can't get rid of it

R

reiverix

Aye
Sep 4, 2004
1,470
0
0
57
Columbus, OH
I just cannot find a way to get rid of my staghorn algae attack that's been ongoing for over a month. My tank has only been set up since last October and I fear that I'm going to have to strip it down as a last resort. The stuff is in my substrate, bogwood, plants and the back glass. I've removed pounds of gravel and cut so many leaves it's not funny, but still it multiplies. My plants are also growing really well but the algae keeps up with it and my SAE isn't able to take it all on.

Each week I dose

10ppm K2SO4
10ppm MgSO4
KNO3 to 10-15ppm
K2PO4 to 1-1.5ppm
20ml CSM+B
1ppm CaCl2

The dosing is done in parts throughout the week. A water test showed

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 15ppm
PO4 ~8ppm
pH 6.5
KH 3.5
GH 9

That's about it. There's no other algae present except the odd green spot. Will a blackout help or am I doomed to strip everything out for the bleach treatment?
 
Do you mean your PO4 is at 0.8ppm?

If your CO2 is at 33ppm I'm not sure what will help - I've seen Tom Barr suggest that people with similar problems in their tanks up their NO3 to 10-15ppm, keep PO4 ~1-2ppm and raise their CO2, but you're already doing all that.

Would you be able to add a few fish to the tank? There are some like SAEs and flagfish that could help out, though they only go after the new growth (if I'm thinking of the right type of algae).
 
Yeah, typo, PO4 was at 0.8ppm yesterday. It comes out the tap at around 1-2ppm. It varies a lot but the plants use it pretty quick. I've tried adding less traces, more traces and the staghorn just grows at the same rate.

I'm not sure I really want to add more fish as I feel my tank is stocked enough but my SAE does what it can. I've also got some amanos but they only seem to munch on my java moss. It's getting fairly depressing coming home from work only to spend several hours picking away at this stuff.
 
How often do you feed? After reading plantbrain's posts about algae being caused by NH3 (production, not concentration) it finally sunk in that cutting back feedings would help me with my hair algae outbreak. It has. I went from pulling out gobs of hair algae twice weekly to none, at least, after I removed what was already there.

It wasn't staghorn, but perhaps it will could help to be more conservative on feedings?
 
I feed once a day, about as much as gets eaten in a few minutes. I guess I could half the amount I feed them and see how it goes from there. Water changes are 50% every week. Sometimes more.

My goal here is to stop the growth of this stuff. I know there's no magic cure except finding a balance and there's no way I'm using algae 'fixes'. I'd rather tear down my tank than put chemicals in there. If I can just halt the growth then I wouldn't mind picking it out, knowing it's not coming back.
 
Well, that's the right approach. To get rid of algae, you will need to remove it by hand. Finding the right balance will stop the growth, but then you need to actually remove what's already there.

Definitely try cutting back feedings for a few weeks or a month, remember that it takes a while for changes to propagate through the system. I know that it's really tempting to feed them plenty, I have a really hard time not feeding them lots, frequently, daily, but I bite the bullet and hold back, lately...
 
I've already started. I done the substrate, bogwood and java ferns today. Tommorow I'll hopefully have time to do the rest of the plants. The bleach was quite effective and the algae has turned pure white.

I had a major disaster though and it's left me feeling a bit guilty. One of my pieces of bogwood is quite large so I pulled it out and put it in a bucket. So I went up to the kitchen and made my bleach solution in a jug. Well no sooner had I made the bleach dip when seven ammano shrimp jump out from the bogwood, five of them landed right in it. I got them out as quick as I could and into fresh water but it looks like they won't make it through the night. Man, what was the chances of that. :mad:
 
You refer twice to removing, 'pounds of substrate' and it sounds like you bleached the substrate.
Much of your bio-colony is in the substrate. It should be left alone. If, you've removed and bleached the substrate you have effectively killed off your bacteria and will have to re-build it.
Even in the most dire of circumstances, when a complete cleaning becomes necessary, a light(not deep) but thorough gravel vaccing is all that is necessary. You work from the surface of the substrate up, removing all visible traces of the algae, do your water change and re-adjust your nutrients.

What are your water's values out of the tap? gH,kH,pH, and levels of N and P.

'the dosing is done in parts, throughout the week'. What does that mean?

Len
 
You refer twice to removing, 'pounds of substrate' and it sounds like you bleached the substrate.
Click to expand...

The substrate in the front quarter of the tank was infected. I removed the top layer. The algae was embedded in the individual grains (eco-complete) and was like it had taken root in it. It was either throw it or clean it and put it back. I removed enough to fill about a half gallon.

staghorn.jpg


What are your water's values out of the tap? gH,kH,pH, and levels of N and P.
Click to expand...

gH 9
kH 3
pH 7 (after sitting 24 hours)
N is usually at zero but the last few weeks has been as high as 20
P fluctuates between 1 and 2ppm

'the dosing is done in parts, throughout the week'. What does that mean?
Click to expand...

I meant that I don't dose everything at once. I alternate macros and micros during the course of the week.


Hope that clears things up. Am I doing something terribly wrong here? Well I guess it's kind of obvious that I must be.
 
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