# black beard algae help again......help....



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

ok i need some help i dont understand what is going on with my tank . what am i doing wrong , i had a really heavy outbreak of black beard algae , i treated the tank with excel and it worked perfect no problems and my tank never looked better , that was with no co2 in tank as my tank was empty and i didnt want to have it running till i got the bba figureed out . two weeks now i have been running my c02 , 6.4 is my ph reading with my milwaukee meter . 55 gal tank 2215 eheim canister 2 aqua clears , i know over kill . mildy planted ,so what i am asking is what am i doing wrong doi keep dosing with excell im kinda lost here and dont want my tank to look crap again anyone with some ideas . my c02 tank is running prob around 5-6 bps drop chker is a green color . had some issues with the drop chker and i think i got it figured out ( thanks coldmantis ) i am difusing the c02 thru my eheim intake .i really really really dont want an outbreak again it really made the tank look crappy .
thanks again 
tom


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

what do you have for lights?...do you dose nitratres?...is ur tank overstocked?


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

the lights i am running are on dueal lamp hagen life glo with 2 6500 lamps should be up for changingin the next few weeks , .and when u say dosing for nitrates i am not familar with that term can u explain i know i chk my nitrates with my test kit and it is alwys 0.
its a 55 gal
i have 2 discuss , 6 cory cats , 2 plecos 
6 carninals ,2 kribs,running a eheim 2215, adn two aquaclear 70


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Tom, here is an introductory read on dosing in the planted aquarium: http://www.rexgrigg.com/ferts.htm

I have just started EI dosing recently, and have been seeing on positive results so far.

While very high levels of nitrates are toxic to fish, it seems that low levels of nitrates are algally problematic too. Yes I made that word up just now...


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

bba spores are present in most tanks but do not start there life cycle unless the right conditions present themselves. Usually low nitrates, high organics, and low co2. 

If you think about planted tanks in the following way, it makes things easier.

Light drives co2 demand, co2 drives nutrient demand....if any of those demands are not met, then issues arise.

So start with light...your running a 2 bulb t5ho...which is a fair bit of light...
so if we know light drives co2 demand, its safe to say you need a good amount of co2....so, **each day raise your co2 just a little**...observe your fish....keep raising co2 day by day until your fish start to act a little strange...once that happens you have found the maxium amount of co2 your critters can take...return co2 to setting you had the day before your fish acted strange..

next is nutrients...since we know co2 drives demands for nutrients...and we have found the maximum co2 levels your tank can take, we now can add nutrients to fulfill that demand...
nutrients are as follow:
nitrates, phosphates, potassium...these are called macros...
magnesium, iron, boron, etc...these are called micros...

plants need both macros and micro's to survive..you can purchase these at ur local aquarium store...seachem has a line of these nutrients...you will need seachem nitrogen, phosphates, and potassium...for macros...and seachem flourish comp for micros...

mon/wed/fri add...1 cap nitrogen, 1/2 cap of phosphates, 1 cap of potassium
tues/thurs/sat add...1 cap of flourish

The issue with using seachem is cost...the bottles are not cheap after awhile...

you can use dry ferts to cut cost down...
hydroponic stores usually carry these...you will need the following if you go this route..
kno3, kh2po4 and micromix...
dose the following...
mon/wed/fri...1tsp of kno3, 1/4tsp of kh2po4..
tues/thurs/sat..1/4tsp of micromix..

Try to do big water changes at least every second week..50-75%...this will also help keep organics down...

if you follow what i suggest you should have no issues growing plants not algae...but as plant mass increases other problems may arise...so when then happens come back for more advice haha..


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi Tom,

Sounds like you have you co2 sorted out with the drop checker being green. You may consider a better method to dissolve it than just using the intake of you canister though. Something like this will give you a near 100% dissolve rate without too much noise. You can find different ones that are better built or cheaper online as well.

As for dosing, you should premix the fertilizers into two bottles (KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4 in one, traces in another). You can get these at a hydroponics store. This online calculator is a great tool to create a mixture for you tank as it gives you the ranges you want to be in and does all the math for you.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator

I used to run a high tech system and kept it simple with just the following dosing:










Just a summary, I used 165gram of KNO3 for 1 litre of water to create the premix. This premix will dose *16ppm of NO3 and 10ppm of K* into a 10g tank if I use 6ml of it.

Use distilled water and add about 1-2ml of excel in each bottle to prevent anything from growing in the bottles. Keep in a dry dark spot as well.

You can figure out how much of the other stuff to add into the mixture from the calculator. I never got around to doing it as I downgraded my tank after 6 months. The stem plants grow too fast and trimming it every week became a chore.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*planted tank*

ok today i purchased the c02 reactor , from aqua inspiration .tweenty dollars 
set it up , i also started today with four lamps 4 t5s , do u guys think that will be too much light . du u think i should get rid of the aqua clears and add a eheim 2213 . i am running a 2215 , and started dosing , have not made a premix yet kinda uncomfrtable and not quite understand the mixture procedures .
appreciate any help 
thanks guys /gals
tom


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