Serious Algae Problems In My Planted Tanks

[Sjasmin888]

I have 4 tanks with major algae problems mostly centered on my plants. I have at least 4 species of the stuff and it's completely out of control. Manually removing it is getting me absolutely nowhere so now I'm just contemplating kill methods I can perform outside of the tank to protect my shrimp, snails and fish. I'm thinking about removing all of my plants and soaking them in a plastic tote of water with super high dosages of excel and prime for around 8 hours and then rinsing them prior to returning them to the tank. I've also thought of doing the same but adding algaefix. Does anyone have any other suggestions that may help get this problem under control quickly? Ive already reduced lighting duration, added a 'siesta period, and started dosing flourish excel per directions but it hasn't been helping. Affected plants are red ludwigia, water Wisteria, anubias, moneywort, hydrocotyl, and rotala indica. I may be able to bring myself to dispose of and start over with some of these plants, but hydrocotyl is very hard to find around here and anubia grow at snails pace.

[Kaneu]

Algae tends to thrive when there is an abundance of nutrients in your tanks. By doing your "tote kill" method, all you will do is get the algae out for a little while and putting your plants threw a ton of stress. Without changing the water peramitters, it will quickly come back.

I am actually fighting dust algae and black beard in my tank. It is very difficult to get rid of. Sucks.

the type of light can be a factor. As well as the water gh and kH. Also do you have any co2 being injected into your tank? That can help in a big way. Do you dose any other types of fertilizers​?

FYI, prime won't hurt/effect algae in the slightest. Sorry

[Sjasmin888]

No co2, running low tech since I'm on a budget. My water isn't overly soft or hard, no idea about kh but my hardness and ph stay stable. And no other fertilizers.

[toolman]

What light do you have?

Can we get a pic of the tank?

Light is usually #1 cause of algae, maybe too strong or intense amount of light?

[Ashenwelt]

If your using siesta, can you give your schedule? Also what f erts are in the tank? How long since the last water change? What are your nitrates at? And have you check on ammonia levels?

It's always a balance between light / CO2 / Ferts.

How long since you started fighting? How long since you set to siesta? When was the last feet dosing?

[Bert2oo1]

Yep toolman is on the money, too much light would be your issue. Either your photoperiods too long or your fixture is too intense.

What fixture are you using?

[Funken_A]

Originally Posted by Kaneu

Algae tends to thrive when there is an abundance of nutrients in your tanks.

For the record this is not completely true.

I have a high tech set up and I know things are trickier with low tech setups

However ...
If my CO2 is not optimal I get hair algae. I could theoretically reduce my ferts and my light to match lower CO2, but my real issue was with CO2 and water flow so I designed a Cerges CO2 reactor. No more hair algae. Numerous reads and research has me convinced that Hair Algae is a product of unstable or not enough CO2. So one could reduce their light and their ferts to make up for the lack added CO2, but it really points the finger at CO2 issues


Recently I reduced my ferts to slow growth and because I noticed some Black Brush Algae on plants but when I reduced my Fertilizers it got worse and the tank looked blah. Now I could of reduced my light instead but I chose to up my fertilizers. My tank looks better than ever... Getting larger leafs and really bright colors


Types of algae can mean different things to the observer.. but each algae has a different trigger and can be solved using multiple approaches including raising your fertilizers in situations

[Funken_A]

Originally Posted by Sjasmin888

I have 4 tanks with major algae problems mostly centered on my plants. I have at least 4 species of the stuff and it's completely out of control. Manually removing it is getting me absolutely nowhere so now I'm just contemplating kill methods I can perform outside of the tank to protect my shrimp, snails and fish. I'm thinking about removing all of my plants and soaking them in a plastic tote of water with super high dosages of excel and prime for around 8 hours and then rinsing them prior to returning them to the tank. I've also thought of doing the same but adding algaefix. Does anyone have any other suggestions that may help get this problem under control quickly? Ive already reduced lighting duration, added a 'siesta period, and started dosing flourish excel per directions but it hasn't been helping. Affected plants are red ludwigia, water Wisteria, anubias, moneywort, hydrocotyl, and rotala indica. I may be able to bring myself to dispose of and start over with some of these plants, but hydrocotyl is very hard to find around here and anubia grow at snails pace.

This is a decent reference for algae types and probable causes

James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide

As for dealing with it. Pull and dip plants you think can survive a strong excel dip. You can even H2O2 dip. I wouldn't do both at the same time with liquid CO2 and H2o2 I'd pick one method or the other

Anubis are very hardy. If you can pull the plant and whatever its attached to, You can use a small paint brush and paint excel or H2O2 on the individual leaves.


I use H2O2 for treatments myself. I use over the counter H2O2 and put in a spray bottle. I put the whole bottle in the tank under water with the nozzle about 1 inch away from the area I want to spray and i give the spray bottle 4 - 6 good pulls. I will do this in 2 or 3 places in my 30 gallon tank when I had issues. The reason for getting the spray close to the affected area is once H2O2 hits the water supposedly it quickly breaks up into H2O and + O (or so I read somewhere). You want the H2O2 hitting the algae and then dissolving into the water column. You also of course want to ensure there are not creatures in the spray path. They can be in the general area but not in the path of the spray.

This would help keep some algae like hair and BBA under control while i solved the imbalance riddles.

[Fresh2o]

^^^ The link on algae types mentioned above is a good one and many Google searches led me to it.

[alex_da_fixeru]

You could try a treatment with JBL Algol. I had a diatome explosion in my planted tank. I used it. No problems with the fish and plants. After the treatment, I put active carbon in my filter and striped my water of silicates for a while. Never had them since.

[fishenthusiast]

Originally Posted by Sjasmin888

I have 4 tanks with major algae problems mostly centered on my plants. I have at least 4 species of the stuff and it's completely out of control. Manually removing it is getting me absolutely nowhere so now I'm just contemplating kill methods I can perform outside of the tank to protect my shrimp, snails and fish. I'm thinking about removing all of my plants and soaking them in a plastic tote of water with super high dosages of excel and prime for around 8 hours and then rinsing them prior to returning them to the tank. I've also thought of doing the same but adding algaefix. Does anyone have any other suggestions that may help get this problem under control quickly? Ive already reduced lighting duration, added a 'siesta period, and started dosing flourish excel per directions but it hasn't been helping. Affected plants are red ludwigia, water Wisteria, anubias, moneywort, hydrocotyl, and rotala indica. I may be able to bring myself to dispose of and start over with some of these plants, but hydrocotyl is very hard to find around here and anubia grow at snails pace.

How is your water flow?

A shorter lighting period (6 hours; add duration as needed) and a lower lighting intensity, as well as consistent levels of carbon dioxide, will do much more than a siesta period in the end. Many use the siesta just for convenience. If you are not doing weekly water changes, start doing them. You can even do water changes twice a week.