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this cleaning after seven days ATS run I spotted that the algae in the middle of the screen had turned to a slimy yellow "alge"... I would prefer that it was green ;) I feed one frost cube and one dry food each day...
Why is this:
Light too close?
not enough food?
Should I try to clean the screen two times per week?
The light are turned on 18hours per day...
The algae are green on the top and on the bottom of the screen...
Yellow rubber or yellow slime: It's not getting enough iron, compared to how much light it's getting. The more light it gets, the more iron it needs. The best way to give it more iron is to increase flow, which also delivers more of all the other nutrients to it; this will increase overall filtering too. But at some point your screen will not be able to hold on to the heavy algae. Or, maybe you cannot increase flow any more. In this case, add iron, such as Ken't Iron+Manganese, according to the instructions. This will help the algae grow green without slowing filtering. If you can't get iron, then turn the lights off an extra 2 hours per day. Don't move the lights farther away; just turn them off 2 more hours per day (weak light is not good; it's better to have strong light for a shorter time). This reduced lighing time will also allow the algae to grow green, but it does slow down the filtering because the amount of filtering is proportional to the amount of light.
You are fast on the trigger and I love it!
I will try to get that iron stuff...
That Kentīs "iron" is a little tricky to get hold of en denmark... Can I use Iron supplements for freshwater plant aquariums aswell? I can order it from aboad but that will cost extra :D
Yes I think it's all the same.
one more question... Will it help to keep the light on for 18hours and then feed even MORE and still NOT add iron?
No, that will just add more nutrients to the water.
update: I have been running the ATS for the last two weeks on 16hours light and and a cleaning for ever five days... The algae has grown more thick and green but it is still dominated by dark algae... but no more yellow slime in te middle!
Today I started to dose Iron with Manganense... and then turn the lightback on to the 18 hours per day :D
The pod population has exploded and my fat Mandarin is a happy fatty :D
I will take pictures of the ATS when a clean it next time!
I hope the Iron will
as you can se in the picture I have a problem getting the flow good and even across the screen! my sreen is about 2-3mm thick and the slot about 5mm thick. will it help om the flow if I tried to make the slot even thicker?
Update on algae: It helped with the iron dosage. I couldnt get the Kents but got another products where the Manganense figured! Do I continue with the iron every week?