Hi there, I've been manually removing spirogyra for months and it's gotten so bad that it's been a daily thing. I've tried blackouts, low light, extra ferts, no ferts, overdosing Excel, adding a couple SAE, and it's just gotten worse. Here's my setup:
20G Long
Eheim 2011 cannister filter
Flourite Sand
Fugeray planted+ light
Daily Flourish, potassium, Excel (the general one), and iron every other day
Flourish root tabs
Plants: Rotalla, swords, red wendt, water sprite, corkscrew val, dwarf pearl grass, flame moss, pennywort, anubias, driftwood
Fauna: 6 rummynose tetras, 3 threadfin rainbows, 2 pencilfish, 4 amano shrimp, a bunch of RCS of all sizes, and 3 assassin snails to keep the plant snails in check. Currently only the fish are in there, though it's probable that a few baby RCS are still surviving the algae treatment which is toxic to them. Today I found a live one and transferred him over to see his family
So I went nuclear on the spirogyra and have done the following for three days straight:
1) 50% water change
2) 40ml of hydrogen peroxide
3) 20ml of Excel
4) API Algaefix (one initial dose then 50% doses after the water change yesterday, nothing today in day
The spirogyra looks 80% gone and what's left is very fine and sort of flowing in the currently looking sick. There's still some left though so I plan on going through a few more treatments. The fish look fine and not stressed at all.
Last night after day two I had to clean out the cannister because the flow got so bad, and indeed the white filter pad and carbon pad were basically pure mud. And I'd changed it probably 2-3 weeks prior so it hadn't been too long. I replaced the pad and carbon, as they were somewhat deteriorated and old. I poured Seachem Stability directly into the filter and them some into the water, and plan on continuing capfulls for another day or two.
This morning when I woke up I had cloudy water, which I guess is a bacterial bloom from all the dead stuff? I did the 50% water change and then added the H2O2... The water looks less cloudy but still cloudy. Ammonia/Nit are at zero.
Question - do I need to fear this algae bloom or just let it run its course? Has anyone ever gone after spirogyra like this before? Any advice? Thanks.
20G Long
Eheim 2011 cannister filter
Flourite Sand
Fugeray planted+ light
Daily Flourish, potassium, Excel (the general one), and iron every other day
Flourish root tabs
Plants: Rotalla, swords, red wendt, water sprite, corkscrew val, dwarf pearl grass, flame moss, pennywort, anubias, driftwood
Fauna: 6 rummynose tetras, 3 threadfin rainbows, 2 pencilfish, 4 amano shrimp, a bunch of RCS of all sizes, and 3 assassin snails to keep the plant snails in check. Currently only the fish are in there, though it's probable that a few baby RCS are still surviving the algae treatment which is toxic to them. Today I found a live one and transferred him over to see his family
So I went nuclear on the spirogyra and have done the following for three days straight:
1) 50% water change
2) 40ml of hydrogen peroxide
3) 20ml of Excel
4) API Algaefix (one initial dose then 50% doses after the water change yesterday, nothing today in day
The spirogyra looks 80% gone and what's left is very fine and sort of flowing in the currently looking sick. There's still some left though so I plan on going through a few more treatments. The fish look fine and not stressed at all.
Last night after day two I had to clean out the cannister because the flow got so bad, and indeed the white filter pad and carbon pad were basically pure mud. And I'd changed it probably 2-3 weeks prior so it hadn't been too long. I replaced the pad and carbon, as they were somewhat deteriorated and old. I poured Seachem Stability directly into the filter and them some into the water, and plan on continuing capfulls for another day or two.
This morning when I woke up I had cloudy water, which I guess is a bacterial bloom from all the dead stuff? I did the 50% water change and then added the H2O2... The water looks less cloudy but still cloudy. Ammonia/Nit are at zero.
Question - do I need to fear this algae bloom or just let it run its course? Has anyone ever gone after spirogyra like this before? Any advice? Thanks.
