ttangles
Aquarium Advice Newbie
any suggestions on eradication?
staghorn algae!!!
- Thread starter ttangles
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
any suggestions on eradication?
As with most algaes the key is to figure out what the imbalance is and correct it. Some additional information about your aquarium would be helpful for specific recommendations. Size of your aquarium? Lighting amount and duration? Dosage and frequency of any carbon and fertilization? What plants do you have? How heavily is it planted? etc.
neilanh
Sliced Bread
ttangles
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello! New here, but I need to confirm my common sense deduction. I have a 55gal. planted tank and am experiancing a bloom of thread algae and was wondering how I elimnate it when I've just added some marimo moss balls. I'm assuming that I don't want to use an algaecide as moss balls are really an algae and that would kill them. (Trible-cide!) Is this assumption correct? Could I take them out, treat the tank and then add them back? It is an 'adopted' (second-hand) tank and I know I'm over feeding in an attempt to make sure the leaf fish that came with it get their fair share of bloodworms and the Syodontis cat that is rather elusive....always in his log cave with the loaches (5 angelic and 7 small clowns.) The 2 figure 8 puffers (also adoptees) aren't very aggresive and also seem to need babying at feeding time. (2x's a day) The 5 angels and sometimes the loaches are often more aggresive than the leaf fish especially, and the others. There is also 1 busshy-nose pleco. I have a 54x4 pc light, but only use one half at a time since I don't have added Co2. I tried with the Hagen Co2 canister (like a DIY model), but it leaked and I haven't tried since! There is a newly added MarinelandC-220 cannister filter and an Aqua-tech 30-60 that came with it, a heater, pre-filter sponges on all intakes (DIY w/Aqua Clear sponges) and all parameters read normal. There is sand (came with it) as substrate no special plant kind) and I fertilize it with tabs and add liquid (no phosphates) 1-2x's a week. I change 20-40% water 1x a week at minimum.
SOOOOO where do I go from here? Thanks for any advice!
Answer from a kind member-
(Once you can identify which type of algae you are struggling with, we will have a much better idea how to help you. 90% of the time, all it takes is adjusting either your lighting habits, getting your nutrients balanced by dosing the appropriate fertilizer(s), or both--sometimes helped by buying an appropriate algae-eating fish for your tank. Once you figure out your algae type, you might want to create a separate thread specifically asking about it, rather than "bury" a question in the midst of the "member introductions" forum here.)
Algaecide is not a good option. If it's effective it could easily harm all your plants and not just the marimo balls. Kill off too much algae and plants at once and you could end up with an ammonia spike that could harm your fish.
It looks like you're using 2 WPG over the aquarium. How long are the lights on each day?
As you've mentioned, CO2 probably isn't necessary with the amount of light that you're using.
Which plant tabs are you using and which liquid fertilizer are you using? We need to know if you're dosing Micros and/or Macros and how much of each. Specific dosage that you are adding each time as well.
Please post specific numbers for your test results (most importantly Nitrates and Phosphates). What you are reading as normal may indicate a course of action for us. For instance in a planted aquarium you don't want 0 nitrates, although this could be considered normal.
It looks like you're using 2 WPG over the aquarium. How long are the lights on each day?
As you've mentioned, CO2 probably isn't necessary with the amount of light that you're using.
Which plant tabs are you using and which liquid fertilizer are you using? We need to know if you're dosing Micros and/or Macros and how much of each. Specific dosage that you are adding each time as well.
Please post specific numbers for your test results (most importantly Nitrates and Phosphates). What you are reading as normal may indicate a course of action for us. For instance in a planted aquarium you don't want 0 nitrates, although this could be considered normal.
ttangles
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Sorry to have left this thread hanging...life has been busy.
Finally ordered Flourish Excell by mail-order as I have not been able to find it locally. Since starting to use it, it seems to have nipped the algea in the bud and I have not noticed any new growth of it. I am still working on removing it by hand. Thanks to all who helped advise! Will update with particulars of aquarium when time permits!
Finally ordered Flourish Excell by mail-order as I have not been able to find it locally. Since starting to use it, it seems to have nipped the algea in the bud and I have not noticed any new growth of it. I am still working on removing it by hand. Thanks to all who helped advise! Will update with particulars of aquarium when time permits!
