So I have seen a few questions on the board lately about algae blooms. I thought it might be nice for some people who have suffered through them to tell their success or failures at trying to get rid of these wonderfully horrible messes. Hints and tricks are all welcome.
Algae Bloom Stories
- Thread starter TKOS
- Start date
I hate to be the first to reply to this one, but I guess someone has to. I had a bad bloom in my last oscar tank, 55g 2x 4" oscars, pictus, blue Gourami, pearl gourami, gold gourami common pleco 5" Emporer 400, rfug, standard hood single strip light no plants. I got a new job, started traveling and between that and my part time job, I didn't keep my gravel vaccumed and my water changes done. No plants in tank, so boom one day the water looked like OD green paint. Not knowing what to do I tried to correct it with waterchanges, every day I would do a 40% change and the next day it would be just as bad as it was before the chage. The fish didn't care at all, but it looked horrible. I finally talked to someone who knew what to do and covered the tank with a thick blanket for about a week, while still doing water changes and replacing my media as it kept plugging up. Total abscence of light proved to be the key, the water changes really don't help get rid of the algea but I imagine they did help remove the nutrients feeding the algea.I was worried about the decomposing algea so I did the water changes whether I needed them or not. Shortly thereafter we moved and my life has been devoid of aquariums for several years, so long term, I don't know what I fixed and what I didn't. But I did have clear water when the tank was taken down.
You name the algae bloom, and I probably got it at one time or another... =)
Like daveedka discovered, the easiest way to rid yourself of a nasty algae bloom is by completely cutting the light off from the tank.
If you are battling a nasty algae bloom and tank to try the blackout method here's what to do:
1.) Clean out your mechanical filters, and do a 40-50% water change.
2.) Raise spray bars, add airstones (with air pumps attached to them), etc. to increase surface aggitation.
3.) Cover your tank with something that will not allow light to enter the tank. A heavy blanket will work, but when I tried it, I preferred black garbage bags... that way, I won't have to deal with a dirty/smell blanket afterwards, and I can reuse the garbage bags.
4.) Depending on what kind of algae bloom you have, wait 2-3 days. During this time, don't feed your fish, and don't let any light get into your tank... don't worry, you're fish will be just fine.
5.) After the waiting period, remove your cover(s) do another 40-50% water change, and clean out your mechanical filters again.
6.) Make sure you take steps to prevent another algae bloom. The blackout method is more or less a "reset" button for your tank. Its not something you want to do often, but it will give you the opportunity to start "fresh" again.
This method works for both planted, and non-planted tanks. For planted tanks, just dose with fertillize after the black out is done. The plants will survive, though more fragile plants may suffer more than hardier ones.
HTH
-Richer
Like daveedka discovered, the easiest way to rid yourself of a nasty algae bloom is by completely cutting the light off from the tank.
If you are battling a nasty algae bloom and tank to try the blackout method here's what to do:
1.) Clean out your mechanical filters, and do a 40-50% water change.
2.) Raise spray bars, add airstones (with air pumps attached to them), etc. to increase surface aggitation.
3.) Cover your tank with something that will not allow light to enter the tank. A heavy blanket will work, but when I tried it, I preferred black garbage bags... that way, I won't have to deal with a dirty/smell blanket afterwards, and I can reuse the garbage bags.
4.) Depending on what kind of algae bloom you have, wait 2-3 days. During this time, don't feed your fish, and don't let any light get into your tank... don't worry, you're fish will be just fine.
5.) After the waiting period, remove your cover(s) do another 40-50% water change, and clean out your mechanical filters again.
6.) Make sure you take steps to prevent another algae bloom. The blackout method is more or less a "reset" button for your tank. Its not something you want to do often, but it will give you the opportunity to start "fresh" again.
This method works for both planted, and non-planted tanks. For planted tanks, just dose with fertillize after the black out is done. The plants will survive, though more fragile plants may suffer more than hardier ones.
HTH
-Richer
Heres something that Ive noticed.....
I've heard many times that plants reduce algae. However, about 5 months ago I bought a moneywort plant and my tank had no algae in it. Then after about 2 weeks I would get crazy hair algae blooms. It eventually took over my plant and I had to get rid of it. I came to the conclusion that the algae must have transfered from the tank that the plant was in at the store. I battle this hair algae and eventually got it so that its still a problem but not that bad. Months went by and I went to a different store for a hornwort plant. I buy it and I get another huge algae outbreak! Is there a chance that plants can increase algae, perhaps by adding to the bioload? Or maybe this is all just a coincidence.
I've heard many times that plants reduce algae. However, about 5 months ago I bought a moneywort plant and my tank had no algae in it. Then after about 2 weeks I would get crazy hair algae blooms. It eventually took over my plant and I had to get rid of it. I came to the conclusion that the algae must have transfered from the tank that the plant was in at the store. I battle this hair algae and eventually got it so that its still a problem but not that bad. Months went by and I went to a different store for a hornwort plant. I buy it and I get another huge algae outbreak! Is there a chance that plants can increase algae, perhaps by adding to the bioload? Or maybe this is all just a coincidence.
mack606:
In order to grow plants you need a few key things.. light, nutrients, and CO2. An imbalance in one or the other will most likely slow down or stunt plant growth, and will probably cause algae blooms. It wasn't the plant that caused the algae problem, it was an imbalance in one of those key elements.
Take my plant tank for example. I had it running perfectly for the last year. The water was clear, the faster growing plants were growing fast enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket with clippings every week... even my slower growing plants were putting on leaves like crazy... and many of my plants were flowering. The past few months have been hectic (with university exams and all), and I got a little lazy. My CO2 tank ran outta CO2, but I didn't notice. What happened? An algae bloom hit. So you see, these things can happen to anyone, if there's an imbalance in your tank.
HTH
-Richer
In order to grow plants you need a few key things.. light, nutrients, and CO2. An imbalance in one or the other will most likely slow down or stunt plant growth, and will probably cause algae blooms. It wasn't the plant that caused the algae problem, it was an imbalance in one of those key elements.
Take my plant tank for example. I had it running perfectly for the last year. The water was clear, the faster growing plants were growing fast enough to fill a 5 gallon bucket with clippings every week... even my slower growing plants were putting on leaves like crazy... and many of my plants were flowering. The past few months have been hectic (with university exams and all), and I got a little lazy. My CO2 tank ran outta CO2, but I didn't notice. What happened? An algae bloom hit. So you see, these things can happen to anyone, if there's an imbalance in your tank.
HTH
-Richer
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i have not suffered from algae before. and the reason is because i put in lots of fast growing plants, give them enough nutrients to reach their full growth potiential.
here was my set up.
10g
flourite
4.5wpg
30ppm co2
some of the fast growing plants i had in there included:
cabomba
water sprite
amazon sword*
glossos
rotala
*(2full size leaves per day, scary to see growth after eating lunch, had to remove soon)
here's a pic just for kicks
sorry if i distrubed the nature of this thread by posting my no algae out break story.
here was my set up.
10g
flourite
4.5wpg
30ppm co2
some of the fast growing plants i had in there included:
cabomba
water sprite
amazon sword*
glossos
rotala
*(2full size leaves per day, scary to see growth after eating lunch, had to remove soon)
here's a pic just for kicks
sorry if i distrubed the nature of this thread by posting my no algae out break story.
My tank is just over 6 weeks old now - full specs in the sig.
Planted the tank in week 2.
By week 3 I was in the middle of a battle against algae - got loads of good advice from the others on this board.
During the following 3 weeks I went through a huge diatom bloom, a hair algae bloom and finally a blue green algae bloom.
The algae has almost totally vanished now, and the plants are thriving.
Things that I have done that I think have helped:
1. Added a CO2 generator
2. Turned off the aerator.
3. Limit the lighting to 12 hours a day
4. Feed fish once a day only, limited amounts.
5. Stop fertilising plants (I have laterite substrate so shouldnt need to immediately).
6. 10% water change once weekly, vacuuming gravel.
7. Covered front of tank with a towel when out at work - this blocked the daylight that the tank does get. Helped me get it under control, but doesnt seem necessary now.
8. allowed the snails to live - they have multiplied to vast numbers, and I now have to reduce them.
9. Last week I introduced Ottocinclus - algae was already in check by then (was strongly advised to wait until tank settled and water chem stable for ottos). the little fellas are doing a great job of keeping the tank clean tho.
10. Clean tank walls with a magfloat at least once per week
11. When the hair algae was blooming I used a wire bottle brush to roll it up (like a fork with spaghetti) - did this daily where needed.
12. Trimmed the worst leaves off the affected plants.
All the inhabitants survived quite happily throughout.
Planted the tank in week 2.
By week 3 I was in the middle of a battle against algae - got loads of good advice from the others on this board.
During the following 3 weeks I went through a huge diatom bloom, a hair algae bloom and finally a blue green algae bloom.
The algae has almost totally vanished now, and the plants are thriving.
Things that I have done that I think have helped:
1. Added a CO2 generator
2. Turned off the aerator.
3. Limit the lighting to 12 hours a day
4. Feed fish once a day only, limited amounts.
5. Stop fertilising plants (I have laterite substrate so shouldnt need to immediately).
6. 10% water change once weekly, vacuuming gravel.
7. Covered front of tank with a towel when out at work - this blocked the daylight that the tank does get. Helped me get it under control, but doesnt seem necessary now.
8. allowed the snails to live - they have multiplied to vast numbers, and I now have to reduce them.
9. Last week I introduced Ottocinclus - algae was already in check by then (was strongly advised to wait until tank settled and water chem stable for ottos). the little fellas are doing a great job of keeping the tank clean tho.
10. Clean tank walls with a magfloat at least once per week
11. When the hair algae was blooming I used a wire bottle brush to roll it up (like a fork with spaghetti) - did this daily where needed.
12. Trimmed the worst leaves off the affected plants.
All the inhabitants survived quite happily throughout.
After about 2 months of setting up my tank, having had silver dolars massacre most of my plants i began to get green water. No matter how well fed i kept the SDs they would still eat any fast growing plants i put in so in the end i bought an 8watt uv steriliser. Since then iv'e had no green water at all. Had a slight burst of hair algae a few weeks ago. Now though i don't really need to run the uv to keep clear as i seem to have somewhat kerbed my SDs habits. They now leave alone my swords, java fern and hydrocotyle. I also have a very large piece of driftwood which is starting to get covered with a good thick layer of java moss - seems to act like a big nutrient removal device! I now have very little algae and it is reducing!!Wahey i seem to be winning the war!
Fighting Green Water
I just recently got over a bout of green water. I tried the black out and it worked for about a week but the GW came back. Finally I broke down and got a Magnum 350 and some DE Powder from HomeDepot. That worked like a charm. With in 20 minutes I had crystal clear water. I keep the Magnum on all the time now and the downside is that the Micron filter clogs up pretty quick. All that does though is force me to do my weekly tank maintenence. I've got to say the tank has never looked better.
I just recently got over a bout of green water. I tried the black out and it worked for about a week but the GW came back. Finally I broke down and got a Magnum 350 and some DE Powder from HomeDepot. That worked like a charm. With in 20 minutes I had crystal clear water. I keep the Magnum on all the time now and the downside is that the Micron filter clogs up pretty quick. All that does though is force me to do my weekly tank maintenence. I've got to say the tank has never looked better.
