Infested With 3 Types of Algae

[littletankbigworld]

I originally commented in some threads about algae or plants about my algae problem, but today I found a third type and decided to make my own thread. I have brown diatoms coating all my fake plants and growing a brown fringe around the edges of the leaves of the only live plant. There is green spot algae on the HOB filter intake. I discovered black, hairy algae on my live plant and inside the filter intake. It is growing very thickly inside the filter intake. I didn't notice until today because my filter is black and it's difficult to see. My lighting is .5 wpg. I do not inject CO2, but I am planning a 1-2 wpg planted tank with CO2 injection. I do not overfeed. My dad used to, but not anymore. I feed once a day with either flakes or shrimp pellets and at night, I feed a combination of blanched vegetables and 1/3 of an algae wafer. My otos did a wonderful job of removing the algae from the side of the tank, until recently. There has been so much brown algae on the fake plants that the otos are choosing to clean the plants over the tank glass. I can post pictures, if you like, but my camera battery needs charged. My tank has been up and running since August. The water needs changed. Right now it is 0 ppm ammonia, <.3 mg/L nitrite, and <.25 mg/L nitrate. My gh is 4 and the pH is a bit high at 8.

If you have more questions, please ask. My tank looks horrid and I'd really love to start a planted tank and get this algae under control.

P.S. Recently, I discovered green hair algae in the 5 gallon tank, but that is the only type of algae. Both tanks have totally different situations.

 

[Newman]

you could try one ruby or zebra nerite nail...they should eat some of the green spot and brown algaes. you should try to peroxide treat the black beard algae you have IN the tank (do not put peroxide up the filter intake ever) if that is indeed what you have...you know I would suggest SAEs for the BBA but even in my 40 gal, my 5 SAEs will eventually outgrow my tank and so would any that you get

 

[littletankbigworld]

I'll look into those. It's true that nerites cannot breed in FW, right? I am sick of snails reproducing. How would I do the peroxide treatment without getting it up the intake? I plan on manually cleaning the intake this weekend.

Would most of the algae go away if I increased lighting, CO2, and added live plants?

 

[Newman]

1. yes thats true. they will not create little baby snails and cause that problem..

2. You will need to shut off your filter for a while while you spot treat the tank. You can turn on the filter in around 10-20 min. it will be safe(sometimes even instantly but you will want 10-20 min for it to work in the tank)

I'll let Cones answer your last question

 

[littletankbigworld]

1. Good. What about the ruby snails?
2. Thank you.

 

[Newman]

The ruby snails are Ruby Nerites AKA Red-Spotted Nerites
I have 5 of them, they're great

 

[Doomhed]

nerite snails are the prettiest available snails in the hobby imho.

Also, stop feeding the algae wafers and cut back on the vegetables. there is only so much room in an ottos stomach for food. make them eat algae until it is gone.

 

[littletankbigworld]

Got you. But I have an upside-down catfish. What should I do about him?

Oooh...pretty snail! I'll have to get one of those.

 

[Newman]

I also have one Zebra nerite, I love it as well:

(as a side note, these pics of the snails are not mine lol)

 

[lauraf]

Would frozen bloodworms for your upside down cat???

 

[littletankbigworld]

I love the zebra nerite. Not sure. We've been snowed in and I haven't had a chance to go to Wally World to buy bloodworms.

 

[PlecoCollector]

Your UD Syno should be okay munching on regular flakes for the time being- they're scavengers and unless you see his belly caving, he really should be alright.

I haven't really been following this thread (skim read all the replies), but have you tried a tank black-out to starve the algae? It's a great option if you haven't made an attempt yet. Other than that, CO2 injections, strong lighting, and more plants will help with most forms of algae (particularily green algae), but you'll need to get rid of what you have first. The tank I have with CO2 has very little algae, but they may be because of the plecs munching away all day.

 

[OrangeCones]

It's true that nerites cannot breed in FW, right? I am sick of snails reproducing.

Nerites do try to breed in freshwater (and their eggs are hard to remove from decorations, tank walls, etc) . but once the eggs hatch, the larvae cannot survive unless you have brackish or saltwater. So they cannot reproduce in freshwater.

How would I do the peroxide treatment without getting it up the intake? I plan on manually cleaning the intake this weekend.

Remove the intake from the tank, soak it 20 mins in a solution of 1part bleach, 19 parts water. Rinse it well under running water, then soak it in a bucket of plain water with 3x the amount of dechlorinator in it, then let it air dry. Once dry, you can return it to the aquarium.

Would most of the algae go away if I increased lighting, CO2, and added live plants?

You must have a balance in light, nutrients, and CO2 for the plants to grow and outcompete algae. It also depends on the exact type of algae. Some grow when there is an over or underabudance of a particular nutrient.

Can you post picture of each algae type?

 

[blue_ram]

Water changes will help keep the algae growth down. If you put plants int he tank with algae, you will simply grow algae covered plants. Eliminate the algae problem before you add plants.

Try AlgaeFix AlgaeFix: Aquarium Maintenance & Algae Control.

 

[OrangeCones]

Water changes will help keep the algae growth down.

Some algae thrive more when nitrates are low, so more water changes (which lowers available nutrients) is not necessarily the answer. Identifying what particular algae it is would help.

If you put plants int he tank with algae, you will simply grow algae covered plants. Eliminate the algae problem before you add plants.

Plants can easily outcompete and eliminate algae, especially floating plants that can take in more light and much more CO2 that is available submerged. I use Hygrophila difformis (water wisteria) as a floating plant whenever I want to control most algae.

Try AlgaeFix AlgaeFix: Aquarium Maintenance & Algae Control.

Chemically controlling algae can be harmful to many fish and inverts, and doesn't address the underlying problem: an imbalance in light, nutrients (waste) and CO2.

littletankbigworld - If you have no live plants yet, I'd take the suggestion made earlier and do a black-out for a few days, followed by several large water changes to remove any dead algae that the fish haven't consumed.

 

[blue_ram]

Some algae thrive more when nitrates are low, so more water changes (which lowers available nutrients) is not necessarily the answer. Identifying what particular algae it is would help.



Plants can easily outcompete and eliminate algae, especially floating plants that can take in more light and much more CO2 that is available submerged. I use Hygrophila difformis (water wisteria) as a floating plant whenever I want to control most algae.



Chemically controlling algae can be harmful to many fish and inverts, and doesn't address the underlying problem: an imbalance in light, nutrients (waste) and CO2.

The water changes will remove phophates which will assist greatly in starving off the algae.

I have tons of Water Sprite ( similiar to Wisteria but is a true fern) and use it in new tanks and fry tanks to control nitrogen in the tanks, but they will quickly get colonized and choked to death by algae if regular water changes are not performed.

While it is always best to resolve any problem naturally, a dose or two of AlgaeFix will put you ahead of the curve and it will not harm tank occupants or most plants. It also kills BlueGreen algae and is a lot safer than using antibiotics to control it.

Modern technology and chemistry has given us wonderful tools to improve the quality of life of our pets. Why reject a product arbitrarily because it fits neatly into one often abused category?

 

[OrangeCones]

The water changes will remove phophates which will assist greatly in starving off the algae.

Black-out would starve off the algae as well. If you remove what any plant needs to survive, it will die. Remove light, or nutrients, and you will reduce algae. But, in adding new water, you are adding more CO2, which can encourage some types of algae. The algae itself dying off will add phosphates and CO2 as it decays. Since the OP has a plant-less tank, a blackout and large water changes would be the best way to control this until the imbalance can be corrected. The buildup of nutrients is either overstocking or overfeeding or lack of water changes.

I have tons of Water Sprite ( similiar to Wisteria but is a true fern) and use it in new tanks and fry tanks to control nitrogen in the tanks, but they will quickly get colonized and choked to death by algae if regular water changes are not performed.

I have two tanks with wisteria floating in them and have done NO water changes in 4 months. If you have a balance in the bio-load and plant mass, your plants can consume all nutrients from the water. The two tanks show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. They look, chemically, like brand new tanks although they've been established over 1 year now. The plants are consuming all of the nitrogen in the water as ammonia, along with most of the phospates and potassium. I have to overfeed a bit when the levels start to get low to add some organic matter to the tank for the plants to feed on. I've never had any algae in either. I test the water every Sunday, prune some of the arial growth, and if nitrates get to the 20 mark, I'll do another water change.

I've never had wisteria be 'choked to death' by any algae. But it does choke algae rather quickly.

While it is always best to resolve any problem naturally, a dose or two of AlgaeFix will put you ahead of the curve and it will not harm tank occupants or most plants. It also kills BlueGreen algae and is a lot safer than using antibiotics to control it.

Modern technology and chemistry has given us wonderful tools to improve the quality of life of our pets. Why reject a product arbitrarily because it fits neatly into one often abused category?

I do not reject modern technology and chemistry. I do object to using a chemical as a temperary fix. If the underlying imbalance cannot be corrected, the OP would need to keep using this product.

These are only my opinions based on my own experiences. Everyone has their own experiences and opinions. Peace, blue_ram?

littletankbigworld will be the one to decide on a course of action.

 

[blue_ram]

Black-out would starve off the algae as well. If you remove what any plant needs to survive, it will die. Remove light, or nutrients, and you will reduce algae. But, in adding new water, you are adding more CO2, which can encourage some types of algae. The algae itself dying off will add phosphates and CO2 as it decays. Since the OP has a plant-less tank, a blackout and large water changes would be the best way to control this until the imbalance can be corrected. The buildup of nutrients is either overstocking or overfeeding or lack of water changes.



I have two tanks with wisteria floating in them and have done NO water changes in 4 months. If you have a balance in the bio-load and plant mass, your plants can consume all nutrients from the water. The two tanks show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. They look, chemically, like brand new tanks although they've been established over 1 year now. The plants are consuming all of the nitrogen in the water as ammonia, along with most of the phospates and potassium. I have to overfeed a bit when the levels start to get low to add some organic matter to the tank for the plants to feed on. I've never had any algae in either. I test the water every Sunday, prune some of the arial growth, and if nitrates get to the 20 mark, I'll do another water change.

I've never had wisteria be 'choked to death' by any algae. But it does choke algae rather quickly.



I do not reject modern technology and chemistry. I do object to using a chemical as a temperary fix. If the underlying imbalance cannot be corrected, the OP would need to keep using this product.

These are only my opinions based on my own experiences. Everyone has their own experiences and opinions. Peace, blue_ram?

littletankbigworld will be the one to decide on a course of action.

OrangeCones, I have no harsh words or thoughts towards you and agree with most everything you say. My point was that the water changes will solve the underlying problem which we agree on and the AlgaeFix would give a leg up on restoring the tank which we disagree on.

The reason I would prefer the AlgaeFix over blacking out the tank is that all animals have day/night cycles. It is my belief that fish require a stable predictable environment and interuptions in the day/night rhythms will stress the fish leaving them suspectible to disease, especially in rapidly deteriorating water conditions and rapidly depleting oxygen (algae use oxygen in the dark). I guess we can agree that we disagree andf learn from each others experiences.

I have a 40g that gets a crack of sunlight for a small portion of the day. When I leave the Water Sprite in there, the tank gets coated with black algae and no other plants grow. Eventually the Water Sprite also gets covered in black algae if I do not keep up with the water changes. For this tank, occasional doses of the AlgaeFix are the only way to get the algae under control when I slack on water changes.

I presume the Water Sprite, being a more primitive and faster growing plant than the Wisteria would be better adapted at outcompeting algae Maybe I should try some Wisteria and see what happens.

I am curious about the 4 month intervals on water changes, does this drop your PH. I had a tank go into the 5's and needed to be recycled because it killed off the filter after skipping water changes for 2 weeks in a 20g.

 

[littletankbigworld]

I've just skimmed the replies. I'll read them more thoroughly later. I'll take pictures ASAP. I've cut back on nightly feedings and I just bought bloodworms. (I was going to buy them anyway.) I'm such a fish geek. I cannot wait to do a water change so I can feed them the worms this evening. The bloods and bleeding hearts will go nuts.

I do have one sword plant in there, so the black-out wouldn't work unless I moved it to my 5 gallon, which I'd really hate to do since I just moved it back to the 29 gallon and it is still adjusting.

The peroxide treatment will probably be a no go since it is impossible to catch my bleeding heart tetras.

 

[OrangeCones]

I have a 40g that gets a crack of sunlight for a small portion of the day. When I leave the Water Sprite in there, the tank gets coated with black algae and no other plants grow. Eventually the Water Sprite also gets covered in black algae if I do not keep up with the water changes. For this tank, occasional doses of the AlgaeFix are the only way to get the algae under control when I slack on water changes.

Both of my little-water-change tanks get 3 hours of sunlight per day from a southern facing window directly behind them. Granted, its not much light this time of year (I'm in the MidWest USA), but no problems so far.

I am curious about the 4 month intervals on water changes, does this drop your PH. I had a tank go into the 5's and needed to be recycled because it killed off the filter after skipping water changes for 2 weeks in a 20g.

pH has been steady at 7.3 in one, 7.1 in the other (the 2nd one has some driftwood in it).