Co₂ And Blackout

[Frogfish]

I'm having an issue dealing with hair algae in a tank and am going to try a two day blackout to get rid of any remnants after a water change and mechanical removal. (Read on the forum about making a tool out of pipe cleaners and it works wonders thanks AA)

I checked water parameters and the nitrates were 5-10 so I will add some up to 20ppm after blackout. The flow output was also a little low on the filter so I increased that as high as it would go after cleaning. I will also reduce the photoperiod from 11 to 9 hours and have removed one of the 3 lights on the tank. The light was burning the glosso carpet.

My question is regarding CO₂. I feel a little silly asking but I am assuming that the solenoid should be unplugged during the blackout as it is controlled by the light timer and not a pH controller.

Please feel free to advise on any other solutions to the issue.

[jvision]

If your lights are off, so should your CO2 be, as plants only use CO2 during the day.

[ckmullin]

I don't advocate a black out period as it causes harm to the plants. My method which I suggest first is to use a liquid co2 product. Seachem Excel and that type of liquid co2 product. Usually at 2x or perhaps 3x dose will help it go greatly. Aside from that looking at why it got there in the first place is very important.

Than a pipe cleaner as they are too flimsy I suggest a toothbrush. Just make sure it's new without old toothpaste! heh

I always recommend a standard 12hr photoperiod and surprised to hear that glosso is being burnt from 11 hrs as it is a light hungry plant. I do in the range of a 14-16 hr photoperiod myself. It seems that if a plant is being burned it is from a nutrient imbalance rather than light.

Too bad I didn't have more time when I was there but always willing to lend a hand!

[Frogfish]

Thanks for the input, I was pretty certain leaving the CO2 on would be a bad idea. I have a bit of excel I keep around for when a tank runs out of gas and needs refilling so I'll drop a bit of that in.

It all started when I went on vacation a while back I did all my water changes but forgot to redose ferts before leaving. Before I mess with the light timing I will re-establish the nutrient balance. You are right about the imbalance, the plants especially the glosso were suffering from iron and nitrogen deficiencies. Before the problem occurred the glosso growing in shaded areas was a much darker colour than the portion getting full light so I think taking one light out won't hurt.

The pipe cleaner is a real pipe cleaner from sheffield and sons it's more stiff and coarse textured than the toy ones for arts and crafts. It works wonders compared to the toothbrush. I made something that looks kind of like a mini microphone stand with 4 legs and I just spin it and hook the algae. It even works well for power raking the glosso mat, it gets right in there.

As for the blackout I think I'm still going to go through with it for at least a 24h period to kick the algae in the butt. Plants are tough they will be able to handle the dark period, it can't be worse than shipping.

Will keep you posted on progress

[Jayba]

You could also look into a trio of American Flag Fish. They will eat hair algae like champs. Till you get things sorted out, plus they are nice little fish anyways. Just a thought.

[fishclubgirl]

Jayba, good idea!! I think frogfish has some ameca splendens and those are hair algae piranhas... Frogfish, put some of those fish in and problem solved!!

[Eugene]

When I was in Mexico recently when't snorkelling in some cenotes over grown with algae crystal clear thousands of ammeca splendins monsters up to 5 inches and some large black catfish and cichlids that looked like about 6 inch max maybe similar to blue acara but not.Anyways the splendins were feeding on nothing but the alagae from what I could see.Took some pics with my dive mask but they didn't turn out verygood still learning how to use it.

[Frogfish]

I thought of adding algae eaters but I'm trying to make this a guppy/endlers only tank. Why guppies well, angelfish seem to like them... The guppies sometimes chow on the algae but I think the best solution is to fix the imbalance rather than use a band aid solution. If anything I may add some amano shrimp although the flagfish do look nice, you never know I might just cave and bid on some if they come up at an auction.

You are right about the ameca and their voratious appetite for hair algae but unfortunately I had to give them away because they became aggressive. I got some anubias plants once from auction covered in hair algae and the ameca had it pretty much gone overnight. As they got bigger they got nasty towards my bottom feeders, especially the cories which had almost no scales on one side from being pecked at.

Once the algae dies will it just melt away or do I still need to either remove it or get something to eat it? I'm hoping that once it's growth is curbed the guppies will handle that task.

[Frogfish]

Blackout is in progress, I took a peek today after 24hrs and things are looking much better at a glance. Here is to hoping that the good news will continue into tomorrow when the blackout period is over.

[Frogfish]

Well looks like it worked, the tank is much clearer now, plants greener and algae under control. The blackout stressed the plants a bit but for the good, I see a ton of new growth points on them and I am sure it won't take the glosso too long to remember it's supposed to be a ground cover and not a mini forest. Lesson learned don't forget to fertilize after a waterchange...

Thanks AA members for the help provided on this thread and other related threads on the forum.

In post pardum would it be wise to continue adding liquid CO₂ for a while longer or will proper balance of nutrients/light and pressurised CO₂ suffice to keep the hair algae at bay?

[ckmullin]

Glad to hear things worked out.

Liquid co2 for a planted tank is never a bad thing. I would think of it as helping the plant than using it as an algae reducer. I run higher co2 and still dose every couple days liquid co2 as well.

[fishclubgirl]

Liquid CO2 can affect simpler plants like vals, mosses, etc. so be careful if you have these in your tank!!