Tank Circulation

[heff]

While I think my water parameters are "alright" (~20ppm nitrate, 1-2ppm phosphate, 1.4Wpg, photoperiod of 4 on, 1 off, 4 on, no direct sunlight only crappy office T8s above me), I'm still getting quite a bit of GSA (or what I believe is GSA) growing in the corners and near the substrate of my tank.

I'm pretty sure it's GSA since it's rock hard, primarily on the glass and near impossible to remove aside from scraping it with sharp objects.

I've only got an aquaclear mini so my circulation isn't that hot. Since this is only a 10gal tank, I'd rather not go spend $50 on a powerhead.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hugh

Edited November 17, 2010 by heff

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

How heavily is the tank planted and are you fertilizing? You might consider adjusting the photo period to something less than the eight hours or also making the break period in the middle longer depending on what you have in the tank. I have heard people doing 4 on 4 off 4 on with no problems.

You could also get a couple otos or nerite snails to help with cleaning up some (probably not all) of the algae.

[heff]

I can't say that the tank is heavily planted, but moderate. I am fertilizing, but only when necessary. I keep a relatively close eye on my nutrient levels because I'm trying to keep a "all natural tank" and minimize water changes. So far so (relatively) good. I do a water change maybe monthly.

I'll try playing with the longer ciesta to see what happens.

I've also had very little luck with otos; they seem to live anywhere from 2-6 months and off they go to the great fish tank in the sky. I haven't tried nerites yet. All things considered, I'd like to fix the algae rather than get critters to work for me.

[jvision]

You can try adding a bit of Seachem Excel. If you don't have any plants that are sensitive to it, it'll help keep your algae in check and provide the Carbon your plants are missing. You're seeing algae b/c your ferts aren't ballanced - carbon is needed before any others.

[ubr0ke]

what kind of lights are on your tank?...t5, t8 etc?..

[heff]

I had done some reading and part of the reason that I'm minimizing water changes it to keep my plants adapted to a low carbon environment.

I've heard that excel can do wonders with algae though; I should probably give it a shot. This is a daily dose thing, correct?

@ubr0ke - T5 aquaglow that's about...umm... I actually don't remember how old it is. I've got my receipt somewhere. Sure feels like I replaced it six to eight months ago.

Edited November 18, 2010 by heff

[jvision]

The bulbs should be fine. If you follow the directions on Excel, you should be good (they say to add every day or so).

[heff]

Is it possible that I would be upsetting my balance by adding Excel? Any thoughts on me having the right amount of light?

[vince0]

I had done some reading and part of the reason that I'm minimizing water changes it to keep my plants adapted to a low carbon environment.

I've heard that excel can do wonders with algae though; I should probably give it a shot. This is a daily dose thing, correct?

@ubr0ke - T5 aquaglow that's about...umm... I actually don't remember how old it is. I've got my receipt somewhere. Sure feels like I replaced it six to eight months ago.

you may want to consider switching to a day glow, which will provide a better light spectrum for your plants. The aquaglow runs at 18,000kelvin while the dayglow gets you to the proper 6700k.

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

Good points about the lights and excel... forgot to mention those myself :smokey:

[heff]

I've read that it's more the spectrum than the kelvin rating that matters.

[vince0]

I've read that it's more the spectrum than the kelvin rating that matters.

its both, kelvin rating deal with colour warmth. The aqua-glo (which I use as an additional bulb to help with fish colour) put out more of a blue spectrum than reds, and plants prefer lower rated kelvin (4,000-6,700). I have noticed that the one tank I own with a HoT5 10,000k bulb gets GSA whereas the tanks I run 6700K get very little. With plants and algea, its more about balance than anything else.

Edited November 18, 2010 by vince0

[heff]

That's some info I can actually use, however, I don't have as many options with T8 (I lied originally when I said T5): Aquaglo, Sunglo, and Powerglo seem to be my only choices.

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

you should be able to get lifeglo or lifeglo2 as well. I use T8s in my Hagen Waterhome tanks and have used both. Another option (and cheaper than the hagen bulbs) are the Zoomed bulbs... cant remember the exact names but its something like ultra sun... 5500K or 6500 K are decent and are more in the red spectrums. I recently purchased them so I am not sure how good they are for my plants yet.

Depending on the length of your tubes you might be able to find the even cheaper alternative of getting regular bulbs from the hardware store which are in that spectrum as well.

I found that blue seems to give green spot algae the energy it needs to grow. I run blue moonlighting on one of my tanks and I had issues with GSP on the front glass until I lessened the length of time the moonlight ran.

[vince0]

That's some info I can actually use, however, I don't have as many options with T8 (I lied originally when I said T5): Aquaglo, Sunglo, and Powerglo seem to be my only choices.

day-glo is available in t8, not t5, you may want to check with your LFS see if they can bring them in. I did the switch on one of my tanks and my plants reacted very positively