Solving an Algae problem

[xiaan]

Over the last few months I have been getting an increasing amount of brown hairy algae growing on some of the plants and all of the drift wood. I am first wondering what type of algae this is (is it Brush algae?).

Here is the profile of the tank that has problems.
10 month old 55G Planted tank
2x 65w PC Lighting
DIY CO2
Substrate 20% Fluorite &  80% Gravel

Plants
Java Firn
Tiger lotus
Moss ball
Anubia
Hornwort
Java moss
Crypts
(and a few other smaller plants)

Fish
2 BN Plecos
6 Rummy noses
6 WWMM
3 Zebra Danios
3 Apisto Banchi
2 Zebra Loaches
1 Zebra Nirate
~12 Amano Shrimp (added to combat the algae but there is way too much)

I try and do water changes every week and dose Flourish every week and Flourish Excel every other day.

I guess my first step is to find the cause of the problem I think that is caused by me. I have been a little lazy not doing weekly water changes (mostly bi-weekly) and also not refiling the DIY CO2.

My first thing is trying to fix the cause. The first is to keep up with my water changes then I am thinking of going pressurized CO2 for the tank so I do not have to worry about refiling the CO2 every 2 weeks or so. I also change out the bulbs in the fixture as they are now over 10 months old.
Is there anything else I can do to fix the problem?

The next thing how do I remove the existing algae from the tank? will a blackout work? or do I have to just remove the leaves and the drift wood with algae and scrub them down?

Any other suggestions to help solve my problem would be helpful.

[BigDaddy]

Inconsistent CO2 is almost always a trigger for algae in a planted tank.  You plants get used to levels "x" of CO2 and then all of the sudden have to deal with level "y".  This can happen in low light tanks just as easily as high light ones.

If you have BBA (which thick tufts of hairy algae usually is), then Excel overdosing will help, as will adding some SAEs, amano shrimp and or Flag Fish.

Blackouts aren't really effective on BBA

[sdivell]

In my old 21g tank I had a bad break out of BBA and i did exactly as BD is suggesting.  Overdose with excel and added 3 SAE's.  The BBA turned red and died off within 2 weeks.

I caused the BBA to grow by having a DIY yeast Co2 into the tank and i didn't keep it at a consistant level.

Good luck.

[BigDaddy]

In my old 21g tank I had a bad break out of BBA and i did exactly as BD is suggesting.  Overdose with excel and added 3 SAE's.  The BBA turned red and died off within 2 weeks.

Nice to know I'm not talking out of my a%@   

[xiaan]

In my old 21g tank I had a bad break out of BBA and i did exactly as BD is suggesting.  Overdose with excel and added 3 SAE's.  The BBA turned red and died off within 2 weeks.

I caused the BBA to grow by having a DIY yeast Co2 into the tank and i didn't keep it at a consistant level.

Good luck.

That's what I was thinking was the cause of the problem was. I think added the pressurized CO2 will help keep those levels constant. I also added the amano shrimp to combat the problem but they have allot of work to do.

As for overdosing excel how much should I add each day to the tank?

[sdivell]

I can't remember exactly how much i was overdosing.  it was almost a year ago.  But I believe it was the amount the bottle recommends for your first dosing.  I added it for 5 days in a row and then I did a 50% water change and then I continued to overdose until it was as good as gone.

The last little bit of BBA that had turned red the SAE's mowed down in about a day.

[sdivell]

A-HAH.. I checked my old thread regarding my tank(s) to see if I talked about the dosing amounts and I did.

here is what I did. (Ignore my post above)

1 capeful per 20 gallons each day for 10 days and then i did a 50% water change.  Those 10 days alone got rid of the BBA.

heres the Tread if you want to read more about it

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=21315.20