Cleaning my plants

[DeeDeeK]

I do not see a lot of green algae, I mean is not like is an algae invasion. I use to keep my lights on for 12hrs but as of today I'll cut down to 8hrs. I'll also cut down on the liquid ferts. My water is crystal clear.........ph 7.2 , amo 0 , nitrite 0 and the nitrate is always between 5 and 10. I should get my uvs by Thursday and hope it will help. Thanks for the advice.

Heck, your aquarium's water sounds better'n what I'm drinking at home!

If you don't see much green algae, what sort is on your plants? I hope it's not the dreaded BBA! I hate that stuff and mollies don't eat it. Fortunately, overdosing with Flourish Excel kills it dead.

Anyhow, good luck with the uvs. I've no experience or knowledge of them so I'll just cross my fingers for you.

Please pardon my overly-long prior post about ammonia, nutrients, etc. I just get carried away, it's so fascinating to me.

 

[barbarossa4122]

If you're really thinking about trying a molly, don't bother cleaning the plants. The molly will do a more thorough and delicate job than you can.

Any old healthy, plain black molly will do. Actually any non-fancy molly should do, black or not. They're hearty and vigorous fish - plus they're tolerant of cooler temperatures (not cold, just cooler). I'd just get one from Petsmart or my LFS.

If you're using root tabs and all that other jazz, does that mean your tank is heavily planted or has high-light, high-growth plants? I wonder if, since you mentioned taking the plants out to clean them, maybe you're going above and beyond the call with all the fertilizers and high light levels and so forth. If the plants aren't utilizing it, algae will.

I just read that molly is not compatible with goldfish. My 55g and 30g are moderate planted with 138w/g t5ho and my 30g has 78w/g t5ho. I do use root tabs, flourish iron and flourish. I will cut down on the lighting hrs and the ferts + I'll have the uvs here by Thursday. Like I said is not an algae invasion, but I do have them.

 

[barbarossa4122]

Heck, your aquarium's water sounds better'n what I'm drinking at home!

If you don't see much green algae, what sort is on your plants? I hope it's not the dreaded BBA! I hate that stuff and mollies don't eat it. Fortunately, overdosing with Flourish Excel kills it dead.

Anyhow, good luck with the uvs. I've no experience or knowledge of them so I'll just cross my fingers for you.

Please pardon my overly-long prior post about ammonia, nutrients, etc. I just get carried away, it's so fascinating to me.

It looks like they are GSA. No BBA for sure. I hope flourish excell is good..........just ordered some from http://www.kensfish.com/plantsupplies.html

 

[barbarossa4122]

I'll post a few pics in a little while.

 

[barbarossa4122]

Are these GSA? How bad is it?

I can't see the pics on my browser just the links. If you click on the links you can see the pics or you can see them in my album.

 

[foolishfish]

As mentioned by DeeDeek, the UV will resolve a syptom but not cure the problem. If you haven't yet started grab yourself a phosphate test kit. Also if you're using coconut hull based carbon you're adding phosphate, and as Deek said...algae love it.

I've seen the mollies do their magic but I have none. For cleaning up java moss and very delicate plantings I usually move a colony of cherry shrimp in. They do an awesome job and depending on the other tank inhabitants they either thrive or become a high protein snack for some one else. Also watch the ferts, especially if you're not using CO2. It's pretty easy to give the plants more than they need. Try cutting back a little at a time until you start to notice a change in their growth. Meanwhile the algae should start running out of steam.

 

[barbarossa4122]

As mentioned by DeeDeek, the UV will resolve a syptom but not cure the problem. If you haven't yet started grab yourself a phosphate test kit. Also if you're using coconut hull based carbon you're adding phosphate, and as Deek said...algae love it.

I've seen the mollies do their magic but I have none. For cleaning up java moss and very delicate plantings I usually move a colony of cherry shrimp in. They do an awesome job and depending on the other tank inhabitants they either thrive or become a high protein snack for some one else. Also watch the ferts, especially if you're not using CO2. It's pretty easy to give the plants more than they need. Try cutting back a little at a time until you start to notice a change in their growth. Meanwhile the algae should start running out of steam.

I'll cut down on lights and ferts. I'll clean as much as I can before installing the uvs. I have to clean 4 hobs, darn. I heard the Excell works so I just ordered some from Ken.
Can you see the pics?

 

[DeeDeeK]

I'll cut down on lights and ferts. I'll clean as much as I can before installing the uvs. I have to clean 4 hobs, darn. I heard the Excell works so I just ordered some from Ken.
Can you see the pics?

So, how is it going? Any progress? I've only had results from excel on BBA, even when I put in 15ml/9gal (normal dosing is 1ml/10gal I think). My fish flashed a lot for a few hours after dosing - after all excel is this heavily diluted poisonous substance used to sterilize hospital equipment. Kills everything at the right dose, I understand. I'm afraid to even dose at that level again, much less try anything higher. Heck, I'm scared to get it on my fingers! My algae isn't even at a level I'd call a problem, though. I just felt like killing some for fun!

So do tell!

 

[barbarossa4122]

So, how is it going? Any progress? I've only had results from excel on BBA, even when I put in 15ml/9gal (normal dosing is 1ml/10gal I think). My fish flashed a lot for a few hours after dosing - after all excel is this heavily diluted poisonous substance used to sterilize hospital equipment. Kills everything at the right dose, I understand. I'm afraid to even dose at that level again, much less try anything higher. Heck, I'm scared to get it on my fingers! My algae isn't even at a level I'd call a problem, though. I just felt like killing some for fun!

So do tell!

I started doing Excell on th 31st..........Recommended initial dose and 3 times the daily dose after that. Also today I got my 2 uv sterilizers. Now I'll wait and see.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2750628

 

[BettaFishMommy]

whenever i get a slight touch of algae on my plants i just rub it off with my fingertips, let it get sucked into the filter, and then clean the filter media. mind you, i rarely get algae and it is a miniscule amount, since my cories seem to love the stuff and eat it up for me! lol.