3 weeks ago I posted about my newer planted aquarium and how to diagnose algae issues.
The feedback was to raise kH, pH, CO2 and reduce light. After those changes, 3 weeks later the algae situation has changed for the better, but I still am waging a battle. Looking for advice on next steps.
My new stats are:
Stats [Before] > After:
[kH 6] > kH 8.5
[pH 6.8-7.4] > pH 7.0-7.4
[75-76 F] > 74-75
[CO2 3.5bps on with lights] > 4bps
[Lighting 5000k, 27W, 10 hours] > 1500K, 18W, 10 hours
[Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0 - .1] > Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5-10
[Fertilizer: 2x/week Flourish, 2x/week Pottasium, 1x/week Iron (all Seechem products)] > removed Iron, added Phosphate
Algae: What's Improved.
I have some floating plants that have rapidly reproduced stick the the left and right sides of the tank. That light shading, along with reduced lighting, seems to have improved the plants towards the sides. The picture below shows how the Java ferns there are now basically free of algae (the brown hairs you see are roots).
Algae: What's Still A Fight
As you can see below about 60% of the tank in the center has an algae problem. It's either brown or staghorn, and despite manually ripping it off every other day it keeps coming back. The Buce is growing, faster than I expected, with some good color and a few flowers, but if I do not rubbed the leaves free of algae ever other day they would be totally consumed by it. You can also see the same algae growing on the Java ferns (again, remarkably different from the ones towards the sides).
Conclusion
The obvious answer is to further reduce light. Which I would have to figure out how to reduce wattage while still keeping enough light for viewing (through choosing various spectrums). But, I really want to keep the growth I am seeing with the Buce. So wondering if there is another tactic to try with the fertilizer or CO2.
Thanks!