Some Type of Algae

[Amicus]

Hi,
I noticed today that there was some type of stringy growths coming off of two of my plants. It is brown and is actually quite long. If someone could take a look at the posted pics and possibly identify it and any actions I can take would be greatly apprecited.
Thanks

 

[rich311k]

Looks like staghorn. generally from excess nutrients. Clean it off keep up a good water changes schedule and it should go bye bye.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I agree with Rich, looks like staghorn. You can also do a bleach dip if a particular plant/decco has a lot on it.

http://gwapa.org/wordpress/articles/algae-in-the-planted-aquarium/#staghorn

 

[Amicus]

How do I clean it off of plants in the tank? Is it safe to bleach dip plants?

 

[rich311k]

Just clean it off. It should come off fairly easily..

 

[Amicus]

Thanks guys.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

How do I clean it off of plants in the tank? Is it safe to bleach dip plants?

You can remove it manually, but you won't get it all. A 1/20 bleach solution is what's recommended in the gwapa link and I've done that before to plants with no problems. Or try H2O2 maybe?

 

[rich311k]

You can do that but clean it off, keep up on the water changes. Keep after it and you will get it without ripping the tank apart.

 

[Amicus]

Another quick question. I am pulling it off of the leaves in the tank and there is some that I don't catch that floats away, am I allowing it to spread?

 

[Amicus]

You can remove it manually, but you won't get it all. A 1/20 bleach solution is what's recommended in the gwapa link and I've done that before to plants with no problems. Or try H2O2 maybe?

I may try that, I was cleaning it and found it in more places that I thought, especially in two very thick bunches of water sprite which I will not be able to manually remove. I hope this is not a run away train!

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Another quick question. I am pulling it off of the leaves in the tank and there is some that I don't catch that floats away, am I allowing it to spread?

I would think so. Kinda like scraping BA or something off tanks walls, you maybe getting it off but it'll settle somewhere else. I see that when I use my mag float and watch the algae billow around in the water column, it's going somewhere to reattach even during a PWC because there's no way you can get it all.

 

[Amicus]

I would think so. Kinda like scraping BA or something off tanks walls, you maybe getting it off but it'll settle somewhere else. I see that when I use my mag float and watch the algae billow around in the water column, it's going somewhere to reattach even during a PWC because there's no way you can get it all.

Can you explain a little about H2O2 and Excel to me?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Can you explain a little about H2O2 and Excel to me?

I use H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) at 100% to clean new plants coming in, it works great and isn't as harsh as a bleach solution. But it may not do anything to kill the staghorn, so you might try it first and if it doesn't do anything, then try the bleach at 1:20 ratio that gwapa recommends.

Excel is basically co2 in a bottle and works pretty good for my tanks. Just be careful with vals and anacharis since it can melt them if dosed right on top of them. I like to pull a gallon of tank water, mix the Excel in it then just pour it back into the tank. So far no melting of plants .

 

[Amicus]

Sounds good, thanks.

 

[Amicus]

Do you all think a couple of flying foxes would help? I read somewhere they would and the lfs by me said they would help keep it under control with some help by me.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Do you all think a couple of flying foxes would help? I read somewhere they would and the lfs by me said they would help keep it under control with some help by me.

I'm not a fan of adding fish to control issues like algae and find that amano shrimp do a lot more for overall clean up and don't add tremendously to the tanks bioload the way FF, otos, etc do.

 

[adadkins1]

+1, you need to first find out what the source of the algae is, i.e. overfeeding, need more frequent PWC's, etc. I would try all I can to avoid using bleach as the stuff is harsh on plants like Mr. Limpet pointed out. Many plants put into a bleach dip will simply not grow and die after returned to the aquarium.

 

[Amicus]

I think I added too many nutrient suppliments too fast, I just blitzed my tank with a lot of plants for nutrient take-up. I also added three Florida Flag Fish and they are already picking the algae from the plants and the glass! After trimming the plants I have seen a great reduction in the algae in the tank. Go Florida Flag Fish! (And they are really colorful, they're a type of North American Kilifish)