.

I don't know, because I've never tried H2O2 for BGA. I have my doubts. But considering you have no livestock, I suppose it's worth a try.

I tried 2 different check valves. The second one I got is high quality. I am not using a CO2 tubing, that could be the reason. The tubing expansion could be the reason for the backflow.

Dual stage regulator seems like a good idea, but its very expensive. I will see what I can do

Original poster is MIA it seems.

Engineering workload is both killing me and the aquarium. Hopefully, I can find more time to work on the aquarium

 

[Arvil]

Never had much luck with H2O2, but since you seem to have an abundance of plants, you could remove a couple of square inches that is thick with the BGA into another container and try it. If it works, great, if not, what’s left will spread and you haven’t lost much.
I have an HOB which agitates the surface, and an air stone under a rock which is a bit concave underneath so the air builds up and I get a big bubble about every ten seconds, more agitation, keeps the surface clean.
Also, with the ground cover like that, you may have good flow in the free water, but very little flow inside the plant mass making it algae friendly.

 

[DaveKS]

not really. It is 4 inches at most, but there is a cave built under the dirt. So most of the places are not even filled with dirt that much

Soil under that fine of a sand should never be more than around 2” deep total anywhere in the tank. It has developed anaerobic pockets. This is most likely the source of what’s feeding your BG algae breakout.