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What algae is this?

dcurzon

Member
Joined
4 Jul 2020
Messages
378
Location
Essex
So I'm trying to identify what this is, so I can then take steps to fix it...

IMG_20200909_163415.jpg


60x35x40
Eheim ecco pro
Lily pipes
Medium ei dosing
Nicrew 24/7 light unit
Injected co2, DC at light green (but not lime green). Comes on at 6am, goes off at 1pm. Lights reach peak brightness around this time.

Egeria Densa
Jungle Val
Some random crypts
Dhg
Lobelia cardinalis
Red tiger lotus
Dwarf sag
hygrophilia polysperma

Not heavily planted

6x black neons
About a dozen-ish RCS

Setup is about 3 months in, however previously established media was used. Excel doesn't seem to effect this algae.

FTS
IMG_20200909_160731.jpg


Thanks
 

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Hi all, Assuming it really is grey in colour? It looks like <"Stagshorn Algae (Compsopogon)">.

cheers Darrel

Yes, I just pulled a piece out, its sort of greenish grey.

Ok, so quick google suggests
excel should clear it (its been 3 days so far and it hasn't cleared it),
too much iron
too much light
not enough co2
not enough flow

I'll stop the micro's for a few days and continue excel dosing and see if it goes
 
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Hi all,
excel should clear it (its been 3 days so far and it hasn't cleared it),
too much iron
too much light
not enough co2
not enough flow
The simple answer is that we don't know what causes it. Personally I think there might be a link with increased levels of organic matter, so I might look inside the filter.

cheers Darrel
 
Like Darrel mentions the jury is still out on the exact cause of algae https://www.ukaps.org/forum/forums/algae.19/

But we do know that high organics, high light and poor fertz dosing and poor CO2 implementation don't help.
Stay on top of tank maintenance; big regular water changes, and filter maintenance.

Lower light intensity and duration will give you more wriggle room; 6hrs a day. It also helps if you have a light with a dimmer. If the tank is low-energy (no CO2) light intensity needs to be low, unless your plant biomass is huge and you have floaters.

In fact buying many more plants inc floaters will help keep algae at bay. More vallis would be a good choice. It's fast growing, has leaves that grow across the surface providing shade and does well low-energy.

With CO2, ensure flow and distribution are on point; lime green drop checker at lights on and all the way till lights off.

Ok, so quick google suggests
excel should clear it (its been 3 days so far and it hasn't cleared it),
Google will do that, but it's not the whole story. Even if excel does get rid of it, it will usually come back if you haven't sorted what caused it in the first place...
But try the above and also try turning off your filter and spot treating it up close and personal with Excel via a pipette (if you haven't already) it should turn pink and die off.
 
Just cleaned out the filter, which definitely didn't need a clean out... Whilst it it, another partial water change, and I've added an additional small internal filter for extra flow.

I'll change the light from its 24/7 setting and monitor/adjust the co2 accordingly.

I'll try spot dosing too, I have tried that previously, but not without filter off!
 
Just cleaned out the filter, which definitely didn't need a clean out... Whilst it it, another partial water change, and I've added an additional small internal filter for extra flow.

I'll change the light from its 24/7 setting and monitor/adjust the co2 accordingly.

I'll try spot dosing too, I have tried that previously, but not without filter off!

Spot dosing with a small syringe is the key with Excel for Staghorn. I’ve found tank dosing to be fairly effective with BBA, but but completely ineffective for Staghorn which needs misting 2-3 days on the bounce before it turns pink and dies. In fact I’ve found spot dosing to be effective with most algae I’ve encountered (BBA, GSA) and a few small BGA patches I’ve had (even though it’s strictly not an algae). The only one it doesn’t seem to kill is green hair/thread algae, but that’s easy to keep on top of with a toothbrush when it does crop up.

You definitely need the filter off for spot dosing - the whole point is to create a high concentration cloud around the algae for about 15 minutes.

Large clumps like the one shown in your image can also be physically removed fairly easily with tweezers or pinching between fingers, leaving less to spot dose.

If you don’t have a lot of shrimp it can take 1-2 weeks to die off and disappear completely, but it does eventually rot away.

I would love to know what causes various types of algae but as Tim and Darrel have said above, it’s a bit of a mystery. From my own experiences, BBA seems to appear whenever I get a bit lax on filter maintenance. Staghorn for me just seems to break out once when my tanks are a couple of month old, and once eradicated never really comes back in force as they mature. GSA seems ever prevalent on slow growers like Anubias in high light areas, so I just have to keep on top of it with a bit of local misting with Excel every couple of weeks.

Contrary to reports I’ve read elsewhere, CO2 levels and flow don’t seem to have an effect on any types of algae for me - I’ve had them grow in full blast of the filter outlet when CO2 concentrations and flow are at their highest, and also in areas with little flow where CO2 is likely lower.
 
Well the lighting period seems to be taken care of... accidentally dropped the light unit into the tank. Pulled it apart and have dabbed off what I can with a towel, will see if it works once its had a chance to dry out

EDIT: ok the light is back and working.
10am CO2 on
12:00 Lights on
5pm CO2 off
8pm Lights off

I had to remove the small internal filter, the noise was horrendous :/
Spot dosing can begin tomorrow
 
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So I went with a multi angled attack...
Lights changed to be on or off, and shortened to 8 hours.
Co2 adjusted to suit this time period.
Pulled off any bits that i could
Cut off any leaves that had lots on
Trimmed the dhg down
3 days of excel dosing. Val appears to have been unaffected by it this time.

Probably too soon to tell, but I haven't seen any reappear so far 👍
 
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