View Full Version : green furry alge growing on my plants
hiya, i'm new.
i'm trying to figure out what this green furry stuff is that keeps growing on the leaves of my plants, slowly kills them.
only the really fast growing plants servive it! :mad:
sorry, no pictures, my digi cam won't pick up stuff that small
kveeti
11-09-2003, 8:55 AM
See if it matches any algae pics on this site: http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm
it looks very similar to this one, but a lighter green
http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae/bba3.jpg
anybody got any sergestions?
all though it seems to be starting to clear up on it's own, i've just been cutting away the infected leaves so far
JCason
11-11-2003, 12:02 PM
I had the same problems. Get a few siamese algae eaters. Once they are introduced into the water cut off the plant leaves that are really effected. After that, the SAEs should take care of most of the rest, or at least mine did. I used 3 in a 29 gallon tank with 4 otos and they are doing just fine.
MrGoodbytes
11-11-2003, 6:15 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like Black Beard Algae (BBA). I had it before; it's a pain to get rid of, nearly impossible to scrub off leaves.
I'm not really the person to ask specifics about this algae, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable can help you, assuming that's what it is.
Graeme
yes it's a complete arse this stuff. basically, i can only grow fast growing plants in this tank, as this stuff starts to attact any older growth quite quickly.
and like you said it's not possible to scrape it off the leaves without distroying them! :mad:
whats the info on these siamese algae eaters? i assume they are bottom feeders. i've already got a foot long pleco in there, and don't know if he'd get annoyed with smaller bottom feeders roaming around. also when he thrashes about, he might stress them??
ok, i've managed to borrow a camera which is much better than mine.
this picture shows the problem i have, you can see the infected leaves at the front and new freash shoots in other parts of the picture
http://www.btinternet.com/~CAL.9000/CarPictures/FishPictures/weed.jpg
:confused:
JCason
11-12-2003, 6:42 AM
http://www.*****************/catalog_pages/wild/algae_eater_siamese.htm
There is some info on the SAE. I don't think you pleco will mind. I had a 7 inch one in there for a while with them. I had to take him out b/c he was eating my plants. The siamese algae eaters are rather hard to find though. I ended up having to mail order them.
thanks for the link, i shall look into these fish, see if i can get them anywhere around here, as that company can't mail order outside of the US
but there must also be a reason for the growth of the algea in the tank
TomFromStLouis
11-12-2003, 1:20 PM
I have had similar problems and my SAEs did not help much. However, my CO2 was off completely for about 3 weeks and most of it cleared up. Overfertilizing (including CO2) appears to have been my problem.
i don't fertalize this tank at all, i figured that there was enough waste from the fish. after all the plants grow like anything. just wish i could get rid of this algea, really spoils the effect