Algae issues...

[JasonC]

Got an issue with what looks like either Staghorn or Cladophora algae. First, how can I tell the difference between the 2 algaes, and second, how can I get rid of it? I would rather not have to butcher my plants to get it out...

oh the joys... ;P

 

[mgamer20o0]

staghorn tends to be white and goes straight up.

Cladophora is more like a moss... hair algae

do you have a pic of the algae? never had staghorn algae before. hair algae tends to be a imbalance like in my 120 when my co2 stop hair algae started tanking off.

 

[Zagz]

Moved to planted tank forum.

 

[kangster]

i have heard some people using flourish excel to combat algae
i do not know if this works or how effective it is

 

[Fromthelbc]

is cladophora a serious problem? i noticed something that looked l ike it earlier today...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

i have heard some people using flourish excel to combat algae
i do not know if this works or how effective it is

Excel is only used as an alternative to CO2 in smaller tanks. Because of the cost, it's not cost effective to be used in larger tanks. You can use it to target algae and kill it, just like you can use Hydrogen Peroxide to do the same, but unless you fix the underlying problem, it will just come back. Pics of the algae would be helpful.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

is cladophora a serious problem? i noticed something that looked l ike it earlier today...

No, not a serious problem unless your tank is way out of whack. I get it now and then in my 75G, and looks pretty cool when in certain areas. I just have enough to make it look natural, but my tank parameters are close enough to being perfect so it doesn't spread. And with lower lighting now on my tank, it also helps to keep it from spreading. And it's easy to remove as well, it just pulls off of the plants without much damage.

 

[Fromthelbc]

No, not a serious problem unless your tank is way out of whack. I get it now and then in my 75G, and looks pretty cool when in certain areas. I just have enough to make it look natural, but my tank parameters are close enough to being perfect so it doesn't spread. And with lower lighting now on my tank, it also helps to keep it from spreading. And it's easy to remove as well, it just pulls off of the plants without much damage.

mines on some driftwood i bought from mgamer.... it looks pretty cool, would my cory eat it?

 

[kangster]

confused

Excel is only used as an alternative to CO2 in smaller tanks. Because of the cost, it's not cost effective to be used in larger tanks. You can use it to target algae and kill it, just like you can use Hydrogen Peroxide to do the same, but unless you fix the underlying problem, it will just come back. Pics of the algae would be helpful.

hydrogen peroxide?
directly poured into the tank?
wont that kill more than algae?


cladophora looks like the moss ball i have (marino balls)
are they related or do they just happen to look alike?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

mines on some driftwood i bought from mgamer.... it looks pretty cool, would my cory eat it?

No, cories are cleaners. They don't eat algae.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

hydrogen peroxide?
directly poured into the tank?
wont that kill more than algae?


cladophora looks like the moss ball i have (marino balls)
are they related or do they just happen to look alike?

HP is excellent for killing algae, but you do need to know what you are doing. You don't just pour a bunch in, need to research it first. It doesn't bother the fish either, as long as you don't overdo it. Excel can be more harmful to fish in larger amounts than HP, I've overdone Excel before and lost some fish. It was on accident. HP is H2O2, and after a short period, turns right into water. So no need to do tank flushes after it either.

You can even spot dose the HP, just take a syringe with HP in it and spray it directly onto the algae. Might take a couple doses over a couple day period. You will see the algae change color over time as it dies off. Remember, plants are more complex, with thicker cell walls, so the HP doesn't affect them. But algae are more simple cell forms, with thin walls. This is why it works.

 

[kangster]

that is very interesting to know...
i will definately do more research on that...

i noticed the warning on the bottle of excel saying "do not overdose"
and since i only have 10 gallon right now...i try to be very careful when i dose

nice dogs by the way

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I've been changing my hobbies from fish over to dog training, lol. Also thinking of going down to just 1 or 2 FW tanks, and trying a SW setup with one of my spare tanks.

 

[Fromthelbc]

No, cories are cleaners. They don't eat algae.

so should i get a single algae eater?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I don't think there's anything that will eat that kind of algae, other than maybe flagfish. But even then, not sure if they do. I know they eat some algae's, but not sure if they do that kind of algae.

 

[kangster]

this dosing of hydrogen peroxide with a syringe to the algae infested spots sounds very interesting and looks like i will give this one a shot to my bba that are growing on the leaves of the plants
thanks for the info...now this is why i love this site...sharing the knowledge

 

[JasonC]

Wow! This thread seems to have quite exploded! Sweeeet. So as requested, there are images attached to help ID this algae. Note that it is on both my crypt, and annubias, as well as it starting to form on rocks. I dont see any off hand on my watersprite or wisteria though.

Thanks!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looks like BBA to me. It's usually caused by low CO2 in higher light tanks. Is this your 20G? If so, then I would recommend getting Flourish Excel if you don't have CO2 and don't want to bother with CO2. You can also try spot treating the infected areas when the lights go out at night with HP.

Also, when I mentioned about spot treating with HP, it should be done with the lights out. Light does affect HP and causes it to turn back to water faster. Also, turn down the flow in the tank if there's lots of flow.

One last thing, I do believe another possible reason for BBA is not enough flow. If there's dead spots in the tank, you have a chance of more algae in those areas.

 

[JasonC]

Huh, BBA? Never would have guessed that one...I thought that BBA was *much* more dense.

This is the 20G. I can look into the excel. as of last test on saturday, my DIY CO2 system had the tank up to 35ppm of CO2. What would be the target to dose up to?

Re flow, I unfortunately dont have any control of flow unless I turn off my filter... should I just go ahead and do that at night when I do the spot treat? and re being in too low flow, I'm thinking probably not since these plants are right infront of the filter and (esp. the annubias) get the brunt of the reflected flow off the front glass.

Do you have any web references on proper spot treating with HP?

Thanks!!!

Looks like BBA to me. It's usually caused by low CO2 in higher light tanks. Is this your 20G? If so, then I would recommend getting Flourish Excel if you don't have CO2 and don't want to bother with CO2. You can also try spot treating the infected areas when the lights go out at night with HP.

Also, when I mentioned about spot treating with HP, it should be done with the lights out. Light does affect HP and causes it to turn back to water faster. Also, turn down the flow in the tank if there's lots of flow.

One last thing, I do believe another possible reason for BBA is not enough flow. If there's dead spots in the tank, you have a chance of more algae in those areas.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

BBA can get dense, but yours looks like it's not that bad at all, it's minimal. Do you have fish in the tank? If you do, then I would do the spot treating during the day, just turn off the lights and filter, treat, leave off for about an hour, then turn everything back on in an hour. When spot dosing, there's no real guidelines as to how to do it, just squirt some HP directly onto the algae and leave it. When spot dosing, you won't be putting too much into the tank. A small syringe is enough to do several plants, unless it's really heavy algae. As for a reference, I don't have any at this time. I would have to search for it again.

Edit:
After looking at it again, it could very well be Staghorn algae. It's been a while since I've looked up different algae's. The HO will kill it as well. Just do a little spot dosing directly onto the algae. You don't have to squirt a lot onto it.