Algae and heat...

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I've got my temp back down on my 55G to 80, and no algae. When I put the new fixture on, I was getting green algae on the glass as well as this ugly black stuff on all my ornaments and fake plants. Looked terrible. But after 3 weeks at 88-91 degrees, all is gone, and the green algae that was on the tank glass is all brown and dead. So my question it, now that I'm treating my 75G for ick, could I possibly get rid of my algae problems at these temps? Since I'm treating for ick, I have no choice anyways, lol.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

i never thought about the possibility of high temperatures killing off algae. I also had green fuzz algae on my tank for a long time when new, until i got everything balanced out nutrients wise, and then added 5 SAEs

 

[SerLunchbox]

actually heat worked EXTREMELY well for me and algae.

I had a case of ich within the past year in which i raised my temperature to 87F.

In the 3 - 4 weeks that i had it at this temperature, not only did i kill off the ich but i also got rid of green spot algae and cyano bacteria. It makes perfect sense though as it seems to me that it is a temperature in which this certain algae is killed off whether it was from the heat or too much of a rapid acceleration in its lifespan that it couldn't properly or effectively reproduce.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As some of you know, I transferred ick to my 75G Planted from my 55G, and now have my heat up to 87.5. Also, you probably remember I ordered a diatom filter to help get rid of my greenwater, which wasn't real bad, til I got my nutrients back in order. Well, 2nd day after heat was turned up, water was a bit clearer, and now today, no greenwater. hmmmmmmmm. Now what do I do with the diatom filter when I get it? LOL . Now I can look into the end of my tank and see all the way through 4 feet of water, lol.

 

[Meredith]

LoL, I am obsessed with algae. I have not had the time or the means to get the propper test kits and nutrients I need to rid my planted of algae. The heat thing sounds interesting. I am not sure how my fish would handle it though. I should take a pic of my tank to show everyone how bad it is.

 

[tropicfishman]

I had no idea heat killed algea either

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I first noticed it with my 55G, when doing heat treatment for ick. After about a week and a half, the green spot algae on the glass turned brown and died off. I added nothing to the water either, just turned the temp up. And almost all the black algae that was on my fake plants is gone as well. And now in the 75G, after 3 days at above 86 degree temps, greenwater is nearly gone. Just a very slight haze right now, but will probably be crystal clear tomorrow, at the rate it's clearing up. Will like to see what happens to the algae on the live plants now. But I think SerLunchbox said it best:

In the 3 - 4 weeks that i had it at this temperature, not only did i kill off the ich but i also got rid of green spot algae and cyano bacteria. It makes perfect sense though as it seems to me that it is a temperature in which this certain algae is killed off whether it was from the heat or too much of a rapid acceleration in its lifespan that it couldn't properly or effectively reproduce.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yipeeeeeeeeee.........

My water is crystal clear, no more greenwater, lol. Also, looks like the BBA around the plant leaves is also starting to disappear. And the algae on the glass is also gone. Wonder what my tank will look like when the ick treatment is done, lol. I still have signs of ick on the roselines, has increased some. Wonder if I'm going to have to do the dreaded 91 degrees. I hope not, really don't want to go much higher than 89 degrees, which is where I am.

 

[severum mama]

So it's possible to have a strain of ich that will survive in 89 degree water? Do you think that's sort of the same thing as bacteria that develop a resistance to certain antibiotics? I was also wondering what kind of lighting you have on your 55 gallon. I just use the stock lighting on mine and have never had an algae problem except for some green spot that grows on my rocks and clay pot, but I don't worry about that because I think it looks cool. It doesn't really even grow on the glass. The temp stays at 80... I've been trying to lower it to 78 slowly but the heater dial is so inaccurate it's basically guesswork.

Best of luck with your treatment, I really hope everything works out. I haven't had to deal with ich in about 2 years, ever since I swore off cardinal tetras.

 

[newfound77951]

For those of us that live in temperate climates (anywhere that temps get below freezing during the winter) the heat method may work. The algae in the green water most likely came from the water you put in your tank, or maybe plants or decorations, but it's most likely of local source. In temperate waters diatoms are likely to be the dominant phytoplankton, and they do not like warm water at all. It would be interesting to see if anyone from the warmer climates has successfully used heat to treat GW to test this theory. Let's hear it, southerners!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, there is a strain where you have to go to 91 degrees, and I had it once. At 88 degrees, just kept spreading. So I upped to 92 to get rid of it. Was a bit scary, lol. Don't like it that warm, but the fish all survived just fine. That's back when my yoyo was covered with ick.

Nothing had been added to the tank. All plants are live and no fake decor. All real driftwood and rock as well. Everything is original from the original setup back in Feb. the greenwater only started maybe 3 weeks ago, and with 60% PWC's every other day, was never very bad.

As for lighting, I'm running 130W CF over my 55G.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

Greenwater: Completely gone.
BBA: 90% gone.
Black algae (whatever it is): Almost gone.
All other algae: Gone

It's amazing what the heat has done. Occasionally I've been dosing nitrogen, and haven't dosed phosphate. I also dose Potassium 3 times a week. Just added root tabs, as the swords were showing some deficiency, and they bounced back quite rapidly. The only problem algae is still around the clover. It's not going away very fast. As for the BBA on the swords, at least 90% gone. They are looking great also. The black algae that was causing problems on the water sprite is also going away quite rapidly, and the sprite is beginning to grow again. And all plants but the clover is doing very well once again. Anacharis is algae free, and growing way too fast, lol.

 

[newfound77951]

I have been turning my heater up for the past 3 days, it's up to 85-86 now. Did a round with the diatom filter on Thursday, water was very slightly cloudy yesterday, about the same today. Before, it would have been much worse by now. I also have my lights set to turn off for 3 hours in the middle of the day which might also be helping.

I'm going to leave it at 86 for a couple of days. If there isn't any need to go warmer I'd rather not. All my fish seem fine but boy are they in overdrive with the warm temps!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It's just like summertime for them...

If it hasn't reversed in a couple days, give it one more little notch on the heater, maybe 88. Mine's holding between 88.5 and 89.

I also did filter maintenance yesterday, and my output seemed a bit low. Instead of rinsing out my floss, which was probably all dead algae reminants, I just replaced it with new, since I have a ton of the stuff. I didn't think 10 yards of floss was such a large bag, lol.

 

[newfound77951]

It's just like summertime for them...

Yeah, I'll be all happy too, if it EVER STOPS RAINING!

I am so excited to be beating this GW...it was really getting me down. Thanks for the timely suggestion!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Not a problem. They also say high temps can affect plants as well, but mine seem to be doing pretty well. Even my L. repens in the 26G is looking decent. And the java moss is still growing well. Thinking of upping the lighting on my 26G again to get the java moss back to how it was before pulling out 10 lbs of the stuff, lol. Tomorrow I might change the bulb, put the 65W growth bulb back in again, rather than the 50/50 I have in there now.

 

[exodus]

Hm. I'm treating for ich right now too, looks like my rams do indeed have it.

I've also got quite a bit of black beard algae growing on some of my plants. Think high temps might hopefully kill it as well?

That'd be nice.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Good chance, yes.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

hmmm very interesting. i have HORRIBLE BBA right now. i got my temp around between 78 and 80. i have a CF bulb on the aquarium too, but no CO2 yet

i just have a couple questions about this:
1. how do i know what temperature is too high for my fish? granted i know all of your guys' fish do fine when you go up to 88 and beyond, but is that really alright?
2. if i turn my temperature up until the algae is gone, doesn't that mean it's just going to grow back again when i turn it back down? i'd honestly hate to have to keep repeating this algae treatment

 

[newfound77951]

The fish should be Ok at the higher temps. All it really does is make their metabolism faster. Since they are cold-blooded, they don't get "hot" in the same sense that we do, they just speed up. Obviously you don't want the tank TOO hot....I doubt even tropical fish would be thrilled with water temps in the high 90s for too long, but don't forget we live comfortably at an internal temp near 100F. 88-90F should be fine. The biggest thing to watch out for is low oxygen, since the saturation point for O2 is lower when the water is warmer. With sufficient aeration (and plants, too) you should be just fine.

I don;t know if the BBA will come back. It might eventually, but I think the heat method to get rid of it would be better than looking at it, and less stressful in the long run than alternatives (ie bleach dip for the plants, or resorting to algicides).