Please help me with algae, pics posted!!!

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pzuzu

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Sep 23, 2005
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Hello, I am having some serious algae problems. At first I didn't mind it, but now it's just getting out of hand and it's gotten all over my plants. I only hope someone can help me out. I have included some pictures. Could anyone tell me what type of algae this is and how I can get rid of it? I have no test kits except for the basic ones, PH, Amm., Nitri, Nitra, KH, GH. I do know my GH is at 7, KH is at 5. My plants are doing great, but the algae is starting to spread. I have been leaving the lights off in the tank for less time. But at first I would sometimes leave them on for 12-14 hours, sometimes more. I have about 2w/g. The algae is covering up the wood and a water pump. You can hardly see a batch of java ferns cuz they're completely covered. I do use DIY CO2, two of them actually. I use Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Trace, and sometimes I also use Plant-Gro Iron enriched.

Could someone please tell me where I can buy test kits for the trace elements that I need to keep track of and what those elements might be. I think Magnesium and Potassium, or Phosphate...I'm not sure. Also, where I can buy other supplementary stuff. I know some people add calcium to their tanks. I don't know if this has anything to do with plants, or just snails and other inverts. Also, I do keep ottos and a small pleco in there. Either they do nothing for the tank, or they just don't like this type of algae. I kinda like the green algae, I don't mind that. It's just this other type that's covering everything!

Please please help me out! Or at least if someone could point me in the right direction. Everyday this stuff just gets worse and worse.

I would really appreciate it!!!

Thanks!
Fernando

IM001534.jpg IM001538.jpg IM001540.jpg IM001543.jpg IM001544.jpg
 
Serious is a good choice of words. I'm not a whiz with algae, I've never actually encountered it yet (lucky? maybe..), but I will take a shot based on readings.

I think your algae might be because of an imbalance between the nutrients and the light. Plants can only use up so much nutrients per day, and when they can't use any more up, algae gets to play. So, if you had your lights on for 14+ hours a day, your plants will only be "feeding" for ~10 hours, then algae will feed for the rest. Thus, because you're dosing really well, and maybe too well, the algae is feeding on the excess nutrients.

This is supported, in my opinion, by your pictures. All of your plants look healthy. I don't see any yellowing or translucence on any leaves. So, your plants are growing, but so is algae.

I would recommend buying a timer, you can pick one up nearly anywhere. (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276987)
It should be less than $7, I think I picked up a 3-pack at CostCo for about $6. Plug this into your outlet, then plug your lights into the timer. Set it for 10-12 hours, during whatever time of the day suits you best, and it'll be on the same cycle every day. This will help solve any issues with excess light.

As for test kits, I personally don't own anything other than the big ones: pH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. I stick to a schedule each week, dosing Flourish twice and PMDD three times, on opposite days. Then, at the end of the week, I do a big water change, which basically "resets" the tank. Thus, I don't really have to check for trace levels after the start, since I pretty much know what I put it.

I think that's all I can ramble on about right now. What size aquarium is this? What are the other inhabitants (I saw a tetra of some flavor)?

Regards,
Marty
 
What size tank do you have? When you say you have about 2 wpg, is that an estimate, or have you done the actual calculations?

You didn't mention Po4, so you'll need a Po4 kit to test for phosphates. You seem to have everything else (ex. gh, kh). Other test kits (traces), are not needed.

A balance of nutrients, good lighting (depending on the plants that you have), and Co2 (depending on your lighting), is needed in order to keep your plants healthy and keep algae at bay.

Your plants are doing well, you don't need to add Ca. Your plants don't have any deficiencies.

I agree with rrkss. It looks like staghorn algae. It also looks like you have black beard algae too.

Test your tap for everything and test your tank water as well. Compare the results and let us know, and let us know your tank size so that we can further help you.

Lissette
 
Hello, thanks for the responses. My tank is a 46g tank. I use a 96w compact flourescent from ah supply (retrofit kit). I don't have a Po4 test kit, but I will definately look for one. The same goes for the a timer. I partly leave the light on in the tank for so long simply because I enjoy it being on.

Should I maybe keep the light on for maybe 8 hours for a little while, until the algae dies off a little, or will the plants suffer because of this?

Also, I saw this phosphate reducing thing at petsmart last time I went. I can't remember what it was exactly, I do remember there being an hourglass type of image on the box. Anyone know what I'm talking about? If so, is this benificial, or unnecessary?

And rrkss, thanks for the link. I read through the article and it seems to me, based on the pictures that they have on there that pretty much all the algae I have is a form of red beard algae. Would anyone else agree? I know the color of the algae is a dull green, almost grayish. I know it looks a little like staghorn, but based on the picture in that article, I'm not entirely sure.

Does anyone know if the siamese algae eaters will actually eat some of it when the algae is that grown out? There was another link within the link that rrkss gave me to an article on red algae. In that article it mentions iron. I'm wondering if me adding the Plant-Gro Iron Enriched fertilizer on top of the other flourish products is overkill. Perhaps that's my problem. And if so, should I stop using fertilizers all together until the algae dies off.

I know I know...so many questions.

46g, 2w/g of light, 2 ottos, 1 rubber-lipped pleco, a small mix of livebearers and tetras, three ghost shrimp (I can't believe they have lived for seven months now, they're huge and hardly ghost-like anymore!!), and a gold dojo loach.

Thanks so much for the help!

Fernando
 
Looks like staghorn alright. When I first started up my 75g my tank looked similar. I would pick away at it but it always seemed to be ahead of me. Finally I spent three days giving the tank an overhaul in sections. Infected plants were removed or bleach dipped, depending on condition. All rocks, wood and infected gravel was boiled. Do at least a 50% water change between each attack session. Then I spent every night for a week going over the tank with an eagle eye and hacking out any stragglers.

This worked for me. Just take the time to get it all out. Delaying makes the problem worse. It's a fast growing persistent algae but it does not like being attacked and hacked.
 
I bought my AP phosphate test kit from petsolutions.com, it was $7.99 I think.
 
Test your tap water and tank water first. I'd follow Reiverix's advice. Clean up and Harass the algae and do your w/c.

You shouldn't add anything into your tank w/o testing. For example, adding baking soda to your tank will raise your kh. Just because other people use baking soda, doesn't mean that you have to. If you test and find out that you have a kh of 2, then you should raise it to a safe level. But if you have a kh of 3 or above, then there's no need to add it. Again, if you don't test your water, you won't know if you need/or don't need a phosphate remover. No kit is 100%, it's more like an estimate, which is better than nothing.

Resist the urge to leave the lights on for more than 10 hours. You'll get more algae.


Lissette
 
I keep thinking about taking the tank apart. That just can't happen. All the plants are settled in. The wood is holding together some rock formations at the bottom that form a semi-complex system of tunnels (all visible from the outside, so I know what's going on in there). Heh... so...I can remove the infected leaves, that's no problem. As for the huge driftwood, I'm wondering if I can go at it with a toothbrush and then do a major water change. I could probably do this a little bit at a time. I have ordered my test kit, so I'll be checking up on that. And just in case I get a huge phosphate reading, should I get some phosphate pads or something else to remove it? What is recommended?

I'm also gonna look out for some SAE, I've heard wonders about them.

Is it really staghorn? I keep comparing it to the picture in the link above, and it just doesn't look like that. The staghorn they have a picture of looks white and very thin. Mine is a little thicker and gray-dull green. Any suggestions on that? Plus the pictures that they have of the red algae looks a little more like what I'm having to deal with. Even the stuff that's on the java fern... it looks black in the picture, but really it's the same dull green color.

Thanks again for the help.
 
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