HELP: Poisonous Algae?

[peter.norman]

I have a 55g planted aquarium - assorted plants I don't know the names of - with 5 blue rams, 3 small angels, 10 cardinal tetra's, and 5 cory's.

The tank is 4 months old and it initially suffered an algae bloom, that died away once the plants took hold - I have a CO2 injection system, which the plants thrived on.

About a week ago this long whispy algae appeared on one plant - I removed the leaves and thought nothing else of it. But it soon covered the whole plant, and now covers the whole tank - practically. I checked the water params (nitrate, nitrite, etc...) but nothing seemed amiss. i thought I'd upgrade the lighting to T5 and was awaiting the fixture to arrive thinking increased ligthing would help the plants to outgrow the algae...

This morning I found a dead blue ram, and the others gasping. i checked the water again. same normal parameters - this time I checked FE content and got a zero reading?

The only thing i could think that killed the fish, which has been in the tank for a month, is the algae. Is this possible? If so what can i do other than remove all the plants and start again?

HELP:help: :help:

[TipStylez]

What color is it? Any pics?

There is such thing, not an alage. But mostly mistaken as one since its green. But its a colony of bacteria.

[Blueiz]

It sounds as tho you are describing hair algae. Kinda light green in color and looks like hair sorta. It does not kill fish.

Whats your tank temp? Higher temps decrease the amount of dissolved o2 in the water. You need to increase areation if your fish are gasping and all your water parameters are OK. Something is out of balance in your tank. I would firstly check the co2 system and go from there.

As far as the hair algae, check your phosphates, most likely you will find they are high.

Blue

[peter.norman]

It sounds as tho you are describing hair algae. Kinda light green in color and looks like hair sorta. It does not kill fish.

Whats your tank temp? Higher temps decrease the amount of dissolved o2 in the water. You need to increase areation if your fish are gasping and all your water parameters are OK. Something is out of balance in your tank. I would firstly check the co2 system and go from there.

As far as the hair algae, check your phosphates, most likely you will find they are high.

Blue

Temp is between 25 and 26 C. I'll reduce to 24 tonight?

It's dark in color (almost black on some plants) and very strong. I uprooted a plant and tried to pull it off the leaves (some of the strands are an inch long) but the leaves ripped before it would give way. I'll try and take a picture this evening and post it.

Thanks for the feedback. I do't have anything to check phosphates but i'll pick something up tonight

[J double R]

that sounds a bit more like BBA.. try using excel on the tank (after youve stabilized your water for the fish, of course) some people say to double dose, but i found that a normal dose worked just fine for me.

[fresh_newby]

First, addressing your Fe reading...you really cannot test for it, so don't bother. Unless you have atomic spec in your house, you will not be accurate. Those Fe test kits are worthless. That said, it sounds like y ou have thread/hair algae, which can come about with excess of traces and too much Fe. Lighten up on the traces and get some water movement going. The algae isn't poisonous. Amano shrimp and Cherry Barbs love to eat it...SAE eat it too. It is not poisonous, but it sounds like you have low O2 in the column, so your fish are suffering. Get some surface movement going. Pull up your output to the surface for a bit. You can spot treat will some excel in a syringe on the affected plant. Prune affected plants and tease off what you can with a comb or toothbrush, get an eating crew, and lighten up oon the flourish, or whatever traces you dose, as well as iron. It will clear up.

If it is black though, you may have BBA which is usually due to CO2 issue...so if you can snap a pic and post, that would be helpful.

[Sammie7]

Take a look on here to see if you can ID it: http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

[peter.norman]

Anyone know how to insert images to posts? I've got a picture of my algae issue on my computer but it looks like i need to publish it to the web?

[livingword26]

After you hit the "Post Reply" button, there will me an paper clip icon at the top, click on it and a new window will open that will allow you to upload pictures from your computer.

[peter.norman]

Does this work?

[fresh_newby]

looks like both hair algae with a little BBA for good measure....too many traces/Iron and CO2 fluctuation. I would say to follow the steps i put previously, and you should get through it.

[kjf91004]

I thought it looks like the beard algae in the center picture. Either way, same basic cause/treatment. Fertilize regularly and appropriately, have enough CO2.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algaefinder.php?do=view&id=7

[kooter]

what kind of co2 "injection" system do you have for your tank?
It sounds like your fish are lacking oxygen, hence too much co2?:huh:
do you know what your co2 reading is?
I would get your co2/oxygen levels in check to keep your fish healthy and alive then tackle the algae.

[peter.norman]

I have the JBL CO2 easy set with the ph control kit to maintain the PH at a neutral value of 7. however the water in my area (west of Paris) seems to have a natural PH of 8 so the CO2 injection runs 24 hours a day. in retrospect i regret the purchase of the controller as it pumps CO2 in 24/7. You're indicating this is probably the cause of my problem - excessive CO2. I'll take it out tonight and just go back to CO2 injection while the lights are on - I have them on a timer.

Anyone want to buy a PH controller? :-)

[peter.norman]

looks like both hair algae with a little BBA for good measure....too many traces/Iron and CO2 fluctuation. I would say to follow the steps i put previously, and you should get through it.

I had an aquarium as a kid so decided to try it again now that I have kids myself. However the acronyms are not something I remember - if ever i knew them. For my own edification what do BBA and SAE stand for?

[Jaysn]

BBA- Black Brush Algae
SAE- Siamese Algae Eater

[quadpants]

Your CO2 shouldn't run very much at night since nothing is consuming it. If you have too much surface movement it could be gassing off though. I would get a CO2 indicator like the Red Sea one (or make your own) to figure out how much CO2 you actually have. By going from 8 to 7 you might be pumping a lot more in than you think.

[Sammie7]

what kind of co2 "injection" system do you have for your tank?
It sounds like your fish are lacking oxygen, hence too much co2?:huh:
do you know what your co2 reading is?
I would get your co2/oxygen levels in check to keep your fish healthy and alive then tackle the algae.

Just want to debunk this myth. O2 levels and CO2 levels are independent of each other. High O2 levels do not mean low CO2 levels and high CO2 levels do not mean low O2 levels. It is also possible to have both saturation of CO2 and O2 at the same time. So, just because there is not enough O2, don't automatically blame CO2. :dance2:

If you do find that your fish are gasping at the surface at night or just before the tank lights turn on, you may consider using an air pump to release extra CO2 from the water. The air pump should aerate the water enough to gas off excess CO2. This should also diminish the pH swing caused by CO2 in the water. Since a lot the CO2 is being gassed off it doesn't have the chance to make the water acidic. Make sure to turn it off an hour or 2 before lights on( keep it on a timer), so it can build up it's concentrations to be used by the plants.

[fresh_newby]

Well said Sammie~