newbie needs help with alge

[uncleglenny]

Hey everyone this is my first post here, well im not actually a newbie but i feel like one, ive had my 29 gallon up and running for about 10 years ! I have used pressurized co2 in the past and dosed dry ferts and had really good luck with my plants, that was about 5-6 years ago sadly i kind of lost intrest in my tank, other then basic cleaning ect, flash forward to now Ive found a renewed intrest in my tank and started doing weekly water changes bought new plants, switched out my 2 t5 lights for a nicrew led dosing easy green and overall im pretty happy with the look of the tank with the exception of the algea i have ill include 2 pictures one from about a month and a half ago, and one from yesterday, the original photo shows a lot of brownish algea on my plants and the one from yesterday the algea has turned bright green, i have been using excell for about 2 weeks and seems its had no effect, is  there anything i can do for this tank, or did my neglect ruin it, and i should just start over

[JoeQ]

Your algea is thriving which is good! I'd just get a good cleanup crew (ottos and nerite snails) and  see what happens. 

 

Edit: crypts don't exactly do well with excel so don't be surprised if you see some melt. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by JoeQ

[uncleglenny]

I have a clown loach in this tank, would he eat the snails? i already have some ottos so im good there, should i stay the course dosing daily with excel?

[JoeQ]

I do know nerites can coexist with assassin snails if the nerite is big enough. Im not sure if it is the same principle with loaches. If it were me id feed less, also cut back on water colum ferts and add root tabs near your root feeders (not under). Concentrate on growing healthy growth, healthy plants grow less/no algea. I'd also clean up any dead organics and get on a regular water change schedule. The idea here is to lower the availability of food for the algea. It should start to die as your plants thrive which your ottos will clean off the plants. As you see new growth you can also trim a few (not too many) algea covered leaves off which will encourage more growth. 

[Mmiller2001]

I would begin cutting away the worst affected leaves and increase water changes. I would also reevaluate your dosing and try to improve the growth of your plants. The best defense against any algae is healthy plants and water changes. I would also look to increase water turnover to 5x to 10x, but this does not mean increase flow in the tank. Good flow is all that's needed but turnover really helps keep things clean. I would also increase filter cleanings to no more than every 30 days.

[uncleglenny]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:26 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would begin cutting away the worst affected leaves and increase water changes. I would also reevaluate your dosing and try to improve the growth of your plants. The best defense against any algae is healthy plants and water changes. I would also look to increase water turnover to 5x to 10x, but this does not mean increase flow in the tank. Good flow is all that's needed but turnover really helps keep things clean. I would also increase filter cleanings to no more than every 30 days.

so im currently doing a 50 percent water change once a week, would you suggest 2 a week?

[Mmiller2001]

You could, but 50% once a week should be enough. That said, these competition tanks, that blow your mind, probably get 90% changes 3 times a week.

[Katherine]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:26 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would also increase filter cleanings to no more than every 30 days.

By 'no more than' do you mean not more often than this, or don't go longer than this?

[Mmiller2001]

Clean the filter once a month or every 30 days. By clean, I mean just do a couple of squeezes on any sponge material and debris filter chambers and media.