Kyle murfitt Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 So I've struggled with green spot algae since starting up my 55 ( 8 months ago ) and now my 20 gallon fry tank ( 2 months ) is doing the same. Mainly my sword plants, but almost all my plants will start to get a good bit of green spot then it'll consume whole leaves. I've trimmed the leaves back, do weekly dosing of easy green and iron , water parameters are good. Can't figure it out Read an article about if your phosphates are at 0 then that could be the issue. Honestly don't know much about phosphates and their purpose in the tank so was wondering if someone could explain, and recommend any good fixes for green spot, phosphates dosing. Any info is appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 (edited) What is the lighting on these tanks? Phospates tend to contribute to algae, and while phosphorus is one of the needed macro nutrients plants need, I would look at how long your light is on or whether your tank is near a window with lots of natural light. Edited September 13, 2021 by eatyourpeas Forgot one paragraph. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/12/2021 at 10:25 PM, eatyourpeas said: What is the lighting on these tanks? The 55 is two t5 10000k fluval bulbs. 10 hour period. And the 20 is a fluval nano wing, running at 30% power and a custom setting I found on another thread. Also 10 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I would cut the lighting period to 8 hours and see if that helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I don't know about phosphates, and not sure my "fix" is really a fix, but I have seen healthy happy green spot algae disappear completely when a lot of moss grew in my tanks. Two tanks, different setups, different times. Later, the GSA returned with vengeance when I removed the moss carpets (also, at different times). Nothing else changed, lights, filters, fish, water - the only difference was presence of the moss. Maybe try moss carpeting, if nothing else works for your GBA :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/12/2021 at 9:02 PM, Fonske said: I don't know about phosphates, and not sure my "fix" is really a fix, but I have seen healthy happy green spot algae disappear completely when a lot of moss grew in my tanks. Two tanks, different setups, different times. Later, the GSA returned with vengeance when I removed the moss carpets (also, at different times). Nothing else changed, lights, filters, fish, water - the only difference was presence of the moss. Maybe try moss carpeting, if nothing else works for your GBA 🙂 I think your setups were providing a big nutrient consumer, so that would work too. Excess nutrients paired with too much light can lead to algae. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 12:16 PM, eatyourpeas said: I think your setups were providing a big nutrient consumer, so that would work too. Excess nutrients paired with too much light can lead to algae. I think it has to be the right nutrient consumer too. Other plants, even nutrient hogs like elodea and frogbit, did not inhibit GBA in my tanks. It could, I guess, also be indirectly related to moss, e.g. lots of bacterial growth on the huge surface area of the moss, which consumed (or maybe even provided) some nutrients/minerals/etc. that changed the balance and made the GBA unhappy. Without any data on exactly what changed, it's all, of course, just speculation.. All I know is that it worked in my water :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 As mentioned above, I would drop your photoperiod to 8 hours or drop overall intensity some. But I would go 8 hours. Wait 3 weeks, if no improvement, start increasing PO4. Seachem has a line of nutrients, but expensive. The most precise and cost effective fertilizer is dry KH2PO4. 1ppm increase per week is where I would start. You could buy a test kit, but that's an additional cost. I would also look at the overall picture of what you are dosing. Begin tracking your numbers and try to maintain ratios that work well within well maintained tanks. Here are some ratios I would try as these people really know how to grow impressive plants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 2:02 PM, Mmiller2001 said: As mentioned above, I would drop your photoperiod to 8 hours or drop overall intensity some. But I would go 8 hours. Wait 3 weeks, if no improvement, start increasing PO4. Seachem has a line of nutrients, but expensive. The most precise and cost effective fertilizer is dry KH2PO4. 1ppm increase per week is where I would start. You could buy a test kit, but that's an additional cost. I would also look at the overall picture of what you are dosing. Begin tracking your numbers and try to maintain ratios that work well within well maintained tanks. Here are some ratios I would try as these people really know how to grow impressive plants. That chart is gonna take me a minute to break it down lol. But super informative and thanks for the info. Time to start logging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 2:02 PM, Mmiller2001 said: As mentioned above, I would drop your photoperiod to 8 hours or drop overall intensity some. But I would go 8 hours. Wait 3 weeks, if no improvement, start increasing PO4. Seachem has a line of nutrients, but expensive. The most precise and cost effective fertilizer is dry KH2PO4. 1ppm increase per week is where I would start. You could buy a test kit, but that's an additional cost. I would also look at the overall picture of what you are dosing. Begin tracking your numbers and try to maintain ratios that work well within well maintained tanks. Here are some ratios I would try as these people really know how to grow impressive plants. Here's some pics for reference also, already trimmed the bad ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 That looks more like Staghorn and BBA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle murfitt Posted September 14, 2021 Author Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 9:16 PM, Mmiller2001 said: That looks more like Staghorn and BBA. I'll look into staghorn fixes , I've never seen the big blackbeard blooms though like I've seen in pictures and videos. Like I said when a leaf gets bad it'll black it out almost and it's just a slimy dark green or black layer across the leaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) Look through this site. https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/algae-control Edited September 14, 2021 by Mmiller2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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