Fighting algae

I hope I do not get slated for pasting this, but here is another quote from Tom Barr in response to a thread algae question. Nice looking tank. As a side note, he grew that carpet emersed and then filled up the tank and planted the rest.

 

The ironic thing is I did bleach the plant that introduced clado into my tank, it was the common E. tenellus and it nearly didnt make it, but some clado spores managed 2 survive

Dirk, I dosed my HC tank with your algae medication but it is a 4week long process so haven't noticed any changes yet..

Ferryman, normal algaes aren't an issue if you know what you did wrong to induce it, but in a stable tank you shouldn't have any problems!!

I guess if nothing else works I'll try it natures way, +-50 amano shrimp should do it

 

Laure, What he is saying there does make sense but it is very general and would not work in a tank that contains plants that are more sensitive than the algae you are trying to kill so again I am stuck..

Oh and does anyone else notice Tom seems a little bi-polar?

 

This is not really relevant to this thread, but there is a great journal thread on Tom's website for the above tank. Really nice reading material. PM me for the link if you are interested, or shall I just post it here? Like I said, not really relevant to this thread...

 

Its a great tank, I think people would benefit from that link, pearsonelly I would love 2 know how he maintains that carpet..

Any new developments on clado?

 

Yes he tells everybody to use less light and then in the tank above he installs 4 x 96W power compacts and 2 x 150W MH... :bigsmile:

http://www.barrreport.com/general-p...lon-rimless-starfire-wood-scape-thus-far.html

Some great reading material on the setup, from choice of wood, plants, filtration system, some technical data on PAR values, CO2 consumption points, etc. Very interesting.

Nope, mine no longer developing...yours?

 

Hi Phil,

I have been supplying a number of different antialgal mutis and you should please inform us which one you have used because I think I supplied Lauré with different ones. Apologies for the confusion that I have been creating.

I think if I see the Tom Barr threads then there are other people that are also sowing confusion.....

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi Prof Dirk

Which one of your anti-algals would you recommend for Clado.
I sense that half the forum has it lurking in their tanks at the moment.

It's seems to be a clipping STA (you know how excited we get about new plants)

 

Hi Algae,

I actually need to experiment a little with my antialgals to be able to answer this question.

I have previously imported the Amtra range and had a "algae general" against green and thread algae and a "algae spezial" against Blue green algae. I still have some of this left and should try some on one of my tanks that has such an infection.

Then my new range is the Happy Life range and they also have an "algae general" and "algae special" type similar to the above.

I will try one of these on my tanks and get back to you. However, this problem does not seem to go away with CO2, blackouts, or changes to your fert regime as Lauré has also pointed out but needs to be eradicated in a specific manner.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thank you Prof Dirk

I have dosed the 50% general and 50% special as recommended on the label.
I'm 2 weeks into the 4 week program.
I have noticed a lot of clado blocking my filter intakes.I had to clean them twice this week to avoid the tank overflowing.
I also dropped my PO4 out of my EI dosing.

 

Algae,

Are you saying to us that the antialgal was causing the clado to detach itself and to be sucked into the filter inlet, i.e. do you think it was dying off?

It would be pretty important for me to know this.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi Prof Dirk

That is what it looks like.the clado on the filter inlet does not look very healthy.
I have noticed that the clado gets worse when the plants are too close together.
So I did a bit of a trim today.
I hope that it carries on dying.
Will keep you posted,

 

OK, well that sounds like very good news.

Keep us posted on developments.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Phil, so what you saying is that you have been using the "general" and the "special" in 50/50 mix and after 2 weeks it appears that Clado is dying off? This is interesting.

I have some of the Happy Life range and the product information PDF sent to me indicates the same active ingredient on both. Now I don't know if the "special" just has a stonger concentration. I would expect the "special" to possibly contain some anti-biotic as it is meant to kill cyanobacteria and the cheap easy way to medicate for cyano is with erythromycin. Perhaps Prof Dirk can explain if there are other ways to kill bacteria other than with anti-biotics?

I think we have also established that at least 3 forms of algae cannot be eradicated with "normal" procedures: Clado, Spiro and Cyano.

 

Hi Lauré,

With regard to the contents of these products, which are made in Europe for the European market primarily, regulations are getting so tight that you cannot add antibiotics without specifically stating it. As a result, I am quite sure that both products do not contain Erythromycin. It does state however, that the products contain salicylic acid i.e. aspirin and this is now known to be a plant signalling molecule. I would think that the algae do not like this and therefore die from it.

And just by the way, the term "anti-biotics" is used as one sort of collective term for antibacterial compounds but these compounds vary vastly in their structure and their mechanism of action.

If we hear that folks are having success with the use of the Happy Life products which have to be used over a period of four weeks, then it does appear that we are having success against these algae. However, a single treatment is not going to sort out the problem but a consistently appied number of applications is what is required.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

That is probably the key here and likely the most important thing said in this thread. Perseverance will pay off. This goes for all the other algae we are treating with blackouts, etc. Eventually you beat into submission.

It appears we have between all of us solutions for pretty much all algae problems. If we can now find success with these products against Clado and perhaps Spiro, then we'd have moved forward significantly.

 

I'v got the General, well I think it is, my German isn't quite up to scratch About to go home and do a water change and re-dose the tank for the second round of treatment,(wish me luck) will let you guys know if there are any changes..

So Gus you'v also got clado, haha:hahaha: just kidding sorry man!!

Laure, why do you say that about cyano?

 

I think you refer to my earlier post where I mentioned cyano, clado and spiro cannot be eradicated with "normal" procedures? Certainly, blackouts are highly effective against cyano. But it is such a complex organism. Apparently it has the ability to go into "hiding" when conditions are not to it's liking (such as when there is no light and plenty of NO3), then it will surface again much later when conditions are ideal. Just go see how many people thought they killed it with a blackout, only for it to surface again at a later stage. I think medication will kill all the spores and that is the way to go. I have been able to control it well with blackouts, but I do believe that medication is the ultimate answer to cyano.

 

Oh ok, I never realised cyano was such a problem, I had it when my main tank was set up but with the addition of a powerhead (to help circulate the Co2) the increased water movement seems to have cleared it up, (and it hasn't returned in 3yrs) have you tried upping the water movement in your tank?

Oh and I also recently had some in my HC tank when a pair of apisto's decided to breed and as a result, I stopped dosing the "fert soup" and cut back on the Co2. But again I just rubbed it off and it hasn't come back again..

If you still having trouble with cyano hopefully you can pic up on something that I managed 2 inadvertentally do!?

Good luck!

Oh and I'v done the water change and manually removed as much clado as possible (along with most of the HC) but its looking positive!

 

Phil

No I don't have much of a cyano problem. I had some but a single blackout is enough to clear it. Since then I have been dosing extra KNO3 in addition to Dirk's ferts and I have never had it again. I am just aware of all the posts of people stating that it comes back, sometimes months later. I also know that this organism is one of the oldest on the planet and capable of extreme survival!