In my amazon tank, I have this greenish brown algae (I think) coating my gravel. It just grows into big mats that cover the gravel and plants. I can pull it up in big pieces, but is there any other way to get rid of it? The ottos won't touch it.
brown slimy mats of algae
- Thread starter Sploke
- Start date
Give us an idea on about your tank.
Water parameters, wpg, fert dosages.
Sounds like cyanobacteria. http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/algae.shtml
Water parameters, wpg, fert dosages.
Sounds like cyanobacteria. http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/algae.shtml
I get something like that in my one 20 long breeder that gets a few hours a day of sunlight (no help for it). It isn't exactly cyanobacteria, but was some kind of beard algae with "mat like" growth pattern. I eventually curbed the growth by "giving" the side and back of the tank over to the algae, and adding lots of floating plants. BTW I was already doing 50% weekly WCs, and the only fish in the tank were a pair of apistos and 5 1in pencil fish (fairly understocked). Phosphates were 1-2ppm (same as tap), and Nitrates were always between 5 and 10 (nitrates are 5 out of the tap).
If your not up to date on your WCs, fix that first. Next, block as much ambient light as possible. Third, vacum out as much as you can. Finally, try a "blackout" to iradicate the last of it (thick blanket over tank for three full days, no feeding, no peaking!!!). If you have fixed whatever was causing it (sunlight, high nutrient levels) it should not come back.
If your not up to date on your WCs, fix that first. Next, block as much ambient light as possible. Third, vacum out as much as you can. Finally, try a "blackout" to iradicate the last of it (thick blanket over tank for three full days, no feeding, no peaking!!!). If you have fixed whatever was causing it (sunlight, high nutrient levels) it should not come back.
30gal with flourite substrate, lightly planted, about 1.3 wpg, no ferts. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, around 20 nitrates, ph about 7.0.
The tank's in the basement, so it doesn't get any sunlight at all. I do weekly 50% change/vacuums. I've been pulling the stuff up but its starting to cover my amazon swords. Will covering the tank up for 3 days do any harm to the plants i want to keep?
Your plants will survive the blackout fine. If it's cyano, the blackout will work, if it's beard, it might not. I should mention that when I say blackout, I mean it. One little three second pinprick of light is enough to get the cyanobacteria through the blackout.
Also what plants are you trying to grow? 1.3wpg is not really enough for anything other than java fern, java moss, crypts, and MAYBE rotala indica. do you see significant growth from your plants? If not, then they are just surviving (not thriving) and are not doing you any good in the fight against algae
How old are the lights? My case of cyanobacteria (beat it with a blackout and shorter light cycle) showed up when my lights hit the 9 month point.
How long is the light on for? With correct lighting, higher plants should do fine with 8hrs a day. anything beyond that is just helping the algae.
Also what plants are you trying to grow? 1.3wpg is not really enough for anything other than java fern, java moss, crypts, and MAYBE rotala indica. do you see significant growth from your plants? If not, then they are just surviving (not thriving) and are not doing you any good in the fight against algae
How old are the lights? My case of cyanobacteria (beat it with a blackout and shorter light cycle) showed up when my lights hit the 9 month point.
How long is the light on for? With correct lighting, higher plants should do fine with 8hrs a day. anything beyond that is just helping the algae.
Right now the light is on probably 10-12 hours a day. I try to match it with the lights for my turtles, which in turn I try to match with the natural daylight so it changes with the seasons. the bulb is....hmm about 6 years old I guess. Maybe I should look at replacing that too. I just have a few amazon swords, they're not showing any crazy growth, but a little bit. I want to get one of those CF conversions from AHsupply, still working on the funding for that project.