black algae

[cobaltblue]

Im getting small clumps of black ( or very dark green) algae on my driftwood and on the intakes of my filters, even attaching to some of my plants. My BN plecos dont seem to help at all with this stuff. I only leave my t5 lighting on a couple hours aday on my 125g tank. IS there a really good way of controlling this? WHat is causing it?

[phalough]

A lot of alage growth may indicate poor water quality. You might very high nitrates so I'd surely test for them asap. Although not lethal as algae is what it is sometimes I believe it to be an indicater on water peramiters. In any case if your not using live plants get some destroyer and feed more often in less amounts. There are many different kinds of algae so do your homework and find out what strain you have.

[cobaltblue]

WAter parameters are all good for a semi planted tank. Nitrites and ammonia are 0, nitrates about 10, ph 6.2, gh 3, no kh to speak of. ( my tap water is very soft) . I will read up on the algae if i can find a web site that talks about it. Was hoping someone could give me better advice though.

[Kindredspirit]

Chris ~


I am no expert on anything fish related esp algae ~nor do I have live plants ~ ( well two tiny ones now) but I read that miss a few wc's ~ add some ph solutions to your water and strong lighting , plant fertilizer and chances are you will have lots of that green shyt! I also read that the plants can cost more than all the fish?? omg ~

I read recently this guy had such a dark green algae problem and he couldnt figure out why ~


He did some research after losing much patience and plants and it was ultimately decided that blue/dark-green algae are not bacteria but share many of their characteristics and it was suggested to him to use a anti-bacterial drug ~ like Maracyn ~ Not Maracyn II ~ I guess it was said that this drug works by attacking the the cell walls of the algae? At this point he was ready to do anything! I think he discovered that he was bringing it in to his tank from the outside possibly on other new plants?

So ~ this guy did used it and the algae died off and did so w/o affecting his other plants and fish! On the flip side tho he did notice an ammonia spike ~ and I am sure you know how to handle that ~ if need be ~


I do not know if this helps or if you shld do it Chris ~ see what others say ~ ******** ....none of this could be a way to go but it did kinda make sense?


Just thought I would share!




Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_4_11.gif

[cobaltblue]

Could be from missing a weeks wc while i was in disneyland. I had someone feeding my fish, but they didnt do wc at all. I am thinking they may have left the lights on all week too.

[Kindredspirit]

More advice will roll around Chris ~ I am sure ~ hey if you can not get Maracyn and that is what you end up doing ~ I have it and can send you some ~ hopefully it will get there sooner than the sponges!! Ya think?

I have this link where I read that info ~ I will look for it babe~


M~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_4_11.gif

[cobaltblue]

my lfs sells maracyn and maracyn 2. If this idea pans out, i can get it. Thanks for the tip. Does maracyn hurt the biofilter?

[pcsb23]

Chris,

Algae is an indicator of imbalance in the tank, nutrients, micro nutrients (called trace elements) and light being the three sides. If the light was left on for a week, I'd clean as much as possible off, keep up with the w/c's and it should go away. I would do this before taking any other course of action. With algae it is useful to know what your phosphate levels are too.

hth,

[Kindredspirit]

There ya go buddy! The Cream Of The Crop ~ go this route Chris!

Paul has planted tanks which are beautiful and he is coming to Cali to do one for me! Did ya know that? ( itz okay, Chris ....he just found out himself so.....)


Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_4_11.gif

[cobaltblue]

This may be a stupid question, but is it ok to clean off the algae clumps in the tank, as the big piece of driftwood is huge and would disrupt the tank so much by moving it. ??? (or is it better to take the wood out of the tank to clean it off)

[pcsb23]

Chris, it can be done in tank, the water will go green and in some cases will 'suck' the O2 out of the water so you've gotta watch it close, or do a large w/c or 2. If its not too much hassle I'd take the wood out and give it a scrub, I'd use water from the tank to do this, siphon some into a bucket. I guess it depends on hw much is on the wood - often it looks worse than it is.

[a1discus]

increase CO2

[nacra99]

Yeah.... i get that stuff once in a while. They are like little black tufts that grow on everything. It's really difficult to get off the plants... seems like they are glued on or something. But for driftwood, just go over with with some green scrubbing sponge during a water change and just siphon out all the bits and pieces.

[lado]

If cor3ect here you are talking about black beard algea.Lasy week out of curiosity i used flourish excel(spreying it right on clumps) with syringe and it does work after couple days it dies.Other then that iI could not control it.

[lado]

If corect here, you are talking about black beard algea.Last week out of curiosity i used flourish excel(spreying it right on clumps with syringe).And it does work, after couple days it dies.Other then that I could not control it.

[pcsb23]

Paul has planted tanks which are beautiful and he is coming to Cali to do one for me! Did ya know that? ( itz okay, Chris ....he just found out himself so.....)




Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_4_11.gif

Marie,
Just seen this - doh! Thanks for the compliment, and I'd love to come over to Cali!!

[lhforbes12]

Lado has the correct answer for BBA (Black Brush Algae). Seachem's Flourish Excel will kill it easily. I believe you said you have a 125 gallon? At that size tank 8 tablespoons a day for 3 days will rid you of it. CO2 is usually the culprit with BBA. Usually not too much or too little but flucuating CO2 causes it. The way I keep it away is following a wc I run a diatom filter for a whole day afterward, I haven't had an outbreak of it in months.(btw a UV filter is also supposed to work well for this) The idea is that either filter will rid the tank of the algae spores.

hth,
Larry

[nacra99]

Lado has the correct answer for BBA (Black Brush Algae). Seachem's Flourish Excel will kill it easily. ....

Wait a sec... i thought Flourish Excel was a fert (or more accurately carbon source)?? So how does addning more kill the algae?:confused:

[lhforbes12]

Nacra,
It also has a mild bactericide in it. But you are absolutely correct, it is a carbon source.

Larry

[diablocanine]

Im getting small clumps of black ( or very dark green) algae on my driftwood and on the intakes of my filters, even attaching to some of my plants. My BN plecos dont seem to help at all with this stuff. I only leave my t5 lighting on a couple hours aday on my 125g tank. IS there a really good way of controlling this? WHat is causing it?

If they look like little fuzz balls, they are diatoms. Proliferate near moving water. Scrape them off. I painted the backs of my tanks black. They cannot be seen there and I do not worry about them.....DC