Beard & String Algae

White Beard said:
I purchased them at Aquatic Warehouse in San Diego, Ca and the tank had them labeled as crossecheilus siamensis. I confirmed with the individual who assisted me and he assured me that they were crossecheilus siamensis and not chinese algae eaters.

At the time I was not aware of the chrossecheilus langei which I now know have a dark spot under their belly. The ones I have do not have the dark spot at this time.

I only have them in my 10 gal quarantee tank until I have treated them with Nox-Ich. Which Saturday, July 3 was the third day of treatment. I will move them to my 54 gal tank Monday.:look:
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i'm assuming you're now aware that the likely hood that you've acquired siamensis is very low... almost impossible then? more likely you've got atrilemes (sp?) or another crossecheilus sp.. not exactly the worst case scenario, but not what we hope for usually. unfortunately, until all lfs catch up on their info (good luck on that one) it's bound to continue to happen.

imo, it's still not the "solution" to a problem though.
 
dundadundun said:
i'm assuming you're now aware that the likely hood that you've acquired siamensis is very low... almost impossible then? more likely you've got atrilemes (sp?) or another crossecheilus sp.. not exactly the worst case scenario, but not what we hope for usually. unfortunately, until all lfs catch up on their info (good luck on that one) it's bound to continue to happen.

imo, it's still not the "solution" to a problem though.
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Just in case you cannot find what dun is talking about...

Read this... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192330
 
jpappy789 said:
Just in case you cannot find what dun is talking about...

Read this... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192330
Click to expand...


Thanks for the above infor, that is the article I had referenced about the dark spot on the belly.

In that same article there is another web site reference:

http://math.muni.cz/~niederle/tabulka.html

It seems with the information that all these similar species live in the same location, it could be that they are all inter-breeding and the species are continuely adapting leading to more confusion on IDing. Also the behavior characteristic: ie eating and becoming more aggressive, could vary from tank to tank and from one type of owner to another.

I will look closer at the ones I have in the morning with the information from the web address I posted above.

It all might come down to the situation that these species may have similiar behavior yet show differently in different environments.:idea:
 
langei, more aggressive?... nah! stop eating algae?... nope. eating java moss... maybe if it's dying. they will eat less algae if they're fed right. surely growing is cause for big appetites and more grazing throughout the day. other than that, they certainly do continue to eat algae and are very passive.
 
A Softer Approach

I would like to relate the experience that I had with black beard algae and the resolution. My heavily planted 120 with a deep substrate of laterite and fine gravel began getting the algae after it was set up for about 2 years and within a few months was out of control and on everything. Then when discussing the situation with someone at the LFS he said I may have a build up of phosphate even with a good water change schedule. So I bought a Phosphate test kit and was surprised when the water turned black when I tested it, the test maxes out at 10ppm. So I added a good portion of PhosPure to my filter and changed it out every month and over the next four months the black beard algae diminished significantly. Now it’s been about 18 months and the tank is nearly free of the stuff, every now and then I notice a little tuft. The ongoing maintenance routine is to add two tablespoons of PhosPure every three months to my filter. PhosPure is my personal choice but there are many options and brands available. So my advice to anyone confronted with this problem is to check your Phosphate level before taking any drastic measures with potential adverse consequences.
 
i would say that in a planted tank upping your dosage of whatever you're missing is more likely to open up your bottleneck and let your plants eat the phosphates instead of intentionally removing it.

phosphates typically don't cause algae in a planted tank. lacking them surely will though. in the event you have all the necessary ferts and your plants are growing healthy excess phosphates shouldn't hurt anything.
 
Start small before going nuclear.

I disagree with Done. First of all excess phosphate is most certainly a major factor in black beard algae growth and PhosPure adds nothing to the system it only removes excess phosphate, emphasis on the word Excess. For whatever reason be it the fish load, plant choice, substrate or any combination of these and other factors, the phosphate production in this tank exceeds the plants ability to remove it therefore intervention is required in this case. I’m not saying that this is The cure for Black beard algae all I’m saying is before you start dipping your plants in bleach or hydrogen peroxide rule out excess phosphate.
 
Padraig, i highly disagree that with your views on phosphate. i dose about 11 ppm of kh2po4 per week in my 55 gallon. algae in a planted tank is usually caused by the LACK of nutrients and not excess. and bba is most commonly caused by fluctuating co2, nothing to do with phosphate
 
It could be a problem in an under-planted tank with super elevated levels of PO4 along with poor CO2 and other vital nutrients. Balance is the key.
 
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