weird looking algae

I went on vacation for about a week here recently, I used the vacation feeders for my fish so that they would not be starving when I returned, also right before I left I did a 50% water change a bit more than usual...anyway here is the deal when I returned the vacation feeder was gone (whether my fish all ate it or it just dissolved I really don't know) but when I got back there was and still is a strange Black looking algae in my tank it is attached to my bamboo plant some of my crypts and parts of my hygras, Sticky and Spasy refuse to eat and my cories will play in it sometimes so I don't know if it is benifical or harmful any ideas would be helpful when I got my webcam working again I will post some pics of it.

~Inari

 

Is it black and hair, if so you might have beard algae, pain in the but and a overdose of excel should get rid of it, following guidlines though. What color is it when you pull it out of the water? Whatever it is it's probably bad. Is it hairy?

 

yeah it's pretty hairy when I pull it out it has a black color. Also excel is it safe to use on plants? I have live plants so that is my other concern as well...now if I have to I will just replant my tank (kind of a pain in the butt, but if that is the only way to take care of it I will replant my tank)

Thanks,

~Inari

 

Remove all of it by hand and discard, friday after I take one of my midterms I'll tell you how to get rid off it and help you figure out which type it is. right now I have to study a lot and can't tell you so just wait two days. make sure it isn't getting much sunlight either.

 

so your saying that I should I NOT be using my light, it is supposed to be similar to sunlight. I understand what you mean tho with the whole midterms thing, my semester just started so I know all too well how that goes I appreciate it.

~inari

 

He recommended not using the light so the algae wouldn't get a chance to grow any more. That kind of algae is often best removed by hand (and often removal of the affected leaves are necessary) since there are few fish that will touch it, and even then, only when very hungry. I don't personally know which treatments are effective against it.

 

No you can keep using your aquarium light, just make sure it doesn't get lots of sunlight. I have the same problem in one of my tanks as you. I'm either going to try overdose on excel or adding co2, whichever would work better I haven't figured out which yet. Amano shrimp are the best fish that eat it if you wanted too, think siasme algae eaters and flying foxes eat it to a minimum but get a bit large. I'll let you know what I find out about treating it, I think it's 5x overdose with excel which kills most algae and in a low light tank adding co2 I'm pretty sure also helps but not sure. Yes like Marc said remove with hands or toothbrush and when you can't remove it from a leaf cut it off for now, reduce normal light will not help get rid off it, just sunlight.

 

alright well my tank is in the 'shade' of ny room, I really son't want to have to throw out all my plants but I guess it is inevitable....also where can I get this 'excel' and will it hurt the inverts in my tank??

thanx

~inari

 

You don't have to throw out your plants, just cut off the leaves that are infected and new leaves will grow. excel find at lfs, not sure on the other part will let you know when I figure it out.

 

Also One more thing to look into is there any Copper in it? If there is we need to find another way to get rid of this irritating junk. Also does anyone know if it's extremely harmful or not?? just making sure anyway

~Inari

 

I am not sure, it's a plant fertiliser so I don't think so but not sure. I'm still a little confused about it and would rather find what's causing it and get rid of it so it doesn't come back rather then getting rid of it for good. I'v found out that it usually comes when there are not enough fast growing plants in your tank, which would make plenty of sense in my case, how about yours. What type of wpg do you have, ferts, co2, plants? Maybe we can figure out what is causing yours, I'm going to try and adding some hornwort from my planted tank to my larger tank to see if that helps.

 

IDK what my wpg are but I have an eclipse 10 gallon hood light, the 'like sun' bulb in it, I have hygras and crypts and 1 bamboo I use flourish by seachem as a fertilizer and I think I might have figured out what is wrong IDK if this has anything to do with tho...I found out my whisper filter is busted it no longer intakes water so I have to get a new one I'll let you know tho how this works out

~inari

 

Your filter probably isn't what's wrong, you can try it but I doubt it.

So you have a eclipse 10, is it hex, or rectangle? Is the bulb a screw in compact fluescent?

I would stop dosing the ferts and see if that helps at all, it's possible you are over dosing and have too many nutrients in the water and it's promoting plant growth. Is this tank newly setup, new tanks are prone to this. I would try picking up some hornwort as it's commonly available and is a good algae buster.

 

it is not a new set up, I will try the fert thing it is a 10 gal and eclipse is my floursent lamp lol any way the filter is better that helped with my brown algae outbreak so I'll try anything

 

try a five hour on, two hour siesta then five hour on method too. See how that goes for a week, I'm trying something too and will let you know how it goes. good luck

 

Brush algae:
This grows in feathery black tufts 2-3 mm long and tends to collect on slower growing leaves like Anubias, some Echinodorus and other wide leaf plants. Also tends to collect on mechanical equipment. This is actually a red alga in the genus Audouinella (other names: Acrochaetium, Rhodochorton, Chantransia). It cannot easily be removed mechanically. Remove and discard the affected leaves. Equipment can be soaked in a 25% bleach solution, then scrubbed to remove the dead algae. Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus siamensis) are known to eat this algae and can keep it in check. A more drastic measure is treatment with copper.

Straight from plantgeek.

 

Ya and unfortunately siasmese algae eaters are not readily or often found in the US and are not suitable for small tanks. :-X

 

of course those freaking algae eaters aren't availible in the US just my luck LOL and to big for a 10 gallon...I really don't ha ve much of a problem on my mechanical equipment it was on my filter but I had to replace that here reacently lol Mine quite working I've prunned out all of the algae like that I could see with the naked eye. I"m still working on getting rid of all of it ...I might just prun all my tank plants and let them regrow and see if that works, I know most of my fish will freaking hate me but I think that would work. anyway way let me know if you think this is bad idea for any idea

~inari

 

I'm trying bleaching my plants today so I can save the leaves, will let you know how that goes. Sometimes doing a 3x overdose with excel can kill some of it but isn't guranteed. Amano shrimp keep it in check if it's hair algae which I have so I'm getting some in Febuary from a lfs near me, somebody just bought all of them so I have to wait.

 

do these shrimps eat brust as well?? I fthey do i'd buy one online if I had to

 

I do not know. What I'm trying to do is create a balance between the plants and algae so I have very little to no algae. Steps I'v taken so far.
1. NO sunlight, cover tank during day (I'm not home anyways)
2. shorter light scedule 4 on in the morning, 4 on at night when I'm home
3. threw in hornwort to absorb nutrients
4. put in more plants
5. cut back on ferts
6. trim/prune more often to encourage plant growth

If you can't get the shrimp locally I wouldn't get them unless you really want them as shipping would probably be a lot and it may not solve the solution. I would try to find a harmoney between the two. patience is the key I guess.

 

been trying to do that I had a perfect harmony before this happened. I had green algae and brown and everyone of my fish and plants were happy as could be but then I had to put in a vaction feeder and when I came back this freaking algae went on rampage. It's geetting so bad that I considered taking my tank down and starting over again with bio spira and everything but then I remebered how much that cost me so I gave decided agianst it so anyway I've stopped the daily fertilizer and i'm kicking up the the pruning. So anyway let me know how that works.

~Inari

 

Great news, bleached my plants, then I cover my tank during the day so no sunlight comes in, then put in some hornwort and no algae has started forming. Been good for three days, will let you know how it goes so you can do it too, hopefully it stays away.

 

how established were your plants I have crypts and hygras as well i've also detected a higher level of ammonia and nitrates any ideas how to reduce these as well??

~Inari

 

they were about 2.5 weeks established, I'm not sure if I want to bleach my crypts in my large tank because they are a year plus established, what I might try with those is cut off all infected leaves, clean all algae off. Water changes, you said you broke your filter, did you use that media for your new one. Excessive nitrates could be your cause of the algae :-\ Try to get some hornwort

 

I wouldn't get hornwort to take down excessive nitrates. Do water changes or the pH could crash if you rely too much on plants for cleaning the water.

However, it is a nice plant that will grow well and help keep the water clean.

 

yeah I know you never rely on plants for stuff like that I have no intention of doing so anyway I think I might have hurt my cycle when I went home for christmas.... so i'm going to go get some bacteria accelorator and get my cycle back!!!

ugg some fish ;P

~inari

 

I'm just using it to absorb excess nutrients to keep the algae in check, my nitrates are only at 5 so there not using nitrates, for you that might be different I don't know. Don't you have more than one tank, if so just take some filter media from one filter and stick in there.

 

I wish I had another running tank otherwise that is a good idea lol

 

O well covering the tank during the day is working pretty well for me, I'm going to clean all hair algae and cut off all infected leaves in my big tank and see if any grows back, so far none has in my little tank. will let you know if it works.

 

what I did and it seems to be working pretty well is I cut down almost all of the infected leaves and stems of my plants now it has been droping my cories are helping and my angel thinks he/she is an algae eater and keeps pulling it off and spiting out lol anyway thanx i'm going to try the whole cover your tank deal thanx ATM

~Inari

 

No problem, that's what I'm going to do, hope to create a harmony again.