Should I disable my Undergravel filter?

[MasterNick]

I have a 55 gallon tank with the following filtration going:
2 penguin 160 biowheels
Undergravel filter with 2 penguin powerheads.

I recieved all this stuff used when I payed for the tank at a garage sale.  I got a Acrylic tank and filters and wood stand for $75.00.  Not too shabby huh?

Well, its been up for about 2 months now and I got lots of plants in there.  Unfortuantely algae is kind of rampant.  I got a laterite/gravel mix for the substrate.  Should I just remove the powerheads and uplift tubes?  Effectively shutting down the filter?  Will this cause any damage?  Will the dying bacteria polute the water?

If thats the case I will disable one powerhead at a time,  giving the bacteria a while to die off.  Thanks for the tips!!

Nick

[clothahump]

Nick,what are your lighting parameters?
How many fish?
Are you using Co2?
What type of algae is it?
As the system has only been running a couple of months you can shut down the under gravels as follows.
Shut off powerheads,remove uplifts,then thoroughly hoover the gravel to remove as much waste as possible,if you have an internal power filter you can stir the substrate up after and remove the solids with the power filter.
I think you may be better off starting again as you will have to drain the tank down to enable you to introduce the laterite/gravel mix.
Alternatively you could use laterite pellets and push into the gravel with the water in the tank. 8)

[MasterNick]

Lighting isnt bad at all.  Went to home depot and bought myself a 4x40 watt fluorescent setup equaling 160 watts.  So far I have a bioload of 27 inches of fish and 1 fiddler crab.  Im using a DIY yeast CO2 system with a home-made diffuser-powerhead setup. Just one 2 liter bottle, plan on making it 2 bottles when I get another bottle(were can drinkers here).  Algae is the bright green stuff that is little patches,  the brown algae, and damn hair algae on the plants,  this only seems to afflict the broader leaved plants like the swords and java ferns.

I think you misunderstood me about the substrate.  I started out with a laterite/gravel mix.  I think one of the reasons algae is kind of rampant is because of the UGF sucking up the laterite and puttig it in the water.  Thats why I want to shut it down.  I will take out the tubes and pwerheads and vaccuum where I can. Not much free gravel in this tank

I was mainly concerned with the dying bacteria causing pollution in the water,  but  I guess I dont have to worry much.

[clothahump]

As you have the laterite already installed leave the hoovering out.
The small amount of bacteria present will not do any damage,if anything they could help by turning into Anaerobic bacteria, and therefore reducing nitrate levela.
If you have algae present then your system appears to be OK, it is part of nature. 8)

[MasterNick]

LOL algae sucks,  Im at Defcon 4 in the algae wars.  So far Ive gotten  the following weapons:
3 SAE
7 Oto cats
and 4 amano shrimp,  lord knows where they hide, I dont see them except at nite.

One thing someone suggested was to stick the vaccuum inot the uptake hole and suck the crap out from underneath the UGF.   But its only been setup for about 6 weeks.  I dont thing I need to do that.  Besides its been 4 days since I removed my Power heads and Uplift tubes and ammonia and nitrates are at 0.

[clothahump]

You are correct,leave the crud(if any) under the plates it will do no harm.
You will find that as the plants get going the algal growth should slow down, just scrape the algae off of the glass.
If the hair algae starts to spread then you will have to combat it, if this is the total stock in your tank I would suggest to stop feeding them for four days,they will then feed on the algae. 8)

[MasterNick]

Well, those fish are jsut the Special Forces of my Anti-Algae campaign  8)

I also have the following:
6 juvie angels
2 Dwarf Cichlids (a. Cacatoides sp?)
5 black neons
10 neons
1 male betta and 1 female(soon)
and 2 fiddler crabs.

They all contribute to the eating of algae.  What realley gets me is that @$#@ brown hair algae on my java fern leaves and the amazon leaves,  it doesnt grow on anything else!!  The Angels do enjoy swimming against the current of the penguin filters and eating the green hair algae on the filter spill-offs.

PS is it normal for laterite dust to get on all the plant leaves?  This is one of the reasons I turned off the UGF and dont vaccuum the gravel anymore.

BTW DIY Co2 rocks,  my plants pearl now and even more when the sun from the western window hits them

[clothahump]

I suspect what you have is "Black brush algae"
They thrive on Nitrate and Phosphate,in your case I should think this is down to overfeeding/overstocking or a break down in the biological processes.
Do not overclean your filters, and always use tank water to clean your media.
Have you checked your tap water for nitrates and phosphates? 8)

[MasterNick]

Hmm.  Sounds like an idea,  except that both those test kits are high dollar when I saw them...

Actually the algae on the plants is cutting down,  and the Black Brush algae is at a standstill right now.  I dont mind the green glass algae,  I think it gives the tank a natural appeal,  I just scrape it off the front glass.

Im off to the breeding section, my Apistogramma Cacatouides layed eggs last nite and I need some tips.  Go figure she had her pick of t clay pots and used an empty apple snail shell