Green spot algae outbreak

[Joey_Jojo]

I am in what I think is the early-ish stages of a green spot outbreak. I am hoping that, maybe if I list some parameters, perhaps one of you kind folks will lead me in the right direction 🙂  Some stats:

pH - 7.5

Ammonia and nitrite - 0ppm

Nitrate - 10ppm

Phosphate - 2ppm

I had blackbeard growing for a while, but that seemed to go away when I increased the light intensity by adding a second light. My tank is a corner, so it's deep. The BBA went away for the most part, but now I'm getting this green spot. It's on a bunch of anubias and sword leaves. I dose Easy Green and Liquid Carbon a couple times a week, but nitrates never really go up.

Lights were on a siesta with two five-hour stints, but I recently dropped it to two fours.

Thanks 🙂

[Colu]

Are you using liquid fertilizer and root tabs 

[Joey_Jojo]

Yes, I am using Easy Green a couple times a week. I do use root tabs as well, but only to get things established. The tank has a potting soil base for root feeders after they establish. 

[Mmiller2001]

I would increase your Phosphate and see what happens. Nerites and shrimp can help but they may not. Dropping light intensity is another option, but I would start with Phosphates. 

[Joey_Jojo]

1 hour ago, Mmiller2001 said:

I would increase your Phosphate and see what happens. Nerites and shrimp can help but they may not. Dropping light intensity is another option, but I would start with Phosphates. 

How do you increase phosphate? Is that in the Easy Green?

[Mmiller2001]

6 minutes ago, Joey_Jojo said:

How do you increase phosphate? Is that in the Easy Green?

It is in Easy Green and in foods we feed to the tank. Shoot for 20ppm nitrates and hold them there. Then watch the tank for a few weeks.

[Joey_Jojo]

It's weird... a lot of internet sources say high phosphates cause algae. Here is a top google result. Other results say it can be too low or too high. My test showed ~2ppm, and this site calls 3ppm "much too high." So suffice to say, I'm confused.

All the plants are doing great, so honestly I hesitate to add more ferts. I will stick with the reduced photoperiod for a while, throw in a water change and see how I do. I'll report back for anyone interested. Thanks all 🙂 

[Mmiller2001]

18 minutes ago, Joey_Jojo said:

It's weird... a lot of internet sources say high phosphates cause algae. Here is a top google result. Other results say it can be too low or too high. My test showed ~2ppm, and this site calls 3ppm "much too high." So suffice to say, I'm confused.

All the plants are doing great, so honestly I hesitate to add more ferts. I will stick with the reduced photoperiod for a while, throw in a water change and see how I do. I'll report back for anyone interested. Thanks all 🙂 

Over dosing PO4 does not cause algae. Alga is from an imbalance.

[Brandy]

14 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Over dosing PO4 does not cause algae. Alga is from an imbalance.

Well, I totally agree with what @Mmiller2001 is trying to say here, but I think the way he has said it is possibly a little confusing.

Algae is from imbalance. Too much or too little phosphate would not be balanced, but the very idea of balance means you have more than one factor to consider. 3ppm may cause an imbalance in one tank that is low on every other nutrient, or on light, and in another heavily dosed tank with fast growing plants and high light it may be fine. Your source water composition also plays a role.

OVER dosing anything would cause an imbalance. The trick is we usually only have ways to measure and control a fraction of the factors at play, and so we are often guessing. I have found this video by @Irene to be good at explaining this idea.

 

[Mmiller2001]

19 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Well, I totally agree with what @Mmiller2001 is trying to say here, but I think the way he has said it is possibly a little confusing.

Algae is from imbalance. Too much or too little phosphate would not be balanced, but the very idea of balance means you have more than one factor to consider. 3ppm may cause an imbalance in one tank that is low on every other nutrient, or on light, and in another heavily dosed tank with fast growing plants and high light it may be fine. Your source water composition also plays a role.

OVER dosing anything would cause an imbalance. The trick is we usually only have ways to measure and control a fraction of the factors at play, and so we are often guessing. I have found this video by @Irene to be good at explaining this idea.

 

This. 😁 

My tanks are sitting at  8ppm, I might have to increase it. Last week, I dropped PO4 from 10ppm to 8ppm. It caused a bit of green dust algae. Time will tell. At least the Oto's have food!

Don't fall into the trap that too much fertilizer is the cause of algae. 

Do a Google search on Estimative Index dosing. Every nutrient is dosed in excess, just in a balanced way. 

My recommendation is the same. With Easy Green being a set ratio, I'd increase to 20ppm nitrates and maintain that consistently. 

I've also gone the opposite way, and used floating plants to suck all nutrients from the water column. Problem was, growth was sporadic.

Don't go less than 8 hours on your photoperiod.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Mmiller2001

[Joey_Jojo]

Muchos Garcias 🤙 

I don't think EI dosing is for me. Mandatory, weekly 50% WCs just doesn't fit my lifestyle 🤣 But I do plan on doing one this weekend, at which point I will try dosing Easy Green to 20ppm nitrate as recommended and see where it gets me. I'll manipulate parameters from there if needed.

[Mmiller2001]

1 hour ago, Joey_Jojo said:

Muchos Garcias 🤙 

I don't think EI dosing is for me. Mandatory, weekly 50% WCs just doesn't fit my lifestyle 🤣 But I do plan on doing one this weekend, at which point I will try dosing Easy Green to 20ppm nitrate as recommended and see where it gets me. I'll manipulate parameters from there if needed.

You can dose a third to quarter the normal amount and do a water change once a month. Something to think about at least. EI just works so well I try to introduce it to as many as I can.

[PlaneFishGuy]

On 4/29/2021 at 12:17 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

It is in Easy Green and in foods we feed to the tank. Shoot for 20ppm nitrates and hold them there. Then watch the tank for a few weeks.

@Mmiller2001 just to make sure I am clear - the values above are all in ppm correct? 

[Mmiller2001]

10 minutes ago, PlaneFishGuy said:

@Mmiller2001 just to make sure I am clear - the values above are all in ppm correct? 

Yes and per week. 

So if I want to dose 10ppm per week, and you want to dose 3x a week. Then 10÷3=3.3

3.3ppm per dose 3x a week.

[Nicole]

Is this green spot algae? I thought it was Cyanobacteria, and I’m treating for that,  it now I’m wondering if it’s green spot algae.

[Mmiller2001]

Looks like GSA

[Nicole]

That’s what I was afraid of. Thank you.