Yup, another algae question

[WeehawkenFish]

Hey all, I'm somewhat of a beginner. I've had my 29-gallon for a year now, and have had moderate success. 6 months ago I had some algae issues, and after lots of scraping and lowering the light schedule I got it somewhat under control. But now the last 2 months I've seen a lot of growth of a different looking algae. It is very dark, even black looking in spots, both on the plants and the substrate. You can see it on the water sprite, anubias, and amazon sword, as well as covering the substrate. What do you think I can do to combat this? I wouldn't mind it so much, but it really looks like it has restricted my plant growth.

I also included a pic of my crypts. They have been growing very well since I got them last fall, but have been thinning out (not as bushy). Any thoughts on that would be much appreciated as well. Thanks.

 

[Broggy]

I recently learned that algae takes over when the plants aren't doing well, and dosing ferts as usual instead of cutting them off, will help the plants beat the algae. its kind of a mystical topic lol, but I have found it to work for me and my algae. buy honestly just put some pond snails in there, I can't get enough of those things, in fact, im actively breeding them so I can put them in all of my tanks to snack on the algae.

 

[WeehawkenFish]

Broggy thanks for the tip. I actually have a ton of snails in there. I'm not sure what kind they are, they just came with the water sprite when my friend gave me some almost a year ago. I have however been slacking with the ferts lately, so I'll try to up my dosage of easy green.

 

[Berryblue]

Welcome to the never ending war with algae. I know it is frustrating but the important thing is to not get discouraged. It is hard to tell what kind of algae you have from the pics but here are some practical tips to try.

1. It is great that you lowered your light. I see that your blue is really high and I have heard that it can be the cause of algae growth. I have the same light and I keep mine no higher than 5%.

2. Try to brush/scrape and manually remove as much of the algae as you can. Stay on top of your wkly water changes and be sure to clip and remove any dead and decaying leaves.

3. You can lightly spray hydrogen peroxide or Excel onto the leaves of the plants with algae and it will kill the algae in the short term.

4. If you have a ton of snails, it could be because you are overfeeding which contributes to algae too. You could lower the amount you feed or feed every other day, which is what I do.

5. Get an algae fighting crew. For your size tank, I would recommend trying amano shrimp and/or nerite snails.

6. Your crypts and annubias are slow growers and are always susceptible to algae. I would try to keep them out of direct light plus experiment with a few other fast growing plants. Rotala Rotundafolia and Ludwigia Repens are excellent choices. Your tiger lotus seems to be doing good and it is a fast grower.

Be patient and you will eventually get rid of it.

 

[FreshwaterCole]

We had a problem with diatoms last year, brown algae everywhere lol.

We stopped adding nutrients to water column, got some Nerites, and did a deep vac to substrate (which i truly hate to do) and realized that we no longer needed to dose the tank as there was an apparent balance between the fish+plants that dosing the tank was just feeding algae. We even went down a grade in lights with no benefit. After the addition of these algae destroyers (Nerites) everything fell into place. 55g and we have 5 in there, so 1 per 10g.

I think at a point a tank becomes completely sustainable with just regular wc and a good clean here n there.
Although I have seen some heavily planted tanks that require nutrients even with that balance.

I'm sure some more experienced algae fighters will weigh in here!

Good luck

 

[WeehawkenFish]

FreshwaterCole I really love ludwigia. I've tried to grow them twice, they look awesome for a couple weeks, then they would grow algae and lose all the leaves, or the stem would just break and then end up being a lost cause. I remember looking up ludwigia care and reading that they need a lot of light, so I figured my tank setup just wasn't the appropriate to try ludwigia.

 

[Pfrozen]

You have green spot and other easy to take care of algaes in there, sure. But you also have some Blue Green Algae.

This is the only product that will completely get rid of BGA without any ill consequences. One of the hobbies best kept secrets.

UltraLife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover: Amazon.ca: Pet Supplies

For the other algaes just reduce your lighting a bit.

If you want to run a nutrient lean environment then it's a good idea to at least dose micros and potassium. Stopping your ferts completely can also encourage algae

Regards