Algae damn

55g tank, 48L 20H 12W
pH 6.7 with C02 injection at 20ppm
KH 3deg
temp 79f
Nitrates between 5 and 20, fluctuate with the amount of KNO3 I add.
Potassium and Phosphorus added minimally per the dosing pages. I shoot
for the optimun amount. There are a couple of plant spikes (trace
elements) deep under the large plants.

I've got 5 ottos in there, and just added a couple of large amano
shrimp, but those critters aren't going to touch this fuzz stuff if it
comes back strong like this past week.
thanks for any hints, suggestions,
steve


I've had an algae problem in my 90gal with a similar setup. It's not a
Phophate problem, you can try and limit phophates but you'll notice all
your plant growth slow down which means less competition for the algae
(been there, done that).
Algae loves crap.. yeah the stuff from the fish. NH4, urea etc. That heavy
fishload will be causing the same problems as mine are (big fishload also).

I'd recommend doing what you already did for plant cleanup (a dip in
chlorine, H2O2 etc) to get them free and a head start, but I would also do
a large water change with a massive gravel vacuum. When I pulled up all my
plants for a cleaning I did the water change at the same time and vacuumed
all the gravel hard and deep until it was clear. So no more crap rotting
and that about fixed it in one shot... it's in my books now as a bi-yearly
(?) thing as long as I keep my present fishload.

P.

BTW hope those spikes are trace only, no urea or such for an N source.