Q #1, Various Algae growth is worring me...

[sudz]

Alrighty, I think i'm fending off an epidemic of Black bush algae. I'm going to attach a picture of what i'm getting growing on my driftwood ONLY, nothing on my plants or gravel. Also, In my 15 gallon tank (fairly new, just over 1 wpg) I'm getting a reddish brown grown on my plants. Kinda like a thin coating. I'll also attach a pic of that too

the 15 gallon tank gets half a cap of excel flourish every day, and a full cap of big al's general plant fert every day.

THe 44 gallon gets a full cap of excel flourish a day, had a neglected DIY CO2 system (didn't replace solution in 2 months)

I'm thinking the BBA got a foothold because o fmy lack of CO2, however, i figured dosing Excel flourish would do the trick (WRONG)

Any ideas to get rid of this BBA before it takes over? I have a gold algae eater, and the LFS said he'd heat Black bush algae... but he seems like everything BUT that.

First pic is of the 15 gallon, second and third picture of the various algae starting to take hold in the tank. These are in isolated spots. THe nasty colored fuzzy one is between a chunk of driftwood and the glass that I cant get at without upsetting the tank.

Yesterday i replenished the yeast/water solution in my DIY stuff, my CO2 is around 35ppm ATM, but it'll fall to about 25-30 for the rest of the month.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Guest]

What other fish do you have in there? You could get some otos or some types of shrimp to take care of that as long as you don't have anything big and/or predatory in there.

 

[sudz]

2 tijii corydora's, 1 CAE, 1 clown loach, 9 neon tetra's, 3 Black phantom tetra's, 1 golden gourami, 1 boesaumi rainbowfish, 3 cherrybarbs (found out one is a "fire" cherry barb.

Otos' eat black bush algae? I though there were only 2 fish that did... and i thought one was the CAE? (or was it the saimese algae eater?) and another fish... i think it was from flordia?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Siamese algae eater and Florida flag fish are the two major bba eaters. Also the Butterfly Gooedid, Ameca splendens

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

SAE, Rosy barbs (and most other barbs) eat it. My Bala's were ripping at it, but taking leaves with it. SAE are far nicer at removing it.

The 15 Gal, you say you are dosing 1 cap of BA's generic ferts/day, I'm inclined to think that's way too much, esp. for a low light tank. it should be closer to 2ml/week (guessing)

Oto's are great for Diatoms (brown dust looking algae)

Get the Co2 back up and running, keep going with the excel tho. and try to cut back on the fert. that's pretty heavy dosing (I don't even dose that in my 75Gal)

 

[sherry]

wizzard..just while we are on teh topic, how much should I dose trace (csm b fe) in a 35 gallon?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I haven't tried that before so I can't give a good answer, Travis, czcz or simpte among others would be more qualified I'ld think, I'ld be interested in the response tho if you want to start a thread on it)

I'm going on Seachems dosage (very similar to BA's) which is 10ml/60Gallon once or twice a week. The dosage he's posting is 28 times higher then recommended in a low light 15Gal tank.

 

[Guest]

Siamese algae eater and Florida flag fish are the two major bba eaters. Also the Butterfly Gooedid, Ameca splendens

I thought some shrip eat it too, but I could be wrong.

 

[sudz]

kk. Oto's... Best single/ pairs/ groups? it'll be for my guppy tank, will they get along? 4 guppies... 29 fry, (in a breeder at the moment) 2 cory's and one small clown loach (HAD a snail problem!) I could move the clown to my 44 gallon, but i'd like to leave it in there for a few more months. Until he gets some color, he was washed out when i got him, he's slowly starting to get better.

as for the BBA fish... I have cherry barbs, they don't seem to pick at it too much. Far more interested in hornwort and java moss. what about the flordia flag fish? WIll he get along with my gold algae eater? i believe theres a picture of him in my gallery.he's about 3 inches long now.

 

[azn_fishy55]

The Florida Flagfish should get along with the other fish as long as their fins aren't long like bettas.Otos are better in groups I think you should need 3-6 Otos.

 

[Purrbox]

According to Greg Watson's site you should dose approximately 1.25ml of Plantex CSM+B for ever 1ml of Flourish that you would have dosed. If don't already have a dosing routine with Flourish, since Flourish recommeds 5ml for every 60 Gallons you would probably want to try starting with just over 3.5ml of the Plantex. Flourish's dosing routine indicates adding Flourish twice a week, however you may need to dose more often since you have High Light.

Should have noted that the above was in response to Sherry's inquiry about dosing CSM+B in her 35 Gallon Aquarium.

 

[sudz]

Eek! I've been dosing 2.5mm every day in my 44 gallon. I do have a fair bit of plants.

However, reading the directions on my bottle: it says:

Use 1 capful for every 50 US gallons (200L) daily or every other day. Dosing may be slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1ml.

Things started growing so much better once i doesed every day. Before it was a bit random, but now, i wake up, dose, then go on with life, lol