Algae ID and help please

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

I’m pretty new with planted tanks and need to know if I can get rid of whatever algae is on this plant.
The red underlining in the first pic shows the structure of the algae but it’s all over the plant as seen (hopefully) in second pic.

 

[NotSoAggressiveAquatics]

Looks like black beard algae. I now Siamese algae eaters will eat it

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

Hmm definitely black beard algae :/
Will an SAE be okay in my (unheated) tank with WCMMs and paradise fish?

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

I’m not sure an SAE will be compatible with the tank temp...
I may be able to try and spot treat it but
Will it spread to nearby plants or how does that work? I don’t know if I should be thinking of taking the plant out or not (this one in particular is pretty well established)

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

Hey so I’m still have some issues with this stuff, and am not finding a true SAE. Is there anything else that eats this stuff like maybe otos? Nerite? Should I just grab some excel and do a spot treatment?

 

[Mudminnow]

Your picture is a bit fuzzy, but some of your algae looks like staghorn algae to me. If so, I've not found any algae eater to reliably eat it. I've seen SAEs nibble at it, but not really chow down on it.

This is an algae that often shows up in my aquariums when I get lazy with maintenance. Once I start siphoning up organics with water changes and trim away infected leaves, it goes away eventually. I'm not saying this is definitely the cure in your tank, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Also, you said your temperature would be incompatible with an SAE. If this is because your tank is too hot, that might partly explain the algae. I find algae harder to control the hotter the tank gets. I'm usually quite impressed with algae free planted discus or GBR tanks for this reason.

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

Your picture is a bit fuzzy, but some of your algae looks like staghorn algae to me. If so, I've not found any algae eater to reliably eat it. I've seen SAEs nibble at it, but not really chow down on it.

This is an algae that often shows up in my aquariums when I get lazy with maintenance. Once I start siphoning up organics with water changes and trim away infected leaves, it goes away eventually. I'm not saying this is definitely the cure in your tank, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Also, you said your temperature would be incompatible with an SAE. If this is because your tank is too hot, that might partly explain the algae. I find algae harder to control the hotter the tank gets. I'm usually quite impressed with algae free planted discus or GBR tanks for this reason.

Thanks for the advice it does look like staghorn so I will look into a remedy as well as up my maintenance for a while. I imagine I also may need to get some CO2? I don’t currently use any CO2

 

[Nate32]

Thanks for the advice it does look like staghorn so I will look into a remedy as well as up my maintenance for a while. I imagine I also may need to get some CO2? I don’t currently use any CO2

If your not currently using co2 I would suggest using excel daily. I'd Start with half dose and slowly build up to full dose. If you turn off your filter and powerheads before dosing you can spot treat, let sit for a few minutes, then turn everything back on to allow the rest of the tank to get the excel. Ignore the part of instructions that say to add more after water change, i haven't done it personally but have heard it can harm your fish and certain plants at the higher dose. If you plan on getting co2 injection going I recommend getting a decent setup at the beginning and the biggest co2 tank you can accommodate. It will save money in the long run. I like the idea of the smaller kits from fluval and what not but those cartridges don't last long and get pricey pretty quick. For the price of a few cartridges you can get a bigger tank that will last alot longer in my opinion.

 

[86 ssinit]

Well to me staghorn is bba. Hard to get rid of. Yes if trained SAE will eat it. Things to do would be more water changes and maybe get a up steralizer

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

If your not currently using co2 I would suggest using excel daily. I'd Start with half dose and slowly build up to full dose. If you turn off your filter and powerheads before dosing you can spot treat, let sit for a few minutes, then turn everything back on to allow the rest of the tank to get the excel. Ignore the part of instructions that say to add more after water change, i haven't done it personally but have heard it can harm your fish and certain plants at the higher dose. If you plan on getting co2 injection going I recommend getting a decent setup at the beginning and the biggest co2 tank you can accommodate. It will save money in the long run. I like the idea of the smaller kits from fluval and what not but those cartridges don't last long and get pricey pretty quick. For the price of a few cartridges you can get a bigger tank that will last alot longer in my opinion.

Awesome thanks for that info. I definitely think CO2 will be in my future so I’ll remember this tip! And start spot treatment on plants that have this stuff

Well to me staghorn is bba. Hard to get rid of. Yes if trained SAE will eat it. Things to do would be more water changes and maybe get a up steralizer

Thanks!! UV sterilizer, great tip

 

[Nate32]

Well to me staghorn is bba. Hard to get rid of. Yes if trained SAE will eat it. Things to do would be more water changes and maybe get a up steralizer

Totally agree with water changes, haven't heard about uv sterilizer for bba, does wonders for green water though. Could the uv help with green hair algae as well? Not wanting to high jack the thread but I'm currently trying to find the "balance" in my 75 gallon tank as well.

Awesome thanks for that info. I definitely think CO2 will be in my future so I’ll remember this tip! And start spot treatment on plants that have this stuff

Thanks!! UV sterilizer, great tip

Not a problem I fought bba and staghorn before its not fun. It is truly an art to get the balance of light, carbon, and Nutrients to get a beautifully planted tank. I'm currently looking for that balance in my newer 75 gallon tank as well haha. Algae can be a result of a plethora of things, too much light, too long of light, excess nutrients, low nutrients, etc. If you could provide water parameters, lighting setup, plant list, and fertilizers used I'm sure we can point you in the right direction to find the root cause of the algae.

 

[Mudminnow]

Thanks for the advice it does look like staghorn so I will look into a remedy as well as up my maintenance for a while. I imagine I also may need to get some CO2? I don’t currently use any CO2

In my experience, staghorn algae can show up just as easily in a high tech planted tank as a low tech one. True, plants grow a lot faster in high tech tanks, which helps a lot. But, in high tech tanks it is possible to mismanage the CO2 injection, get fluctuating CO2 levels, and get staghorn. It's kind of a six of one half a dozen of the other kind of deal.

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

If you could provide water parameters, lighting setup, plant list, and fertilizers used I'm sure we can point you in the right direction to find the root cause of the algae.

My parameters are consistently around 0/0/ For ammonia and nitrite and 10-20 for nitrates. Ph is slightly acidic and my water is on the soft side. I have the api liquid test kit so those are the only parameters I have access to.
The tank is a 29 gallon and the light is a 30” BeamsWorklight at (I think it is 1750 lumens, 360.5watt, 6500k)
My substrate is flourish red clay mixed with aquarium gravel and some sand on top. I use nilcog thrivec but only about 1 dose/ week because I feel like I have a lot of natural ferts (20 small constantly pooing fish and a few inverts).
Plants I have now;
I’m literally about to throw out my mayaca because it’s completely overtaken on the tiny leaves. It’s next victim is the jungle Val. It seems to be on the dwarf sag to some extent or it may be another type of algae. And I have two kinds of anubias and I think some type of bacopa. The plant in my initial post is gone now (I didn’t know what else to do so I just pulled it out of the tank and got rid of it)
Thanks again for the input!!

 

[Nate32]

My parameters are consistently around 0/0/ For ammonia and nitrite and 10-20 for nitrates. Ph is slightly acidic and my water is on the soft side. I have the api liquid test kit so those are the only parameters I have access to.
The tank is a 29 gallon and the light is a 30” BeamsWorklight at (I think it is 1750 lumens, 360.5watt, 6500k)
My substrate is flourish red clay mixed with aquarium gravel and some sand on top. I use nilcog thrivec but only about 1 dose/ week because I feel like I have a lot of natural ferts (20 small constantly pooing fish and a few inverts).
Plants I have now;
I’m literally about to throw out my mayaca because it’s completely overtaken on the tiny leaves. It’s next victim is the jungle Val. It seems to be on the dwarf sag to some extent or it may be another type of algae. And I have two kinds of anubias and I think some type of bacopa. The plant in my initial post is gone now (I didn’t know what else to do so I just pulled it out of the tank and got rid of it)
Thanks again for the input!!

Fighting algae can get pretty frustrating but don't give up. If the algae is completely out of control you can do a blackout method. I've heard it is really successful to kill the algae you already have.

. The light may be a bit much without carbon supplemented. I'd definitely try dosing excel for awhile with manual removal and see if it improves. 10-20 nitrates is good for planted tank but without a stable co2 or carbon source the plants are limited to the amount of nutrients they can actually take in. Also keep in mind the other nutrients needed by plants as well, potassium, iron, calcium, etc. I would think thrive c would provide all of these though. But if you have soft water a gh booster may not be a bad idea especially if your inverts show signs of calcium deficiency.

I would also suggest reducing lighting time on the tank to 6 hours a day and see if the algae starts to recede. If the beamswork is programmable you can even put in a mid day siesta, say 4 hours on 2-3 hours off then 4 on again. For some reason plants can stop photosynthesizing (hope I spelled that right) and restart more efficiently than algae and therefore gives plants the upper hand in the fight for nutrients.

 

[86 ssinit]

Again SAE are my number one pick. Not sure how cold they can get but they do fine at 86 with my discus. Algae really is a battle. I use different ways to fight it. I keep a cherry shrimp tank and if it’s getting out of control on one of my plants I move it into the shrimp tank and they go to work on it. So I move plants around to keep them clean. Funny thing is there’s bba growing in the shrimp tank that they don’t touch but a new plant they go crazy for. I don’t get it. Another fish that I do believe can handle the temp both hot or cold is the hill stream loach. Not sure how good an algae eater it is I’ve never had one but they seem to be catching on in the discus world. Many use them for algae. They stay small so may be a nice choice. For me I just can’t find them.

 

[Mudminnow]

Again SAE are my number one pick. Not sure how cold they can get but they do fine at 86 with my discus.

I've kept SAEs happy in cool 74° F water, so they can go at least that cold.

 

[86 ssinit]

I've kept SAEs happy in cool 74° F water, so they can go at least that cold.

This is always great to hear. Just the fact that you’ve done it means a lot. Between you and me we could say SAE are good from 74-86 without a problem. Some listings for them say 75-79 so we’ve proved they have a bigger range. For years all I read about hill stream loaches is they needed fast moving cool water. But now many are keeping in very warm slow moving water. With some saying theyre breeding like crazy. So much to learn .

 

[FishareFriends6]

I’m in the high tech planted tank department, I would say your light may be brighter than your plants can handle or you leave it on for more than 7/8 hours?

It’s a weird equation of: amount of light + light duration + nutrients x CO2 + flow + water surface agitation = plants thriving.

If any part of the above is missing or in excess, you will get a type of algae. It’s trying to get the sweet spot on all and bingo; it’s all good until the next water change!

 

[Skrabbitskrabbit]

So I forgot to mention I did change my stocking in April so now the SAE isn’t out of the question as far as parameters/temp goes.
Before I did that, I did have a few hillstream loaches in with my WCMM but they never grazed on anything but glass.

Again SAE are my number one pick. Not sure how cold they can get but they do fine at 86 with my discus. Algae really is a battle. I use different ways to fight it. I keep a cherry shrimp tank and if it’s getting out of control on one of my plants I move it into the shrimp tank and they go to work on it. So I move plants around to keep them clean. Funny thing is there’s bba growing in the shrimp tank that they don’t touch but a new plant they go crazy for. I don’t get it. Another fish that I do believe can handle the temp both hot or cold is the hill stream loach. Not sure how good an algae eater it is I’ve never had one but they seem to be catching on in the discus world. Many use them for algae. They stay small so may be a nice choice. For me I just can’t find them.

Yeah I wish my old LFS was closer, all I can find around here these days are CAE... and it’s an hour drive to get to a store that isn’t petco. I don’t have a shrimp tank (yet lol) but I like the idea of moving plants around for cleaning. I just plopped in a single nerite to see if it would get to work on any of it.
The betta tank that the nerite came from has absolutely no algae and looks pristine. It also has a cheap aquarium kit light and basic aquarium gravel plus some different plants. I don’t know if that gives any clues or not.

I’m in the high tech planted tank department, I would say your light may be brighter than your plants can handle or you leave it on for more than 7/8 hours?

It’s a weird equation of: amount of light + light duration + nutrients x CO2 + flow + water surface agitation = plants thriving.

If any part of the above is missing or in excess, you will get a type of algae. It’s trying to get the sweet spot on all and bingo; it’s all good until the next water change!

My light has the timer set to go on for 4 hours in the AM and 4 hours at evening with a 4 hour siesta but I’ll experiment with shorter periods of light.
I’m out of excel but will also do the spot treatment and look into a gh booster as mentioned by Nate32
Thanks everyone for the help! If I see changes and improvements I’ll try and report back with that info. Now it looks like I’m heading to the LFS :’D