Greg H Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 Hello, Need help identifying this algae and opinion on solution. I am 5 months into my 20 long low tech and I believe I am very close to having the tank balanced. I am autodosing 2mls of easy green 3x/week and keeping my nitrates at 25ppm which is primarily from fertilizer as my plants consume all my nitrates very quickly. I seem to be struggling with what I believe to be BBA on the edges of my plants and most of the algae affects leaves that are closer towards the top of my tank. Bottom plants don’t seem to be as affected. I am unsure what lever to adjust next to reduce the amount of BBA. I am running my fluval 3.0 at 30% for 7.5 hours every day and have a good mix of fast/slow growing plants. I have 3 Amano shrimp and a full blown infestation of cherry shrimp. Wondering if I should increase lighting, increase ferts, decrease both or a combo. My primary concern is that if I don’t figure out eventually i will have to keep trimming off the affected leaves that I’ve worked so hard to grow out. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 BBA comes from too much light IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg H Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 @lefty o you think that could happen even at 30% intensity? I considered lowering but was concerned my plants may suffer a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 it can happen at moderate light levels. you are seeing it grow at the tops of the plants nearest your lights. its always a challenge to find the fine line between enough light and nutrients to grow plants nicely, and growing unwanted algaes. your plants look nice other than the bba, i might try going down to 7hrs light a day for a while and see if that helps moderate it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg H Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 @lefty oI’ll give that a try. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer V Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 Based on the advice of these wonderful people, I reduced my light to six hours with a siesta mid day a few weeks ago. The algae isn't dying yet, but it isn't spreading either and the plants seem fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg H Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 @Jennifer Vdid you make any other lighting intensity adjustments besides the siesta with the reduction in hours on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer V Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 On 11/6/2021 at 9:31 AM, Greg H said: @Jennifer Vdid you make any other lighting intensity adjustments besides the siesta with the reduction in hours on? I don't have a light that allows me to make any intensity tweaks, just the kit lighting, but the reduction alone seems to be doing a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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