Help With Algae On Plants

What can I do to get rid of this? Is it Algae? I’ve tried scrubbing but it won’t come off. It’s really bad on my Anubias Plants. I dose Thrive and Excel.

 

Throw in a couple moss balls. They eat the same stuff algae eats, effectively starving the algae. Also, depending on your stock of fish, nerite snails work well.

 

What is your lighting? How long is it on for? What ferts do you dose? Can you post a picture of the anubias under water? (Actually of all of them under water?) The s. Repens looks to be gsa, but hard to tell out of water...

 

What is your lighting? How long is it on for? What ferts do you dose? Can you post a picture of the anubias under water? (Actually of all of them under water?) The s. Repens looks to be gsa, but hard to tell out of water...

I have the Finnex 24/7 set on 24/7 mode. Personally I am not a fan of it and regret buying it. I dose Thrive All in One 3 times a week and Seachem Excel once a day, and use Osmocote Plus for root tabs.

What does GSA mean?

 

Gsa stands for green spot algae, usually due to low phosphates in relation to nitrates. Typical gsa appears like it is on your s. Repens and the second photo of the anubias, the first it has been there for some time and I feel something else may be brewing on those leaves.

The 24/7, is it the new SE model or the old one? If it's the old one put it on sunny, not cycle or max... leave it on for 5 hrs for 2 weeks to let the plants adjust to the new lighting. After that you can start increasing the photoperiod by 30min every other week until (new) algae appears. Most tanks max out between 6-8 hrs.

Thrive should be dosed once a week for a low tech tank, maybe twice if you are heavily planted.

The alternanthera... this is pretty typical for a low tech tank, minus the curling on the leaves. Likely the coloration will improve when you change the lighting from cycle, but be prepared that it might always resemble this as is now, lower leaves more greenish and gsa on them.

The curling on the leaves is a separate issue... do you know the gH of your water?
Also the yellowing of the anubias overall is another issue...

Can you post a whole tank shot?

SeattleRoy can you take a look at this?

 

HI x8xspazx8x,

OK, this looks a little tougher than some but not as bad as you might think; btw thank you Jocelyn Adelman - lol

First of all there is a lot of algae, which typically means too much light. The Finnex light if fine but take it out of 24/7 mode and set the light to about 3/4 output and put it on a timer for 6 hours a day; for about $15, digital, doesn't lose its memory if a power outage, can do multiple periods.



After we get the light under control let's 'reset' the tank with a 50% water change (no cheating!). Do you do any water testing like PH, dKH, or dGH? If so please provide the readings.

What I see in the pictures, which are good btw, are hooking leaf tips and new leaves not forming properly (gelatinous / dark leaf margins) which are all classic symptom of a calcium (Ca) deficiency. On the older leaves I see interveinal chlorosis (yellowing between the leaf veins) with the veins remaining green which is typical of a magnesium (Mg) deficiency. After you have reduced your output and put the light on a timer, done the 50% water change, start dosing Seachem Equilibrium at 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons. Add it two times in the first week. Thereafter add 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of new water when you do your weekly water change. Continue dosing Thrive as you have been all along however I found that dosing Seachem Excel in excess of the recommended dose did help a little in controlling algae growth but also caused my plants go grow more slowly. Now I just dose Excel per the instructions and adjust my light intensity and/or photoperiod to minimize algae.

This part is up to you; if it was me I would remove all the leaves that are heavily infested with algae. Also remove all the leaves that are over 50% discolored. Lastly, be patient! Dose your ferts as you have been (except doing Equilibrium as well) but make no changes for two weeks. The changes recommended with cause little if any change in any of your existing leaves so don't expect to see any changes. Instead, watch the new leaves as they emerge. Do they look healthier, greener, straighter, with less yellowing? Then you are on the right track. If the new leaves after two weeks look better but some symptoms still are showing up let us know and we will evaluate some new pictures. BTW, the toughest part of all of this is the patience to wait two weeks - lol.

 

Gsa stands for green spot algae, usually due to low phosphates in relation to nitrates. Typical gsa appears like it is on your s. Repens and the second photo of the anubias, the first it has been there for some time and I feel something else may be brewing on those leaves.

The 24/7, is it the new SE model or the old one? If it's the old one put it on sunny, not cycle or max... leave it on for 5 hrs for 2 weeks to let the plants adjust to the new lighting. After that you can start increasing the photoperiod by 30min every other week until (new) algae appears. Most tanks max out between 6-8 hrs.

Thrive should be dosed once a week for a low tech tank, maybe twice if you are heavily planted.

The alternanthera... this is pretty typical for a low tech tank, minus the curling on the leaves. Likely the coloration will improve when you change the lighting from cycle, but be prepared that it might always resemble this as is now, lower leaves more greenish and gsa on them.

The curling on the leaves is a separate issue... do you know the gH of your water?
Also the yellowing of the anubias overall is another issue...

Can you post a whole tank shot?

SeattleRoy can you take a look at this?

I’ve been meaning to check my phosphate levels but the stupid Petsmart by me doesn’t sell the test kits for that. Someone else said I might have high phosphates and that I should try the PhosGuard.

The 24/7 light I have is the original. And I’ve been coming considering getting the Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0, thoughts?

I’ll try dosing the Thirve twice a week. I’ll post a picture of my tank, so maybe you can suggest if I should do once or twice a week.

My GH is at a 180, according to the API test strips.

 

HI x8xspazx8x,

OK, this looks a little tougher than some but not as bad as you might think; btw thank you Jocelyn Adelman - lol

First of all there is a lot of algae, which typically means too much light. The Finnex light if fine but take it out of 24/7 mode and set the light to about 3/4 output and put it on a timer for 6 hours a day; for about $15, digital, doesn't lose its memory if a power outage, can do multiple periods.
View attachment 371721

After we get the light under control let's 'reset' the tank with a 50% water change (no cheating!). Do you do any water testing like PH, dKH, or dGH? If so please provide the readings.

What I see in the pictures, which are good btw, are hooking leaf tips and new leaves not forming properly (gelatinous / dark leaf margins) which are all classic symptom of a calcium (Ca) deficiency. On the older leaves I see interveinal chlorosis (yellowing between the leaf veins) with the veins remaining green which is typical of a magnesium (Mg) deficiency. After you have reduced your output and put the light on a timer, done the 50% water change, start dosing Seachem Equilibrium at 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons. Add it two times in the first week. Thereafter add 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of new water when you do your weekly water change. Continue dosing Thrive as you have been all along however I found that dosing Seachem Excel in excess of the recommended dose did help a little in controlling algae growth but also caused my plants go grow more slowly. Now I just dose Excel per the instructions and adjust my light intensity and/or photoperiod to minimize algae.

This part is up to you; if it was me I would remove all the leaves that are heavily infested with algae. Also remove all the leaves that are over 50% discolored. Lastly, be patient! Dose your ferts as you have been (except doing Equilibrium as well) but make no changes for two weeks. The changes recommended with cause little if any change in any of your existing leaves so don't expect to see any changes. Instead, watch the new leaves as they emerge. Do they look healthier, greener, straighter, with less yellowing? Then you are on the right track. If the new leaves after two weeks look better but some symptoms still are showing up let us know and we will evaluate some new pictures. BTW, the toughest part of all of this is the patience to wait two weeks - lol.

Thanks for all the info. I’ve been trying to hunt down a good timer, so I will try that one out.

I definitely have had to learn to be patient in this hobby lol! Do you think I should continue using Thrive 3x a week or less? I posted a pic of my tank in my last post.

My only concern with the Equilibrium is that I’m reading it raises the GH and mine is already pretty high. Note: I do not use RO watch. Just plain tap. And I also have a couple of Discus, which worries me with messing with the perimeters.

My Perimeters are based off a API Test Strip:
Nitrate N03: 20
Nitrite N02: 0
Hardness GH: 180
Alkalinity KH: 180
pH: 7.5
Ammonia .0

 

HI x8xspazx8x,

I would continue to dose the Thrive 3X per week.

OK so with 180 ppm of GH or about 10 dGH. Discus can be tolerate of changes in PH and hardness but what they are not tolerate of is poor water conditions. Keep in mind these fish are from the Amazon and its' tributaries. From 'rainy season' to 'dry season' there can be a fluctuation of 4X - 8X in mineral content and although it can be fairly gradual it can also happen rapidly at the onset of the rainy season. Increasing the dGH from 10 (180 ppm) to 12 (212 ppm) should not have an adverse effect on your discus but if you are concerned add 1 teaspoon of Equilibrium per 20 gallons but do it twice in one week.....same result just more gradual.

That is a nice looking 'scape x8xspazx8x; I see some nice looking Melanotaenia lacustris (Turquoise Rainbowfish) lurking in there....one of my favorite rainbowfish.