How to get rid of algae that is growing on plants and tank and not on scrubber?

[asquirrel]

Hi folks,

I’ve been running my upflow algae scrubber for about six months now. The thing has really dropped the nitrates level in my tank (usually .05 ppm even after about 10 days between a water changes). The problem is that anything that is near the scrubber also has been growing Blackbeard algae.

The algae is on the rocks now. It’s also on the plants. I’ve been bleaching the plants but it’s not a really good solution because it harms them and the algae eventually grows back. Now, I’m thinking of taking the rocks out and soaking them in pure hydrogen peroxide while I clean the tank, but I suspect the BBA will return as long as I’m running the scrubber.

I’ve read about people taking everything out of their tank (including the fish) and bleaching the whole tank. Problem I see is that I can’t bleach the filter sponges. I can’t bleach the scrubber. It would kill the biological filter and algae.

It’s a 20 gallon tank.

Light –

The overhead plant bulb I’m using is - 150W Equivalent Daylight (6500K) Spiral CFL Light Bulb. Model number Feit - ESL40TN/D

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Elec...TN-D/203252142

Algae scrubber bulb Philips - 100W Equivalent Soft White (2700K) T2 Spiral CFL Light Bulb. Actual wattage is 13watts. Model # 434738.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-1...4738/202827179

I’m dosing the tank with Seachem Flourish excel. Less than a quarter of a cap daily. One cap during a major water change.

Air pump - Aqua Culture: 20-60 Gallon, Double Outlet Aquarium Air Pump

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Cult...-Pets/10532634

Probably running the scrubber from around 3pm – 10 pm. It goes off at night because of the noise of the pump keeping people up.
The algae on the edge of the scrubber is black. However, the algae in the middle of the scrubber is green. I used to brush the scrubber clean but now I just scrape both sides with a credit card and rinse it with a sprayer. I do it about every 10 days.

So basically I’m at a loss on what to do here. The plants slowly get the BBA and now the rocks have it. The stuff is evil. Is it being caused by the algae scrubber? Is there something I’m doing incorrectly? Does the scrubber need to be encased in plastic container? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link to what the scrubber looks like and the algae:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...Ho3RlZlbmQ2TkE



Thanks!

[SantaMonica]

Welcome,

The first problem is that your scrubber is barely working. The BBA and algae on the rocks really has no competition.

Only running the bubbles for 7 hours a day will probably not work. Hopefully you had the light off when the bubbles were off.

Also it looks like most of the bubbles are missing the light-side of the screen; they are going up the back instead. And, lots of bubble are missing the whole thing to the side.

First thing to fix is to be able to run the bubbles at least 16 hours. Get a quieter pump if needed. And when the bubbles are off, the light should be too. Best is 24 hours, even if you have to turn the air flow down to keep it quiet.

Next, wrap sandwich wrap around the open part of the bubbler, and get all the bubbles on the screen. Then re-position the screen and/or block the bubbles on the back side so that most bubbles hit the light-side and not the back.

Now, optionally you can put a back wall around the scrubber to keep the light in. A black wall, painted white on the inside, would work well.

Make sure no animals are eating from the screen.

With these fixes the BBA and other algae will start going away.

[asquirrel]

Thank you so much for your response.

Yup. When the bubbler goes off the light goes off so the family can sleep.

Maybe I put the unit on before I go off to work and then shut it down before we go to bed.

Yeah, this bubble wall thing is really crappy. I bought it at walmart and it's not even. Not sure how to fix it. I had one on ebay that was good but it was totally made out of sand and glue and broke in half after a month of use.

I'm kind of confused with this part:
"Next, wrap sandwich wrap around the open part of the bubbler, and get all the bubbles on the screen."

So I take seran wrap and go all the way around the screen and the base, so that the bubbles will be focussed on the screen, right? But If I go all the way around then the light on the side will be hitting seran wrap and not the screen. I think that's where I'm confused.

Maybe I could add a second screen and put seran wrap around that. And then put that screen behind the first screen. Then the light coming through will bounce off the seran wrap?
What kind of paint can I use for the backing? The backing would have to be waterproof but also safe for the fish.

One thing I noticed today when I scrubbed the screen was that the algae was brown and not green (but black on the edges). I think that's a sign it was new growth.

Thanks again for your response. Me and my fish appreciate it!

[SantaMonica]

By wrap, I mean seal off the section of bubbler that has no screen. This will put more air on to the screen.

And for bubbler, you could replace it with a sliced air tubing tie-wrapped to the front of the screen. Just put little cuts into the tubing about every inch.

[asquirrel]

"By wrap, I mean seal off the section of bubbler that has no screen. This will put more air on to the screen."

Ah, I think I get it now. put the seran wrap on the base where the bubbles are coming out but there's no screen above them. That's is an awesome idea. I'm wondering if I cover the end where there's a ton of bubbles the air flow will be redirect to the sections where the bubbles are weak. Guess only one way to tell.

With the tubing idea, I could maybe use twist ties to hold the tubing to the front part of the screen (the one that has the light beaming on it). Maybe use a large pin or nails to poke the holes? If I use a knife I'm not to skilled and will probably cut the thing open too much. Thanks again for your help!

[SantaMonica]

Use fishing line if needed. And just cut little cuts with a razor or xacto blade.

Should work good.

[asquirrel]

Hi SantaMonica

Just wanted to give you all an update. Here's the setup now. I put little holes in the air tube and used twist ties to hold it to the screen. Getting more uniform bubbles but wondering if it's enough. This is growth at about 10 days of no screen cleaning. Last screen I just took a credit card and scraped both sides of the screen.

Here's a video of what it looks like now:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...3pBSC1zZEhYaTQ


The black beard algae is still there, unfortunately. When I last cleaned the tank I tried the excel 1-2 punch with h2o2, as described in the threat. It didn't affect the blackbeard algae at all. I put in about 6 tbs in my 20 gallon for 15 minutes. Then did about an 80% water change. The diatoms on the tank (those little brown, hard sticky things on my container) aren't going away.

The process is described here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/23...treatment.html

I've attached a video so you can see what the setup looks like now. I'm probably going to change the water again tomorrow or Monday. Thinking of hitting the plants with a 1 part bleach / 20 parts water dip. Then with the sand, take it out and soak it in hydrogen peroxide. Then rinse the sand in water, and then rinse the plants in water and then dechlorinator treated water.

I think you had mentioned about using a backing behind the screen to generate more algae. Would you use like a plastic TV dinner box? Would you glue another roughed up screen and put it on the inside of the box for more algae growth, or just use the screen I have with the tube under it by itself?

I was also thinking of buying another bubble wall thing but concerned it might leach and be toxic for the tank. Have you ever seen something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fish-Tank-Aq...LummXyluFX2-9g


I was going to get a traditional one like this, but that was what I had before it and worked miserably:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-6-8-12-Fre...hafOurMlvgNN6g

Before I had one of these. It was made 100% out of that glued stone stuff and it broke in half after a few months:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Bub...-W6zXc33awW4pA

Thanks for reading this!

[SantaMonica]

Bubbles are better; you can see the growth where the most bubbles are.

For a backing just use a sheet of white plastic. Like the bottom of a white food storage box. Or not, if you like it this way. Best would be black on the outside to block light, and white inside to reflect light. Another screen is not needed.

Bigger bubbles will be better, like the bubble wall. Airstones make smaller bubbles which don't move the algae around as much.

Your tank looks new; I don't see any nuisance algae really. Remember that the bottom of lakes are black, which is where a lot of the food multiplies and grows.

If you want to see how much the scrubber is helping, count how many days you go before glass cleanings a few times, then remove the scrubber and count again a few times. Of course, you'll need to start the scrubber from new again afterwards.

[asquirrel]

So the best way to do it would be to get like a black box, like a food container. Something like this?

http://busycreatingmemories.com/wp-c...0-1024x768.jpg

Does it matter if it's round or square?

Then I'd take a white plastic backing and glue it to the inside (bottom of the tray - where the food normally sits)?

Then take the screen and tube, and put it inside the box?

What does the black do that helps the algae grow better? Or is it because the box traps the bubbles and bounces them around as they rise to the surface?

If I use a white screen and glue it to the back inside (where the food would sit) would it be better than no white backing at all?

Thanks!

I'm not too concerned about the algae on the bottom (you can see the BBA in the still pictures I put up). But I don't want the stuff to get on my plants because it killed some of my plants. It's there but it is hard to take pictures of it.

Oh, one thing I noticed. I had a slight ammonia spike (0.25 ppm) after doing the H2O2 & Excel treatment. I'm thinking that was either die off from some of the algae or maybe the new algae wafers I'm using. I have these diatoms on the tank I can't seem to get rid of. I hear when you get those things it has to do with an imbalance. I forget. Maybe too much phosphates in the water?

[SantaMonica]

The black is just to block light from going through, so it looks better. Shape does not matter. This video should help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGLnBvDkaO0

The ammonia spike was probably from all the microbial life that died from the h202.

Diatoms are just from excess nutrients; once the scrubber has been running a while, they should go away.