Need help with this algae/slime outbreak.

[DannyDanDaniels]

Hi,
I’m having some trouble with one or more than one types of algae. Some are green, other are yellowish, other brown or red... They came out of nowhere, starting last month with the green/yellow one covering the plants, then the driftwood, and finally the seiryu stones. I know algae is normal on planted aquarium and actually is healthy for the fish, because of the oxygen production. Specially the Cyanobacteria... My aquarium is a 55g, with a 45w full spectrum light (they’re very bright and plants growth amazingly fast with it), oxygen at night and no CO2. Yesterday I add five Otoncinclus, one died last night. But the rest looks fine today and have clean a lot of the brown And yellow algae. Here some pics. Sorry if I made any mistakes with my spelling (English is not my main language.). Thank you, I’ll be waiting for answers! *Almost forget to said that in the last two weeks I’ve been dosing with aquarium salt one female guppy that was having difficulties swimming (spinning out of control without balance, just spinning and swinging until reach bottom and then trying to reach up again. She wasn’t eating, but after daily dose of aquarium salt she recover well and begin eating again and everything seems perfect. Perhaps the high doses of salt change the algae/bacteria color to a more reddish tone, like the one that appears in saltwater aquariums. I need to know how to manage this algae, I want my stones to look gray/black again, without that awful slime covering them.









***UPDATE*** Apr/9/20

So I removed the stones and let them sink with a small dosage of chlorine in a water bucket. I waited 24 hours, rinsed them and refill the bucket without chlorine and repeat the process for several days. So now, the stones are looking excellent, but the algae spread to my plants and many of them have died. Please fish keepers help me with this. I've being dosing the water with Flourish Excel but haven't noticed any positive changes...

Here some updated pictues:

 

[Chanyi]

Cyano is actually bad for fish - it creates toxins.

Anyway, for Cyano use Chemiclean / BlueGreen Slime Remover as directed on the packaging, and then for all algae:

Reduce light intensity if possible.

Reduce photoperiod to 5 hours per day max (until algae has subsided, then slowly increase back up to 8 hours per day over a few weeks).

Ensure you are providing adequate nutrients for the plants (unhealthy plants promote algae).

Dose Flourish Excel or equivalent Met14 at the “after water change” rate on the Excel bottle once per day.

Manually remove all algae you can.

Manually remove excess organics in the tank by gravel vacuuming and cleaning filter media in old tank water every water change.

Manually remove any decaying or dead plant matter.

Increase water change frequency, and the amount of water changed.

Consider spot treating badly affected areas or dipping plants / hardscape in a Flourish Excel, Met14 or H2O2 + water solution. Google search which method you think would work well, and for general ratios to mix a safe solution. Certain plants can’t tolerate these chemicals, so ensure you do a little research prior to dipping / spot treating plants.

If using CO2, ensure CO2 is dropping the pH of the tank water a full 1.0 – 1.2. To do this, measure the pH of tank water with no CO2 dissolved in it, and then measure again 2-3 hours after CO2 has been running. Ensure the drop in pH is a full 1.0-1.2. If the drop is not there yet, slowly up CO2 over a few weeks until at least a 1.0 drop is achieved, and watch fish / livestock carefully. Adjust CO2 down if you notice fish gasping at the surface and consider running an airstone at night when pushing a 1.2 or greater drop. For example, a tank water pH of 7.5 with no CO2 dissolved in it, should reach a pH of 6.5 – 6.3 for CO2 to really shine, and for maximum plant health.

Consistency in CO2 levels is key to plant health. Keep CO2 levels as stable as possible once a desirable level has been reached.

 

[ProudPapa]

Welcome to the forum, and your English is better than I often see from native speakers.

That brown is common in new aquariums, and will generally stop after a while. It's pretty easy to just wipe off.

As far as the otos, they are notoriously delicate, so don't be surprised if you lose more (although I of course hope you don't). It's my understanding that if they go too long without being fed it causes problems with their digestive system that they can't recover from. Since the ones for sale are almost exclusively wild caught it's not uncommon for that to happen between being caught and reaching the store. I bought some last year and was only able to keep one of four alive more than 48 hours, though it's still doing fine.

 

[DannyDanDaniels]

Welcome to the forum, and your English is better than I often see from native speakers.

That brown is common in new aquariums, and will generally stop after a while. It's pretty easy to just wipe off.

As far as the otos, they are notoriously delicate, so don't be surprised if you lose more (although I of course hope you don't). It's my understanding that if they go too long without being fed it causes problems with their digestive system that they can't recover from. Since the ones for sale are almost exclusively wild caught it's not uncommon for that to happen between being caught and reaching the store. I bought some last year and was only able to keep one of four alive more than 48 hours, though it's still doing fine.

Thank you! I'm concerned with this aglae, my plants keep dying... Can you check the new pictures that I uploaded?