Please help me from going crazy!

[Evad]

Unfortunately I just can't seem to get the algae in my tank under control. I have tried a lot of different things but now turning to the experts for some advice. I really have no idea what to do at this point so I am hoping I can get some advice here on next steps.

Here is some baseline info:
180gal tank with two large canister filters
50% water change every other week
Ph 7.1 temp steady at 79 degrees
Zero Ammonia and Nitrites. Nitrate after two weeks with no water changes is ~30ppm
I don't have any other test kits so let me know what else I should test for and I will get them (iron, etc)
No CO2 - I do add Excel daily (60ml)
I have tried weeks of adding seachem flourish, trace, potassium and while the plants grow better so does the algae. I have also tried no ferts and that just means the plants grow slower but the algae I think grows the same. No excel seems to make things much worse then when I add it.
Lighting is two 6' VHO tubes and 6' of Finnex LED lighting (working on slowly converting to LED since these are my last two VHO tubes) - Photo period is 7 hours
All fish are healthy and happy and most of the fish I have had in my tank for years.

Not sure on the type of algae. I used to have BBA and you will still see some remnants of that but its not longer growing active. Here are some pics (and I apologize now for the cruddy looking tank) of the various problems that are plaguing me.

You can see the algae gowing on the plants - it gets worse the closer to the bottom of the tank


Another shot of the broader tank so you can see the different algae growing on the wood vs. some of the plants.



For whatever reason the lilly never has algae growing on it, or not enough for me to be concerned about. This thing is constantly needing pruning


This little guy just can't seem to get a break


This plant grows great but so does the algae on it. Lots of trimming to do here


One more thing. This last week I noticed that the Algae is now also growing across the gravel in a nice thin sheet. Yuck! Hopefully the pictures will show up. Let me know what other information I need to provide so you can help me solve my mystery!

David

 

[keman]

Better advice may follow, but when I started seeing too much algae in my 55, I drastically shortened my light cycle. That seemed to do the trick for my issue. it was growing too fast for my various algae eaters to keep up. I do not use any ferts or Co2. Once the eaters got caught up, I slowly increase light again.

Does your tank get natural daylight form a window? Direct sun ever?

 

[Evad]

Thanks for that. Never gets direct sun and is in a basement so technically gets some light from outside but I can't imagine its enough to matter. I have already shortened the photo period to 7 hours, down from 12. It helped a lot. Do I dare make it shorter?

 

[Anonymous]

If this was my tank I would mess around with water circulation. When done there wouldn't be a single spot in the tank where a leaf wasn't moving if not just a little bit. In a 180 gallon tank i would have a healthy school of the largest Cory cat fish or Cory type catfish. In a 180 that would be like a school of 10. I would also have like 6 Siamese algae eaters, an array of mystery snails, and probably 10 otocinclus to start depending on how many plants were in the tank. Also, I would have about 4-6 Bristlenosed plecos.

 

[Anonymous]

All these critters would either nibble on all that yummy algae or be swimming around rustling through the leaves and substrate helping to keep algae down and rubbed off the leaves and substrate.

 

[big01612]

For my timers are 7am ON, 12pm OFF, 5PM ON, and 9pm OFF till next morning. It helped me a lot with prevent algae. It's on when I'm home then off for 5hrs while I'm at work, then on till I get home around 8pm. Enjoy the tanks for a hour till lights out.

 

[Evad]

If this was my tank I would mess around with water circulation. When done there wouldn't be a single spot in the tank where a leaf wasn't moving if not just a little bit. In a 180 gallon tank i would have a healthy school of the largest Cory cat fish or Cory type catfish. In a 180 that would be like a school of 10. I would also have like 6 Siamese algae eaters, an array of mystery snails, and probably 10 otocinclus to start depending on how many plants were in the tank. Also, I would have about 4-6 Bristlenosed plecos.

Questions

1) I can definitely improve circulation a bit (have one large powerhead in addition to the canister filters but thinking about adding another) and I also have heard that changing the circulation during the day or at night is a good idea. I will play with that

2) When you say "largest Cory cat" can you give me a few species to look for? I LOVE Cories so any excuse to buy more would be great (I currently have mostly Sterbi and Aneus)

3) I have heard that Siamese algae eaters are great when younger and then stop helping after a year or so. Any truth to that? Also I have noticed that they get mean in their old age. Was that just me?

4) 10 Otto cats - sold I can do that this weekend

5) I have one giant (6") Bristlenose. Doesn't adding more put a massive bioload on my tank that will keep me from getting other fish? Do Bristlenose plecos all get along?

6) I have assassin snails in the tank now. Do I need to get rid of them before I try mystery snails or if I buy big ones will I be alright?


Exciting to see ideas come through. Thanks! And so in your opinion I don't need to be testing for any other things in the water?

 

[Evad]

For my timers are 7am ON, 12pm OFF, 5PM ON, and 9pm OFF till next morning. It helped me a lot with prevent algae. It's on when I'm home then off for 5hrs while I'm at work, then on till I get home around 8pm. Enjoy the tanks for a hour till lights out.

So in your opinion this on/off thing doesn't have a negative impact on the fish? And I am assuming the idea here is that you are building up CO2 in the off cycles and using them up in the light cycles in smaller "bites" vs. One large period with lights off?

 

[Anonymous]

So in your opinion this on/off thing doesn't have a negative impact on the fish? And I am assuming the idea here is that you are building up CO2 in the off cycles and using them up in the light cycles in smaller "bites" vs. One large period with lights off?

The opinions stated about light duration is from personal experience from everyone. Each tank is different so everyone has a kind of different light duration and fertilizer regime. But, the fundamentals are the same.

Each one of my planted tanks took time to learn and reach a balance where plants out competed algaes. I'm still working on one as I type. I would suggest just making small adjustments until you get the balance for your tank. It may take a while.but it'll happen.

It dosent "seem" to stress fish out having split light times in my experience. However, I strive to achieve a more natural cycle.

1) I can definitely improve circulation a bit (have one large powerhead in addition to the canister filters but thinking about adding another) and I also have heard that changing the circulation during the day or at night is a good idea. I will play with that

2) When you say "largest Cory cat" can you give me a few species to look for? I LOVE Cories so any excuse to buy more would be great (I currently have mostly Sterbi and Aneus)

3) I have heard that Siamese algae eaters are great when younger and then stop helping after a year or so. Any truth to that? Also I have noticed that they get mean in their old age. Was that just me?

4) 10 Otto cats - sold I can do that this weekend

5) I have one giant (6") Bristlenose. Doesn't adding more put a massive bioload on my tank that will keep me from getting other fish? Do Bristlenose plecos all get along?

6) I have assassin snails in the tank now. Do I need to get rid of them before I try mystery snails or if I buy big ones will I be alright?


Exciting to see ideas come through. Thanks! And so in your opinion I don't need to be testing for any other things in the water?

I also have a large planted tank. From trial and error it has reached a really nice equilibrium. The fish live a long time, plants grow strong, and snail populations are not overwelming.

If you already have cory cats that's great. If they are the smaller species I would probably have like 20-25. I have the ones called Emerald green cory. They are a little bit bigger at about 2.5-3 inches.

There is much talk about SAE's. The facts for me are when they get big, yes they seem lazy but I do watch them still nibble on hair type algaes. I go as far as adopting adults when I see them. Any I've housed has never been "mean". I've went as far as introducing a gold line flying fox. These are chasers but nibble on algaes.

Bristlenosed plecos are know to be territorial but you have a large tank and should be able to create an atmosphere with hiding places for at lest a couple.


Just an FYI - I've been working on flow and circulation for years In my 140. My current set up is working really well. But before the installation of the spray bar I had 2 circulation pumps running within the tank to eliminate "dead spots". Funk and algaes seem to develop in spots in my tank where there is very little water movement.

 

[clifford]

+1 for what everyone else has said.

--reduce light intensity/duration
--keep changing the water
--increase flow
--maintenance crew
---- I like shrimp, scuds, flag fish, bristlenose (which also get veggies), ottos, several kinds of shrimp, and several kinds of snails.

I had a shrimp tank with algae on nearly every surface a last month. I picked up a cheap powerhead and an aquarium filter sponge (to avoid mincing the shrimp), and within 2-3 weeks, all the plants look great again. The walls of the tank are still covered in algae, but the stem plants look clean and are clearly starting to win the war. As an added bonus, I was pleasantly surprised that my cherry shrimp don't seem to mind the current as much as I had thought. I've always kept my shrimp tanks pretty still, and there are calm spots in this tank too, but I'll often see them hanging out on the wall directly in front of the powerhead, taking on the flow full-blast.

I like otto's a lot, and have a 30 gallon dedicated to them (and an army of malawa shrimp). That said, they're a mixed bag. I bought them to eat algae, ended up liking them and then having to scramble to keep them alive (feeding supplemental herbivorous food, blanched frozen vegetables, etc) once they decimated the diatom algae in the tank. Yes, the tank looks clean, but now I constantly pump it full of more algae causing foods, and have started up two heavily fed predator tanks that are covered in algae so I can literally wipe it off the walls and put it in the tank that I originally bought the ottos to remove the algae from. :