Help, algae all over plants

[keegster803]

Hey guys I just got back from a 2 week vacation, I had my neighbor do 20% weekly water changes while I was gone. I forgot to tell them to dose with my excel and other liquid ferts. I came home to this. any idea how to treat my algae and get it off my plants?


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[pittbully13]

That's algae looks gnarly man. I would try to physically removed as mush as I could by trimming the affected plants. Then dose/spray areas with h202.

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[Brian_Nano12g]

Looks like a form of cyanobacteria. Nasty stuff indeed. I'd go with pitt's suggestion of removing as much as possible, h2o2 spot treats, and (what I usually do) dose erythromycin.

 

[biondoa]

There is always a chance that the erythromycin may harm the beneficial bacteria in your tank. I was battling cyanobacteria recently. I did manually remove as much as possible. Then a blackout for about 3 days. After that, cut down on light hours and feeding and do lots of water changes. Cyanobacteria thrive on light and nutrients in the water. Changing water frequently while feeding less food cuts down on nutrients in water.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

It's true, if you can find a non-med / chemical base of treatment, it'll be best. However, since my numerous encounters with BGA, I still found erythromycin (EM) to be most effective for me. To my understanding, it targets gram-positive bacteria, whereas the nitrifying beneficial bacteria are gram-negative stains.