Staghorn algea

[WaterPond]

Sheesh, its bad. Its all over my java ferns in my 50gal. Which of the following should i do

____ day blackout (how long?)
-siamese algea eater
-shrimp
-black mollies

hmm... any other ideas?

I hear this stuff is easy to get rid of. It is only growing under the spot in my tak where i have a bit higher light. I will remove as much as i can by hand, but i am thinking of getting a siamses algea eater to keep it from coming back.

I read that is it caused by high ammonia?? weird seeing as how i have had 0ammonia from day one!

UGGH, what should i do??? :?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Nothing eats Staghorn, I do believe.

How much light in the tank?
What are your water parameters?
How long are the lights on?

 

[fish_4_all]

Might try squirting Excel on it directly. It helped get rid of mine. The amount to dose a 50 gallon would be plenty to treat the entire thing if it isn't huge.

Regular dosing has also helped to keep mine in check. Just don't miss a dose or it comes back overnight.

 

[WaterPond]

sorry for the lack of info.

Params

ammonia= 0
nitrite= 0
nitrate= 5 (i am thinking this may be what is wrong?)
pH=7.0
and i dont have a KH test kit atm so i cant test co2

Lighting
1- 26w CF fixture(sort of like a reptile spotlight, all of the algea is growing in the area where this shines)
1- 32w tube flourecent fixture
1- 26w tube flourecent fixture

I dont have enough money for lighting, lol, so that has to do for a while.

 

[Purrbox]

Definately need to dose more Nitrates and probably need to up your Phosphate dosing as well.

 

[WaterPond]

ok, i have some dry ferts which i have only been using in my 50gal, guess it is time to use them in the 50gal

 

[7Enigma]

I hear this stuff is easy to get rid of.

Not in the slightest. It is very slow to disappear on its own once ferts are balanced, and I do not know of anything that eats it. It is commonly suggested that fluctuating levels of CO2 are its cause. I find it grows in my tank almost exclusively on slow growing leaves such as anubias, but also grows on my Rotala. It does not touch my java fern for some reason.

I would recommend removing any affected leaves that are heavily covered and making sure you have an excess of ALL ferts (CO2 most importantly). Lowering your light level or total time will also help until you can figure it out.

This stuff is nasty, and can QUICKLY take over a plant/tank if left unchecked. I still have some of it on my anubias leaves but it seems to have been beaten back a good bit. For large leaves on slow growing plants I used hydrogen peroxide spot treatment to kill the staghorn while not damaging the leaves. This is great for really slow growers like anubias, but for most other plants (java fern included) I would clip the affected leaves.

Goodluck, this stuff is about as bad as it gets (BBA is probably #1 IMO), though I've never dealt with the virulent forms of BGA that some people have horror stories about.

 

[JRagg]

Ugh, I never had any luck with peroxide on my staghorn algae. I'm sure I was doing something wrong, but it never seemed to stop it. I also did a 4 day blackout with very mediocre results.

It did however go away on its own (with pruning the affected leaves) when I switched to EI dosing. Of course if your CO2 isn't high enough and you start up EI then you will probably get BBA (just like I did).

 

[GlitcH]

In my shrimp tank........when I lessened the swing in CO2 from water changes, the staghorn went away in two weeks time.

 

[zenkatydid]

nothing eats staghorn? rubbish! i had a moderate outbreak in my 50gal, purchased 2 SAEs and it's COMPLETELY CLEAR within a week or so. amazing.

 

[7Enigma]

Ugh, I never had any luck with peroxide on my staghorn algae. I'm sure I was doing something wrong, but it never seemed to stop it. I also did a 4 day blackout with very mediocre results.

It did however go away on its own (with pruning the affected leaves) when I switched to EI dosing. Of course if your CO2 isn't high enough and you start up EI then you will probably get BBA (just like I did).

I also did a blackout that didn't show any signs of harming it. H2O2 is very picky due to its short life. If you used anything other than a new bottle and didn't use it right away once out of the bottle, or didn't have it concentrated to the spot (I use a pipet for treatment), it very well can do nothing.

I noticed ONCE it was killed, THEN I saw my barbs begin to pick at it. I have Oto's and BN pleco, and they never touched the stuff while it was alive...

 

[zenkatydid]

i can't imagine a sucker mouth could do very much, they are tough. it's really interesting watching the SAEs eat it, though. they grip onto a bit of it, then whip their bodies around wildly til it breaks off, then eat it down. it reminds me of a kookaburra killing a worm, but that might just be my aussie showing through

 

[Plantbrain]

SAE's don't seem to eat it really, they mow it, but if it's healthy, they really will not eat it.
I've tried as many others have, are you sure you have Staghorn ?

I see staghorn and have induced it with urea and fish waste, also with ADa aqua soil if you do not do good water changes in the first few months, but have good CO2 etc.

Most get GW before they have Staghorn.
If you do a lot of uprooting and pruning etc, then do not follow that with a water change, you can also induce Staghorn.

Once there, it stays, but often stops forming new growth as the NH4 is gone.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[zenkatydid]

i don't mean to be argumentative, tom, but i am 100% positive that my SAEs ate my staghorn. i had heaps, and now i have none. i have not changed anything else, am still fiddling with unstable DIY CO2, etc. i've seen them eat it. lock their mouths around a bit of algae, whip their body to tear it off, then munch it down. maybe i have freakish SAEs

 

[dapellegrini]

Starved maybe, but I doubt freakish, LOL. They will eat many algaes, but only if they can't find anything else to eat, er so mine are that way anyways ... Age also seems to be a factor in their appetites.

 

[zenkatydid]

haha not my SAEs - they chow down into bloodworms, algae wafers and catfish pellets daily but yes, they are quite young, so i expect their staghorn-munching abilities will fade with time.

 

[Plantbrain]

i don't mean to be argumentative, tom, but i am 100% positive that my SAEs ate my staghorn. i had heaps, and now i have none. i have not changed anything else, am still fiddling with unstable DIY CO2, etc. i've seen them eat it. lock their mouths around a bit of algae, whip their body to tear it off, then munch it down. maybe i have freakish SAEs

It's possible, fish behaviors do vary.
Mine ever touched it, they do attack BBA well though.
But those had induced BBA and I knew the BBA was healthy and growing.
If an alga is 1/2 dead and just the leftovers are on the plants, then that's different. Many herbivores actively will eat such algae then.

I think some SAE's will harass the alga, but Staghorn is seldonma long term issue, it comes and then it's tough to remove without damage to the leaves, but it's never been as tenacious nor long lasting like BBA and other algae.

Still, adding an SAE or two is not a bad idea, nor is adding a load of Amano shrimp. Provided these guys do not get eaten and you can find them locally and do not break the bank.

Rosey barbs will also shred anything hair algae like also.

Regards,
Tom Barr