JayP
Valuable Member
I'll talk more about this in the coming weeks when I update my garden tank journal but wanted to get this out here.
Maybe I've been lucky up to this point, or maybe it's related to this being my first go at an inert substrate tank and new ferts, but as the title says, I'm dealing with my first algae bloom. I was already dealing with some spot algae on some of the plants and realized I might be driving the light a bit hard for a new tank with freshly rehomed plants getting used to the new conditions. I turned the par down a week ago to adjust. I also started out driving the CO2 rather hard until I just recently got it dialed down to around 30ppm which also occurred in the last week but the spot algae was already there before dialing it back.
I began noticing the water getting cloudier over the last few days which was a surprise since my other tanks were always crystal clear from the start. Even though this is a BDBS tank, I did run a short dark start while it cycled. It was short because I seeded the tank with other filter material and even had trays of cycled biomedia from other tanks. When I planted after a few weeks, parameters were good. Other than the lighting perhaps being too high, I also likely messed up by not being a little more aggressive on water changes early on. I just stuck to weekly 50-70 percent change like my other established tanks.
Some of the plants are still struggling to get established so I'm not too keen on doing a blackout. I'm considering investing in a UV sterilizer that I can set up as a temporary option on this and future tanks for just this issue. I'm kicking myself now for not taking advantage of some great marketplace deals on a couple used high-end sterilizers but that's life. So the question to the group, since I know some of you use them, what recommendations do you have for a reasonably priced sterilizer that's not too big but can get the job done on a tank of 50 to 75 gallons. I'm considering this unit: Aqua UV 15 watt advantage 2000 or perhaps the 8w version of it. I would likely set up a separate pump and pipes just for flow through the sterilizer ( although this unit hangs on the tank and therefore doesn't require out outlet pipe).
Maybe I've been lucky up to this point, or maybe it's related to this being my first go at an inert substrate tank and new ferts, but as the title says, I'm dealing with my first algae bloom. I was already dealing with some spot algae on some of the plants and realized I might be driving the light a bit hard for a new tank with freshly rehomed plants getting used to the new conditions. I turned the par down a week ago to adjust. I also started out driving the CO2 rather hard until I just recently got it dialed down to around 30ppm which also occurred in the last week but the spot algae was already there before dialing it back.
I began noticing the water getting cloudier over the last few days which was a surprise since my other tanks were always crystal clear from the start. Even though this is a BDBS tank, I did run a short dark start while it cycled. It was short because I seeded the tank with other filter material and even had trays of cycled biomedia from other tanks. When I planted after a few weeks, parameters were good. Other than the lighting perhaps being too high, I also likely messed up by not being a little more aggressive on water changes early on. I just stuck to weekly 50-70 percent change like my other established tanks.
Some of the plants are still struggling to get established so I'm not too keen on doing a blackout. I'm considering investing in a UV sterilizer that I can set up as a temporary option on this and future tanks for just this issue. I'm kicking myself now for not taking advantage of some great marketplace deals on a couple used high-end sterilizers but that's life. So the question to the group, since I know some of you use them, what recommendations do you have for a reasonably priced sterilizer that's not too big but can get the job done on a tank of 50 to 75 gallons. I'm considering this unit: Aqua UV 15 watt advantage 2000 or perhaps the 8w version of it. I would likely set up a separate pump and pipes just for flow through the sterilizer ( although this unit hangs on the tank and therefore doesn't require out outlet pipe).
