The Puffer Forum

Hi guys i seem to have some sort of algae bloom. It looks kinda purple and wondering best way to stop it. !49 gallon tank Am 0, nitri 0, nitrate >10. 3 or 4 x weekly 30% w/c. Occupants 1x lineatus, 2x cae and a mix of rasporas. I know they should not be in there but he ignores them (it is temporary) Any ideas how to rid this algae?

Oh i forgot to add gets 6 hrs lights per day

Does it smell really odd? Rub it between your fingers, if it's cyano, it will smell really strangely.

Give me 2 secs will see

Smells like dirt

Ok, probably just algae then. Cyano smells really odd, but algae tends to just smell earthy. Are there any plants in this tank? Do you happen to know your phosphate levels? What is the temperature? At only 6 hours, you could most likely rule out excessive light.

Yes have plenty of plants. Temp at 25.8c . Dont know phosphate atm. Can get checked tho. This is very strange as i am used to a bit of green algae appearing this time of year. However it is a bad summer and have not seen this before

It doesn't seem too hot either. What is your dosing regime?

I actuaally dont dose. My plants are about 4 yrs old and as they grow ok i dont dose, my bad. As long as they have been fine i havent bothered with supplements.

That was nind of a lie, i do add alittle flourish here and there but not much and quite rarely, if that makes sense

You could try dosing more

Perhaps if i follow the instructions it may help lol. So if i dose my plants better will it not encourage algae?

Usually algae will grow when the plants are under fertilized. If they don't have their building blocks to grow, the algae will take advantage of that.
Have you been doing more water changes than normal? That might be depleting your nutrients that your plants need.

My waterchanges have been fairly standard. Maybe one or two extra recently. Will up fertiliser and go from there. Thanks seven

My waterchanges have been fairly standard. Maybe one or two extra recently. Will up fertiliser and go from there. Thanks seven