Okay so Ive taken the advice of everyone in the forums, dosing micro and macro nutrients, lowered lighting to about 8 hours a day. My plants are growing like crazy but after a leaf has been on the plant for about a week a black rim of algae forms on the edge of the leaves. its getting really obnoxious, I keep plucking the leaves as soon as I see black on them but new ones always pop up. I can still see clear hair algae all over some parts of my plants. What in God's name do I have to do to keep algae from killing my plants beautiful leaves???? I remove any excess algae from the sides of the tank and tried to clean the gravel as much as possible since I know algae growth is exponential. thanks for any help but Im starting to think I might have to resort to chemical methods of treatment. A blackout is illogical since the tank is in a super well lit room it will never stay completely black for a week even with a blanket or such covering it. plus I feel that a blackout will be equally detrimental to my plants. Ive tried every natural method of reducing the algae possible and am running out of options. I change the water once a week, should I be changing it more?

What tank and light do you have again? CO2?

55g T5 2x54W + fluorescent 2x20W
I have a bubble counter and im running about 1.5 bubbles per second, about 80% diffusion of bubbles. using ultra fine bubble stone

Why are you running the fl fixture? The 2X54W T5HO is already nearly more than your tank should have. Do you have a drop checker? This sounds to me like not enough CO2, but I wouldn't suggest that you up unless you have a drop checker - if you don't you should, regardless.

I have both sets of lights, I only use one at a time. guess I should get a drop checker to see my CO2 levels? How can I get more CO2 in my tank then? add another DIY setup or buy a pressurized system right?

EDIT: okay so I wont do anything until I get a drop checker. any recommended brands? I found greenleafaquariums.com and they look really good.

Pressurized may be the only way. You could gang about 3 bottles together and maybe be close - just a guess. DIY reaches it's limit somewhere around the 30-40g range I believe and even then will be multiple bottles. The fixture you have is on my 75g and I'm putting out about 4bps. No algae. My light is only on for about 9hrs.

so I need more CO2, I figured the fact that I recently added 11 more fish to the tank might bump up the CO2 aswell. Guess I wont know the problem until I have a drop checker. Do LFS such as petsmart, petco, etc. normally carry drop checkers or is that a specialized item I can only get offline?

I feel like keeping a fish tank is like fighting an expensive, never-ending battle that youll never win lol

I use the drop checkers from shrimplab.com (much cheaper) and order 4dkh solution from greenleaf. You'll need the 4dkh solution for your drop checker - shrimp lab doesn't carry it.

The battle you mention is why many don't venture too far into the high-tech arena. It can be tiresome, but the reward is much greater. If you were to get pressurized CO2, you'd no longer have to worry about whether or not your tank will support a certain plant. Most of the prettier, more colorful plants require higher lighting and some CO2 also. Your tank will look much better with them in it.

I am going to Petsmart now to get one of the small cheap C02 systems to add to what I have going already, I will also add an extra CO2 generator bottle to my system. thanks for the help Ben, this is just so frustrating sometimes, Im broke as it is and I have to keep spending money on these damn plants lol.

I would just make another mixture of my own, if that is the case.

okay I made another co2 generator, the bubbles look like this now, its about a 50% increase. the picture is a link to my video. the video was also much better quality before photobucket got its hands on it.

ok heres a link to a much better quality video. uploaded to youtube.

I kinda have the same problem on my 200Lt tank, but the CO2 generator along with the swordtails, the plecos and the mollies are taking care of the algae.

I've noticed that the setup has worked so far even though the tank is above the 40 gallon limit. My plants are regaining their greenness.

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200 Lt Planted tank

Valisnera spiralis
Hygrophila polysperma
Cryptocorine becketii petchi
Amazone swords (3 different varieties)
Hygrophila polysperma (a giant variety)
Corkscrew valisneria
Rotala
Hygrophila difformis
Hygrophila angustifolia
Java moss
Java fern


Population:
30 Tetra cardinals
5 Swordtails
2 Mollies
4 Zebras
2 Plecos
6 Black dot tetras.

Hi joe...

Maybe I can add something to this advice information. If I'm not misinformed, algae relies on two foods: phosphates and nitrates. A little algae is a good thing, it means you have a healthy tank. But, it needs to be controlled, so we need to remove its food. I have no visible algae in my large, planted and well stocked tanks because I do the following religiously:

I remove and replace a minimum of half the water in the tank every 6 to 7 days and replace it with pure, treated tap water. The more tank water you replace and the more often you do it, the better. Do the water changes and you remove the food.

In the middle of the weekly, large water change, when the water level is low, you need to plant some fast growing stem plants. I like Water wisteria and Pennywort. These are real water nutrient users and will compete with the algae for food.

IMO, the gluteraldehyde chemicals shouldn't be used. They'll kill the algae quickly, but the dead plant material floating in the water just create more food for the next algae bloom. Not to mention the stress stuff like this places on your fish and plants. The key to algae control isn't to kill it, just remove it's food and it will slowly shrink.

I never mess with my lighting to control algae. My aquatic plants are tropical and need long hours of daylight. The large water changes and plants did the job for me.

This process takes a lot of time, so patience is good here.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

So What Would Happen If You Had An Algae Scrubber (WITH LIGHTING) Sump To Attract Its Growth There Rather Than The Tank ? Perhaps Not large Enough To Clean The Tank Or Compete With The Plantings, But Rather Control Algae growth location.

Old thread...how goes the algae now, joe?