Help! tough algae!

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bghost1961

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May 22, 2003
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I've been having this kind of algae for awhile now:

http://members.cox.net/hbftp/aqua/sae01.jpg

As you can see, the fleet of [fat] SAEs do not seem to help. I also have Amano shrimps and Ottos in this tank. It is a 4 month old 46 gal bowfront, 11 hr/day of 96W, DIY CO2, and all the plants are doing really well (hygrophilia(sp?), rubin sword,chain sword, tiger lotus, anubias, etc) with liquid fertilizer weekly.

Can someone tell me what kind of algae (on the leaves) it is and any suggestion for getting rid of them is really appreciated.

Thanks,
 
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Looks, from the picture like the run-of-the-mill glass algae that also gravitates toward Anubia leaves.
Other than rubbing, scrubbing or bleaching, I don't know any way to keep it from re-occurring. It does take away from the beauty of the plants, and it's a curse that many of us have to live with and try to deal with, that keep Anubia and other broad-leaf plants.

Len
 
Yes it does look like the one on the glass when it first starts on a new leaf: small light green spots, then it gets darker to really dark, and then clumpy up a bit. I guess because I usually clean the one on the glass rather quickly before they get to the dark/clumpy state, so I don't realize they are the same. My ottos seem to eat some of these on the glass, but probably are overwhelmed...On my non-plant tank, the bristle-nosed pleco also consumes this algae in larger amount (also on the glass). But putting brustle-nosed in a plant tank probably will wreck havoc more than doing any good.

Thanks djlen for the info and suggestion. I did found the weak bleach solution works, but it's such a pain especially with rooted plants in any decent aquascape tank. Well, if it's really a curse then I'll take it easy. I've been keeping fish on and off for more about 30 years but this is my first attempt with live plants and I'm very happy with it, though I only start with beginner plants. My primary interest is still with the creatures in the tank. I'm very happy to be able to keep cardinals, rummy noses thriving in this tank when it was only setup for 2 months. I really attribute this to the wonderful benefits of live plants. A picture of my humble tank is at:

http://members.cox.net/hbftp/aqua/46gal_200312.jpg
 
Yes, I notice on your picture(very nice tank BTW) you have what looks like Sagitaria in there as well. That algae loves the leaves on that as well as Amazon Swords. It's something that most plant people have lived with for as long as I can remember. When you find the solution, let us know:) .

I keep Rummy Nose and Cardinals as well and have found that if I keep the water "clean"(weekly water changes) they are as hardy as most any fish. The water changes also help a bit with the algae you describe, but we'll all await your cure for it:D .

Len
 
I really like your tank, excellent job for a first time planter! I am about to set up my first planted tank as well, a 20 gallon. Is that sagittaria in the front?

The tank mainly contains small tetras?
 
Thank you for the compliments

I'm sorry I don't know what sagittaria looks like. The grass like plants in front were sold to me as "chain sword", and they really multiply well with baby plants in chains. I started out only with a couple of them only a few weeks ago.

The tank contains about 20 cardinals, 6 rummy nosed tetras, 6 glow-light tetras, a few male fancy guppies (I took out the females since they had babies like crazy), 2 SAEs that grow too fast, 6 ottos, 2 kuhlies, 4 baby cories, a small slown loach and 4 amano shrimps.

The corries and kuhlies keep the bottom pretty clean, and the clown loach keep the snails in check, though I never see it during the day.
 
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I've heard from friends that pulling out the CO2 and turning the lights off for a few days will starve the algae. Your plants should be fine, they can store nutrients, algae can't.

I've just started with plants (limited success), but I find that my 2 common plecos keep the plants and tanks pretty clean.
 
i had that kind of algae in my 55
my twig catfish wasn't keeping up wit the algae, so i just bought 2 tiger pleco's

4 days later, i have trouble finding any algae in the tank
 
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