algae question....

[tbarblover]

im not sure if this is the right area for this question, but i have blackbeard algae( i think that is what its called) and i cant stand it....i think it makes my tank look dirty........how do i get rid of it?

[Mgamer20o0]

im not sure if this is the right area for this question, but i have blackbeard algae( i think that is what its called) and i cant stand it....i think it makes my tank look dirty........how do i get rid of it?

Beard algae:
Grows on plant leaves and is bright green. Individual strands have a very fine texture but it grows in thick patches and looks just like a green beard. It grows up to 4 cm. It cannot be removed mechanically. This does not indicate bad water quality but grows very fast and overtakes the tank, making it a "bad" alga. Can be eliminated with Simazine (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals "Algae-Destroyer").

Resource: A really good article on treatment with Simazine by Neil Frank can be found at http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/simazine.html

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

[tbarblover]

ok......so i dont think that is what it is.......this algae is a dark brown in appearance and covers everything kind of in patches.......it rubs off really easy by hand...... i can get pics if it helps......

[Mgamer20o0]

a pic would. did you take the link at the end. thats where it came from and lists other algae.

[ergo sum]

Sounds more like you have diatoms.

[tbarblover]

ok......will have a pic in a few minutes......

[tbarblover]

ok......so i kind of rushed the pics and they are a little blurry.....hope they help.........

[ergo sum]

Are those real plants?

[cyborob]

That is Brown algae, diatoms. Nerite snails love to eat it.

[tbarblover]

nope......they are are not real......this is one of my two cichlid tanks and unfortunately, they dig........ is there another way to get rid of it aside from snails?

[ergo sum]

In that case you can probably treat it with an algaecide. It is not difficult to wash off. After which you need to figure out what is wrong with the chemistry of the tank. You can probably adjust the media in your filter to fix the problem. I am not very familiar with those techniques. It is a nitrate or a silicate problem or something like that. Basically a maintenance problem.

[fresh_newby]

take those plastic plants out and wash them....

[kooter]

what size tank is it and what lighting do you have? Siamensis (S.E.A) and or otos will clean that stuff up really good. If you can't have these fish in the tank, increase your lighting.

[fresh_newby]

Increase lighting?????? you want to feed the algae on plastic plants? I am confused

[tbarblover]

i washed the plants a few weeks back when the problem was worse........the tank is a 55 gallon with flourescent lighting and i leave the light on about 7 hours a day although i took one of the bulbs out because it was so bright........ i have aquarium pharmaceuticals algae destroyer advanced.......do you think that is good?.......i also have a bristlenose in the tank but he may need help.............

[kooter]

see this link.

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

From personal experience, I ran into huge problems with algae and how I solved the brown algae was to crank up the lighting by a couple hours more per day and put in a phosphate remover media (green-x). Within a couple weeks, I had absolutely no problems with brown algae......and still don't. I took out the phosphate media remover and started looking after what my plants needed to grow. Once my plants started growing good, no more algae!

[bkw1982]

Increase lighting?????? you want to feed the algae on plastic plants? I am confused

i think the point fresh newby is tryin to make is tht he has fake plants and increasing the lighting without any real plants in the tank will just promote other algae growth.

if it is just diatoms whcih often is the first algae to show up in a new tank then just clean it off. my experiance is tht the stuff just runs out of silicates and doesnt grow back. keep up the reg water changes and scrapings. about the algae destroyer, most will say dont use it, prob cause it could mess with ur water chem.

[kooter]

i think the point fresh newby is tryin to make is tht he has fake plants and increasing the lighting without any real plants in the tank will just promote other algae growth.

if it is just diatoms whcih often is the first algae to show up in a new tank then just clean it off. my experiance is tht the stuff just runs out of silicates and doesnt grow back. keep up the reg water changes and scrapings. about the algae destroyer, most will say dont use it, prob cause it could mess with ur water chem.

I don't think it matters - fake or real.......it's brown algae. I would up the lighting a couple hours a day. This shouldn't be enough for a different algae outbreak,(green), but may be enough to ward off some of the brown diatoms in the mean time while the silicates get under control.
Just a suggestion. oh and I wouldn't use any chems either....:)

[fresh_newby]

I don't think it matters - fake or real.......it's brown algae. I would up the lighting a couple hours a day. This shouldn't be enough for a different algae outbreak,(green), but may be enough to ward off some of the brown diatoms in the mean time while the silicates get under control.
Just a suggestion. oh and I wouldn't use any chems either....:)
wow...you couldn't be further from correct....do not up the light...get a diatom filter or UV...wash the fakies, and please....do NOT add algae bust, phophate fix, or any of those chemicals to your tank.

[kooter]

wow...you couldn't be further from correct....do not up the light...get a diatom filter or UV...wash the fakies, and please....do NOT add algae bust, phophate fix, or any of those chemicals to your tank.

ok. I was just sharing what worked for me. Good luck!

[grannylvsfish]

wow...you couldn't be further from correct....do not up the light...get a diatom filter or UV...wash the fakies, and please....do NOT add algae bust, phophate fix, or any of those chemicals to your tank.

ok..... for those who can not afford a diatom, ( whats a UV ? ) i have the same brown algae ,so far no one has really answered the question on how to get rid of it, with out costing us plenty of money.

[ergo sum]

More light will most likely get rid of it. The problem there is that it will also most likely cause a green algae outbreak. It is often a new tank problem that goes away in time but the green algae replaces it and that is even harder to get rid of. The answer has something to do with more light and cleaner water. Most of us over here use plants to suck out the problem. Given that this is not a planted aquarium it needs another solution. One would think that would be better filtration and more water changes.

That means something like more light, coupled with fewer nitrates for a tank like this. I am not very familiar with these things as I have never used them but I would suspect that using an ammonia lock or something like that would help.

Otocinclus love it. If you can keep enough of them they will eat it. Then you will just need to balance the light and those little guys. Provided that no one bothers them to death.

Cleaning up diatoms is not such a hard problem. Once a week you can just wipe them off. This is a simple maintenance problem. It washes off very easily.

[fresh_newby]

clean, do water changes, add plants, and like was mentioned...otos love the stuff. It is self limiting and will go away. Adding light is fine, but without higher CO2 macros/micros...you will see a host of new algae problems in the form of GDA, GSA, BBA, and green water. I would opt for the maintenance, the otos and adding plants...