Black slime on my plastic plants - EEk !

[dimmy32]

I have a 35 gallon tank, with mostly tetras in it, 2 khuli loaches, 1 chinese algea eater and a few japonica shrimp.

I have tried unsuccessfully to grow live plants for months in my tank, They just disintegrate after a few weeks. I'm using a power-glo tube , which is on at 8 am and off at 9 pm.

I do a water change every 2 weeks ( 20-30 % ) , with chlorinated tap water , I add some Aqua-clear , and a small teaspoon of buffer , which is made for tetras. It's supposed to bring the pH down to tetra-levels.

My filter is one aqua-clear. Water temp is at 78 degrees.

Any idea how to get rid of the black algae ?? ( I'm assuming it's "BGA" _ as noted from this website - GWAPA: - but i'm not 100 % sure. )

 

[Purrbox]

Welcome to AA.

Ditch the pH adjuster. It really isn't necessary and may be doing more harm than good. Most fish are much better off with a stable pH than a specific pH.

What is the wattage on your lighting? I suspect that you don't have enough light which is why your plants aren't growing. Also not a good idea to have your light on longer than 13 hrs as plants need time to rest too.

Sounds like BGA to me as well. Do you have low flow in the areas where it is forming? if so you may need to increase the current or adjust the direction of the outflow on your filter. Can you test your Nitrates? If Nitrates have bottomed out this can also encourage BGA. Dosing Nitrates to 10-20ppm at least once a week would be advisable if they are bottoming out. If neither of these work, then a 3-5 day blackout (completely covered, no light getting in, no peeking not even to feed the fish) would be the next step.

 

[dimmy32]

Thanks for the advice. I have a 20W power glo light., on a 30 gallon tank.
I have an airpump, with a bubble hose, I could run as well, but havent had it on much , since its kinda loud.

What would suggest i do ? Buy more lights ? New filter ?

 

[rich311k]

You do need more ligt to grow plants. The question is how much work do you want to put into it. A double stip light or another single strip light, would give you enough for low light plants. What size aqua clear is it? An AC 50 or above should give you plenty of movement.

 

[jsoong]

If I understand this right, there is no live plants at present ..... right?

In that case, it is unlikely that NO3 is bottoming out. Also, isn't NO3 dosing supposed to work because it encourages the higher plants to grow, taking up the other nutrients (such as PO4) and starving the algae? <BTW, dosing NO3 didn't work for me, maybe because my plants were rather ratty by that stage.>

If you want to get back into live plants, then an upgrade in lights as suggested is needed. And you need to pack the tank with healthy, fast growing plants so they can out-compete the algae. <This was the only way I got my black algae under control .... I was adding plants a few at a time & the algae was covering & smoothering the plants.>

Alternatively, (if you are not getting back into plants), you can try decreasing the light period to only when you are watching the fish. Algae need light to grow, so a severe restriction (+/- a total blackout for start) may work. In addition, if you also increase the water changes to get rid of all nutrients (NO3, PO4, etc.) that would further starve the algae.

I also have used the Excel overdose method. This is useful in getting rid of the bulk of the existing algae, but without correcting the underlying cause of the algae outbreak, they would simply grow back.

 

[dimmy32]

you are correct - there are no live plants right now.

Today , I'm gonna do a big water change , clean the black slime and increase my water circulation.

I would like to buy a strip with 2 fluoro tubes , but there is no top for my tank - I was thinking of getting some plexiglass cut, to lay the ballast on top - something like this ;

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...fefreshwateraqualight48powercompactlight2x65w

I dont think it would be good for this strip to have contact with the water...so i should put some glass or plexiglass in between....am I right in thinking this ?

oh yeah - my filter is a "penguin wheel 150".

 

[neilanh]

For tops, look into something like these

Also, if you opt to go with that much light, you are going to need CO2 and fertilizers. If you want to stick with a more basic, easier approach, don't go any higher than 1/2 of that amount of light. There are similiar fixtures with 55W output in PC lighting that would be more suited to you, unless you plan on going all out with CO2 and ferts. Running that much light without the rest of the equation will result in algae nightmares for you.

 

[dimmy32]

I Bought this today -
Oceanic Systems | Products | Freshwater Aqualight T5 Series - Double Linear Strip

It's supposed to be good for freshwater tanks ....

The aquarium dude recommend i get a "red slime remover" , so I bought the yellow powder..he said it wont affect inverts.
So I cleaned the tank, did a water change, added the red slime remover.

He said wait 48 hrs, add charcoal, to remove the medication...then add alot of plants and install the new lights.

Does this seem right ?

 

[rich311k]

The plant heavily sounds right. No idea what the slime remover is. Probably antibiotics, which will kill the cyano. Since you are removing them any way seems pointless.

 

[dimmy32]

his logic was if you dont remove it all, it'll just grow back. The yellow powder is needed to clean it all out. Then he said to hit the tank with lots of plants.

 

[rich311k]

Makes sense I guess. That fixture looks good. How many watts is it? Planting heavily is a good idea. Get fast growing stems that will out compete the algae.

 

[dimmy32]

"18 W colormax full spectrum T5 lamp"
" 18 W 6700K plant lamp "
one of each.

whatever that means....

 

[rich311k]

That works. It gives you a solid low light tank. You will not require CO2. Stick with low light plants and you should be good to go.

 

[dimmy32]

thanks man !
You know,I've been doing freshwater aquariums since I was 12, I'm 41 now.
ive had saltwater tanks for 4-5 years.

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks !

 

[jsoong]

One warning in using antibiotics for BGA, it may kill your cycling bacteria too!!! You will likely end up with a mini-cycle (or even a full blown one). <That's the reason I did not list erythromycin as treatmetn for BGA before....>

If you have already treated the tank <assuming that "red slime remover" is erythromycin>, you would need to monitor your tank parameters for the next few weeks & do pwc's as needed if the tank goes through a new cycle.

It is possible to avoid the cycle if you immediately pack the tank with plants. If your bio-load is low enough, the plants will use up all the ammonia .... This would then be "silent cycling". However, I'd still monitor levels just in case.

Last point, don't use plexi under your lights. It'll melt & sag. Use glass instead <as others had noted>.

 

[dimmy32]

thanks, thats sound advice. I'll keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrates.

It's a 48 hr treatment, with lights off. I took the plastic plants out and treated them to a double dose, in a steel bowl. I also ordered a piece of glass cut to fit my top, so i can rest the light fixture directly on the glass.
I ordered 4 mm thick glass, strong enough to support the light fixture, yet thick enough to pass most of the light through. I hope the glass wont block too much of the necessary wavelengths of light for growing plants.

On tuesday night, I'll buy a bunch of plants and install the light fixture.

Which plants would guys recommend I start with ?

In the tank now, I have 5-6 black tetras, 5-6 neons, 2 khuli loaches, one rainbow and an algea eater.

 

[jsoong]

That is low to med light .... for starters I'd go for lots of fast growers, so they can out-compete the algae. After the tank stabalizes, you can then add slower growers as desired, and remove/trim the fast growers to fit.

For fast growing easy plants, I'd suggest: green hygrophilia, hornwort, Egeria densa.

Slower growing plants that are easy: Java fern, Java moss, Vals, Anubias, crypts. <These are plants that I have not managed to kill, so must be easy!!>

 

[dimmy32]

any idea how long I should use charcoal , to get rid of the remaining medication ? How long should I wait before I buy some plants ?
Will the "red slime remover" affect plants ?

 

[Purrbox]

I'd probably give the charcoal a week to be on the safe side. Probably much longer than necessary, but when in doubt I like to shoot for a safe estimate.

Unless you can give us an actual name for the red slime remover, it will be nearly impossible for us to research it and give you any advice on its side effects. Even a manufacturer name would be helpful.

 

[dimmy32]

UltraLife Red Slime Algae Remover

They do not list the ingredients. Some people say it's an antibiotic, some say it isnt . No one seems to know how it will affect plants.

I've been looking around for some info on this product, most people use it on saltwater tanks.

Red Slime Remover