Nasty Algae All Over and Little Plant Growth

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cherokeeluvr

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
1,038
I rescaped my fluval spec V in September, and since then the tank has had a bad algae issue. Recently, it has gotten much worse. I no longer enjoy my tank because it looks so awful. The plants (DBT and AR mini) also never really took off in the tank. They plants are growing, but just don’t look great.


Here is the tank one week after a 60% weekly water change. I tried to clean the glass with a mag float before taking the pictures so you could see in. The nasty dark algae starts to blanket over the whole tank, and I usually just end up pulling the DBT out in chunks to try to remove the algae.

https://ibb.co/mhfytb

https://ibb.co/mkk9zG

https://ibb.co/fuWGeG


Does anybody have ideas what’s causing this mess, or what I can do to fix it??

Setup:
- fluorite sand
- Finnex planted plus (runs 7 hours a day)
- CO2 (comes on two hours before lights and off 2 hours before lights and goes about 1 bubble every .7 seconds)
-I dose on and off with liquid ferts (nothing consistent or in large amounts)

Filtration:
- 80gph pump (way more than the regular fluval pump)
- purigen
- ceramic media
- sponge
- fine filter padding

Stock:
- 1 betta
- 2 ember tetras
- 1 ramshorn snail

Water testing:
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5 pppm


Thanks!
 
ID: Probably cyanobacteria, not an algae but a photosynthetic bacterium.

Cause: Usually caused in tanks with excess organics, limited nitrates, low plant growth, not enough CO2, too much light, inconstant fertilization any and/or combinations of such.

How to fix:

Method 1 - Non-chemical - Will also help actual algae:

1) Manually remove as much as possible, I mean get in there for an hour and remove absolutely any and all you possibly can.
2) 75%+ water change
3) 5 day- 1 week blackout, cover with a garbage bag, no light at all, leave for a week.
4) repeat steps 1-2
5) Limit light to 6 hours a day, dim down to 60-75% (if possible)
6) Increase CO2, bubbles per second tells us nothing, it is only a reference for you. Look for a 1.0-1.2 peak pH drop.
7) Look into EI or PPS-Pro dosing, and use large weekly water changes removing all organics.
8) Get into the habit of cleaning your filters

If this fails, perform method 2:

Method 2:
Buy chemiclean, use as directed, watch parameters to ensure no filter kill, perform steps 5-8 of method 1

H2O2 will murder cyanobacteria, spot treat as necessary, increase plant mass will also help combat both algae and cyano
enjoy!
 
ID: Probably cyanobacteria, not an algae but a photosynthetic bacterium.

Cause: Usually caused in tanks with excess organics, limited nitrates, low plant growth, not enough CO2, too much light, inconstant fertilization any and/or combinations of such.

How to fix:

Method 1 - Non-chemical - Will also help actual algae:

1) Manually remove as much as possible, I mean get in there for an hour and remove absolutely any and all you possibly can.
2) 75%+ water change
3) 5 day- 1 week blackout, cover with a garbage bag, no light at all, leave for a week.
4) repeat steps 1-2
5) Limit light to 6 hours a day, dim down to 60-75% (if possible)
6) Increase CO2, bubbles per second tells us nothing, it is only a reference for you. Look for a 1.0-1.2 peak pH drop.
7) Look into EI or PPS-Pro dosing, and use large weekly water changes removing all organics.
8) Get into the habit of cleaning your filters

If this fails, perform method 2:

Method 2:
Buy chemiclean, use as directed, watch parameters to ensure no filter kill, perform steps 5-8 of method 1

H2O2 will murder cyanobacteria, spot treat as necessary, increase plant mass will also help combat both algae and cyano
enjoy!





I hadn’t ever heard of Cyanobacteria, but that sure does look like what I’ve got!

Thank you so much for the info and treatment methods! I will definitely give method one a go ASAP!

Fingers crossed it works! I’ll try to update after I’ve given that some time.
 
Could always try a teaspoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons. I've had success clearing up a tank with it. If it's real bad I'd go with ZxC advice then maybe try the salt afterwards as a preventative.
 
I have [and will again soon ] use[d] Ultralife products and they work. Red slime remover..
Removal my help appearances but eventually you need to figure out why your tank has it or it will likely come back..

This from Algae /Guitar fish ;
Blue Green (Cyanobacteria)

While often referred to by aquarists as an algae, Blue Green Algae (BGA) is in fact a bacterial slime that can easily coat everything in your tank. Appearing as either a green, black, or purple coating, BGA is perhaps best known for the unique earthy smell that it has when pulled from the tank. As a nitrogen-fixing bacteria, it will fully deplete your water column of any available nitrogen.
Causes:
Low nitrates – Usually present when all of the nitrogen/nitrate has been removed from the water column. While this is a triggering condition, it is also exacerbated by the bacteria itself using any remaining nitrogen.
High organics – Overfeeding, or excess organic matter in the tank can trigger BGA.
Old light bulbs – Sometimes present when light bulbs are no longer emitting usable light. This may be more of a matter of your plants no longer being able to out-compete the bacteria.
Poor water circulation – Circulation is key in a planted aquarium so that no “dead spots” are present where nutrients have been used up locally, but fresh ones are not being recirculated throughout.
Cures:
Increase nitrates – Dose nitrates until the concentration reaches ~5ppm.
Add fast growing plants – this helps to out-compete the algae for resources.
Blackout – BGA cannot survive without light.
Excel/H202 treatment – Use a syringe to spot treat problem areas. Then manually remove dead patches.
Erythromycin – use antibiotics at half dosage to kill the bacteria. Mardel Labs’ Maracyn contains erythromycin and has been used effectively without harming most plants.

I have it in my marine tank but the funny part is only in the tank and none on the rock in my sump... NONE.. My tank surely has enough nitrates...
I at this time I am blaming light...
I like H2O2 spot treating if it is small enough..Over time anything spot treated with H2O2 will die...Mat be weeks depending on how you dose..
1 ML per gallon is generally considered safe..Leave filters running during dosing...
 
I finally got some time to get around to giving this tank a deep cleaning! I got all the Cyanobacteria our that I possible could. I essentially had to do 2, 75% water changes to get it all out using a tube. I’m about to put the fish back in and cover up the tank. Do I kill the co2 for the week long blackout?
 
I finally got some time to get around to giving this tank a deep cleaning! I got all the Cyanobacteria our that I possible could. I essentially had to do 2, 75% water changes to get it all out using a tube. I’m about to put the fish back in and cover up the tank. Do I kill the co2 for the week long blackout?

No light = no CO2 ;)
 
I did a week long black out-no light and covered in trash bag. At the end of that, the tank looked spotless, no Cyanobacteria in sight, but the plants looked really rough. I have the lights running 6 hours and co2 running on 2 hours before and off 2 hours before. It’s been about 2 weeks and the plants are started to show some signs of new growth, and along with that, the Cyanobacteria is started to reappear. Looks like I’ll be buying some chemiclean asap and pray that works!
 
Invest in uv sterilizer will clear that up in a few days
 
Invest in uv sterilizer will clear that up in a few days


How exactly? You are assuming that Cyanobacteria is in the water column. UV sterilization is only active on the water that passes through it. What about the cyano established on the plants and hardscape?
 
Use chemiclean, I tried EVERY trick in the book and it still came back, no matter what, used 2 doses of chemiclean and 4 days later it is completely gone, nothing, not a trace, no deaths to any other livestock, no issues with a mini cycle. well worth the $20 or whatever it was.
 
I already bought the Chemiclean and just dosed the tank. Hopefully in a couple days it’ll look better!
 
How exactly? You are assuming that Cyanobacteria is in the water column. UV sterilization is only active on the water that passes through it. What about the cyano established on the plants and hardscape?



That’s why you don’t start up a system with out I’ve lights you run into so much problems in the long run I like running led uv light t5 and a submersible I’ve light pump it help also with flow in your tank my water is glass clear people come over and think the fishes are flying in The air uv light as as important to fish as light is to plants
 
That’s why you don’t start up a system with out I’ve lights you run into so much problems in the long run I like running led uv light t5 and a submersible I’ve light pump it help also with flow in your tank my water is glass clear people come over and think the fishes are flying in The air uv light as as important to fish as light is to plants



Not quite. My water is crystal clear, never used a UV system, cyano is so aggressive it will cover certain surface areas within days, no UV unit will have a chance at killing off established cyano. Maybe, just maybe, if you use a UV unit from square 1 you won’t have outbreak, but a $20 chemiclean dose is a little more economical that running UV.
 
I concur. UV will only deal with cyano if it is in the water column. I have seen cyano spread along the surface plants, hardscape, and the glass walls. I am sure some of it is present in the water column.
 
Not quite. My water is crystal clear, never used a UV system, cyano is so aggressive it will cover certain surface areas within days, no UV unit will have a chance at killing off established cyano. Maybe, just maybe, if you use a UV unit from square 1 you won’t have outbreak, but a $20 chemiclean dose is a little more economical that running UV.
. Never used a UV system enough said not going to argue with u using a chemical is the way to go please smh
 
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