Jump to content

Hair algae and salt in a planted tank


Guppiesgonewild
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi there fellow fish keepers. I hope you all are having a wonderful 2022. 

This is my first post so be gentle. I have recently set up a new tank. I kept fish about ten years ago and am about 4 months back into the hobby. The following are a few details about my set up. 

Diy stand and canopy, 75 gallon tank that overflows into a 20 gallon sump (will probably upgrade to a 29), I run CO2 and have plant specific substrate. I think its fluval. Lighting is an LED shop light from Harbor freight.  I also run a 1 micron filter with a carbon filter after that to help polish the water. 

The aquarium has mostly tetras of different types. Some Cory cats, otos, one pleco, ghost shrimp,  cherry shrimp, and amano shrimp. There are also zebra Danios guppies and Molly's.  A few snails. 

Ammonia is zero consistently, nitrite zero, and nitrates at around 20 ppm. Tank is kept at 78.5 F. CO2 is somewhere around 30. 

I have two questions.

In the past I always used aquarium salt and this time around is no different. 1 heaping tablespoon for every 5 gallons.  I have had good success with most of the plants I have put in the tank. However would I have better success with less salt? 

My second question is on algae. I have minimal issues with algae on the glass  but recently developed a black hair algae that seems to be covering several plants. I make an effort to remove the algae by hand and have reduced lighting, double checked the co2 and have had minimal success. My goal for this tank is to have minimal maintenance including water changes. I currently do around 15% weekly and would like to get to less than that. Any suggestions on fish that would help with the hair algae? Or any other suggestions would be welcomed. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

A few pictures. 

Resized_20220204_202246.jpeg

Resized_20220204_202238.jpeg

Resized_20220209_181635.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

some folks will go bananas and say you cant have any salt with plants.  i dont agree with that, and i myself like a little salt in an aquarium. id maybe go 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons, but thats just me. as for the hair algae, you will probably want to cut down how many hours per day the light is on.

Edited by lefty o
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 8:20 AM, lefty o said:

some folks will go bananas and say you cant have any salt with plants.  i dont agree with that, and i myself like a little salt in an aquarium. id maybe go 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons, but thats just me. as for the hair algae, you will probably want to cut down how many hours per day the light is on.

Thanks for the reply Lefty O.  How many hours of light would you recommend?  Would you start the CO2 before the lights come on? If so how long before?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 8:32 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

And although difficult to see, I see staghorn algae. This is usually caused by an immature bio filter allowing some ammonia that staghorn can take advantage of.

Thanks for the reply Mmiller2001.  I have a drop checker in the aquarium. I also measure the kH and pH of the aquarium water and reference a chart.  

The filter is probably still immature. I am using eheim bio media. I am not familiar with staghorn algae but will do some research.  

 

When I get home this evening I will post some pictures of the different algae in the tank. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 9:34 AM, Guppiesgonewild said:

Thanks for the reply Mmiller2001.  I have a drop checker in the aquarium. I also measure the kH and pH of the aquarium water and reference a chart.  

The filter is probably still immature. I am using eheim bio media. I am not familiar with staghorn algae but will do some research.  

 

When I get home this evening I will post some pictures of the different algae in the tank. 

What is your pH and KH?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 10:39 AM, Guppiesgonewild said:

pH is around 7.1 to 7.2. kH is 13.  This was the last time I checked it and it was in the evening after work. 

Maybe this weekend I will check again morning before CO2 and then throughout the day. 

 

If that is the pH under CO2, you are low on CO2. You have to account for nitrification adding additional acids into the tank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 11:36 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

If that is the pH under CO2, you are low on CO2. You have to account for nitrification adding additional acids into the tank.

That's a good point I never thought of that.  What would be a decent baseline for the acid contribution from nitrification in your opinion? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I was using this chart. I'd want to push the pH to 6.8 or 6.9.

A better way to measure CO2 levels is to take a sample of water from the tank and set it out for 24 to 48 hours. Then you measure the pH, that is your degassed pH. Then, when your tank is under CO2 injection, for at least 2 hours, take another pH. That is your gassed pH. You are looking for a one to 1.5 pH drop. That will put you right around 30 parts per million CO2.

ph-kh.jpg

Edited by Mmiller2001
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2022 at 12:51 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

If I was using this chart. I'd want to push the pH to 6.8 or 6.9.

A better way to measure CO2 levels is to take a sample of water from the tank and set it out for 24 to 48 hours. Then you measure the pH, that is your degassed pH. Then, when your tank is under CO2 injection, for at least 2 hours, take another pH. That is your gassed pH. You are looking for a one to 1.5 pH drop. That will put you right around 30 parts per million CO2.

ph-kh.jpg

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I will pull some water tonight for a baseline and see where I am at. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...