Fighting algae

Agreed - Then again I do dosing after water change, not daily ... Not the Prof's drops (yet) but currently Trelmix or Sera florena till SAPO gets back to service and I can order some drops and stuff.

 

OK thanks

 

As I am still unable to edit the first post in this thread, I would like to comment here regarding a few updates to the Algae Fighting Plan:

Have a look at this thread: http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=1340&page=2

Prof Dirk and I are discussing the effects of gluteraldehyde, the active ingredient in Seachem Flourish Excel. As a result, I no longer wish to advise that you treat algae by adding Excel. The alternative is to use Happy Life Algin Regular, which you can obtain from Prof Dirk or from Veegal. The active ingredient is salicylic acid, which can both help plant growth and inhibit algae growth. You can combine this with a carbon source of your choice, either CO2 or Happy Life Happy Carbo, also available from the sources above.

There are many articles and forum posts where people advocate the overdosing of Excel to rid a tank of algae, and in particular, BBA. I'm sure deparation resulted in somebody just overdosing and then by accident discovered it killed the BBA, as Seachem does not market Excel as an anti-algae product. Algin Regular is a new product in this country, recently imported by Prof Dirk, and we do not have experience with respect to increasing the dosage. I would therefore recommend that you just follow the instructions and do not attempt to overdose. It is not a miracle overnight cure, but a 4-week process.

Regards
L

 

Slagter,

You inform us that you do not want to add chemicals to your tank to control algae, but you are adding Seachem flourish, Seachem excel and all sorts of other spreadsheets (added in defence of Gavin!), which are all chemicals. Where is your logic here? You adding more and more "chemicals" which seems to feed your algae, why not treat the bloody stuff with "chemicals" if you are getting frustrated, you have chucked masses of chemicals into your tank in any case!

Food for thought?

Dirk

 

Some people feel that algae is a spreadsheet the way it takes over in a tank!

@Rory - if you get to read this - I sent you a PM regarding my wish to edit the first post but I've not seen your reply...

 

I have stopped adding Flourish Excel after finding out about gluteraldehyde and it's potentially lethal properties. I only add Flourish now and I have started with pressurized Co2. I meant what I said about not wanting to add chemicals to the tank. Plant nutrients are not the harmful chemicals I was referring to Prof. We all dose our tanks with something or another, but I would never intentionally dose my tanks with something harmful. I don't care what it is. I will not add a chemical to remove algae. I'd prefer to figure out what is the cause of the algae and correct it.

I don't have the specific problem in my tank anymore. But rather a new one. Long strings of algae are now developing. I'm hoping by dosing the EI method and a small amount of traces, regulating my lighting even better and doing religious 50% weekly water changes, that this will alleviate my problem.

 

I recently read this interesting post which I am going to paste below. Credit to the poster Steve Pushak, http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200412/msg00318.html

Regards
Lauré

 

Hey Laure,

Just to test your knowledge, while doing your reading did you come across anything on ''Clado'' cladophora algae? More and more people are having difficulty with this algae in SA.

Some of the results Iv found include,

Raising the temp 2 above 30'c

Increasing copper levels

Using hydrogen peroxide spot treatments

Amano shrimp

Adjusting water parameters (if so how?)

Most of these methods dont work and the rest will kill everything not just the algae(especially the more sensitive mosses/fissedens) also Iam in the process of trying the prof's algae medication in one tank and will let you know how that goes once I see results..

So any suggestions/links/advice?

Regards,
Phil..

 

The issue with Clado is that Gluteraldehyde WILL kill it, but if it is tangled up in your moss then goodbye moss also...

I had some in a small tank, luckily not ever in my main display. I just kept removing it by hand. I don't have a carpet in this tank so it was fairly easy. It was only on the gravel, nowhere else.

From what I've read it appears this algae will bloom when there is an excess of light related to CO2. In this tank I refer to above I started adding liquid carbon (Happy Carbo) religiously every day. After repeatedly removing any Clado I see and the consistent Happy Carbo dosage, it has not returned. It took about 2 weeks for me to get rid of it.

I have also not heard of any animal that eats this stuff, so we can rule that out. On APC a few people reported success with Gluteraldehyde spot treatments at 4x recommended dosage and after 48 hours the stuff is dead.

I would think if you can remove the infected plants, do so and bleach treat them outside the tank. You've got nothing to lose, right? Because we know of no fool-proof method and if you don't do anything it will just carry on and take over your tank...

I am sceptical to try H2O2, but so many people have done it sucessfully. I'd rather not be the one suggesting it.

My new weapon of choice is BLACKOUT CYCLE. Not just a blackout, but a blackout cycle. It is very effective against almost all green types and deadly against cyanobacteria.

1. 50% WC and remove manually as much as you can
2. Dose KNO3 up to 20ppm
3. Shut down CO2
4. Total blackout for 3 days. Absolutely no light entering the tank. Cover it with black garbage bags. Feed a small amount once a day with a dim moonlight, if you have one. If not, then don't feed. Fish will be fine. Also increase aeration. Add an airstone, lift spraybars up, whatever, but ensure heavy surface movement.
5. After 3 full days, lift covers and 50% WC. You will be amazed at how clean the tank looks!
6. Then switch on CO2 and only half of your lights. Run this for 3 days with normal feeding and dosing.
7. Back to step 1

Repeat the above for 2 or 3 weeks. It really works. No medication, no chemicals. What you don't kill in the first blackout starts blooming again when the lights come on, but with only half the light plants can outcompete the algae. Then they get hit by another blackout. Then half light again where plants have the upper hand. And so on. Eventually they go away.

I have not read all the science papers referenced in this link, but I intend to do it when I have time later this week:
http://www.barrreport.com/aquatic-m...od-reference-understanding-how-they-grow.html


Regards
Lauré

 

Continued:

In fact, even Tom Barr, who seem to have an answer for every algae type, concedes that Cladophora and Spirogyra are 2 types brought in to the tank via plants or fish and then perhaps the only way is to kill it medically/chemically...

http://www.barrreport.com/aquatic-microbiology/6275-problem-thread-algae.html

But in the thread above Tom says he used the blackout cycle on both Clado and Spiro which he had 2 months ago and right now there's none left. (post #23)

Regards
Lauré

 

And then in another thread he states this contradicting information:

 

Ahh the truth finally comes out! I'v read all these posts with him bragging about how he changes the water conditions to kill clado, bla bla..

This last post sounds more like my experience, however this is not good news, currently I am also really battling to get rid of a ricca infestation in one tank and it takes lots of work
That being said there is clado in my display tank but it has never grown to be a problem, most likely because of competition from the plants which the HC tank cant offer..

Anyway laure thanks for the detailed posts they are much appreciated! If you come across anything new on clado please post it

 

how can you have a riccia infestation? is it infested with algae, or is the riccia taking over?

 

Riccia is a weed!! Once its in your tank you cant get rid of it, it tangles up in the moss and other fluffy plants and then grows extremly fast and out-competes them for light, it also looks messy and if left for too long will cover the top of your tank... But all it takes is constant manual removal to get rid of it, unlike clado

 

thats weird, i had a whole clump of riccia in the main tank, the to remove it, all i did was net it all up and it was gone?
its all growing in the smaller 2ft now

 

Hi Lauré, Phil and others,

What Tom Barr is in other words telling us that his general statements about algae do not hold for Cladophora and Spirogyra, do I have that right?

And what he is telling us is that these algae behave like plants? What he is thereby saying is you cannot get rid of this algae by his usual CO2 and feeding regimes as a matter of fact because these algae grow like normal plants they also benefits from all of the ferts that we use to feed the plants.

What this actually tells us is that we must have plants free of algae before we add them to our aquaria. This is a pretty drastic implication, right! It means that buying new plants and putting them straight into your aquarium is potentially going to cause major problems, pretty drastic stuff!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

bleach baths ahoy
:captain:

 

Do you think that sensitive plants are going to survive the bleach baths? I do not think so....

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi all

Yes Prof Dirk that is what I also understand with respect to Tom Barr's comments. Now it must be said that he does seem a little radical from time to time, but as a horticologist of profession I do think he knows a bit about plants. From what I can gather he is also one of those people who never believe - always goes and try it out for himself. So having said all that, I think it is probably safe to assume that he tried all the avenues to kill Clado and Spiro, without much success. Which is rather bad news!

In a previous post I mentioned I had some Clado and with constant removal I now have none (I hope). I can't really say I know how to kill it...I probably just hassled it into submission - much like a plant you trim down too much and too frequently.

Regarding bleach, there are a number of warnings on the web. For example, Valis will just die immediately. And I don't even consider Valis a sensitive plant. I doubt others like the finely leafed Rotalas will handle bleach. I have in the past taken Anubias out the tank and bleached them for 3 minutes with great success. I trimmed off all dead leaves and replanted and they are growing stronger than ever. But this is a plant with thick leaves...

Other options: potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide, gluteraldehyde.

All of the above are quite dangerous...

So Prof, what do we do here? Any ideas?

Regards
Lauré

 

nope, i actually dont think any plant will, i've only heard some members on here mention them using this method, when i read they use bleach i thought they were nuts,

i luckily haven't yet had any algae problems since then tank became stable, so at present i am lucky. dunno how i will handle algae if i do eventually get some