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Help with these algae issues plz

Frenchi

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2014
Messages
671
Location
West Yorkshire
Hi ppl
I'm well gutted I'm getting these hair or beared algae issues this is a nano 20ltr with tmc 400 tile and pressured co2 injected, co2 on at 10 am light on at 12 noon, co2 off 7pm light off 8 pm ... Can anyone help please ?

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Beard Algae = SAE

I can't actually see any algae in the photos though?
 
It's on the end of the java fern leaves on the finger bits nearest the lighting . What does SAE mean ? I'm a newbie :)


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Hey Frenchi

Yeah your correct its a Siamese algae eater, its a fish that eats black beard algae.

I don't know much, but it could be black beard algae its quite hard to see from the picture, in my opinion its a nightmare to get red of and quite hard to eliminate as you need to do specific treatments using Excel etc but I don't know much as I never done it. If it were my tank I would remove them leafs. Its quite hard to tell from the pictures though, maybe you could tell better if you compare it to black beard algae on Google images, however when I first got my Java fern I use to get black hairy stuff at the tips of the leafs as-well, like I said I picked some of these leafs off, not all the leafs as I didn't want to kill the plant but the worse infected, then the new leafs never had that problem, I'm sure someone else will tell you exactly what it is, but I'm sure I had something similar on my Java ferns and it may of been a different type of black beard algae compared to the type I have on my bog wood, as normally BBA grows on wood and around tank equipment, but I have seen it grow on plants, but luckily for me it sticks to my wood, even when I bleach my wood it still comes back weeks later. Good luck. Nice tank btw. :D I'm sure someone will offer you much better help and advice as I'm a newbie as-well.
 
Cheers guys .. I do have 4 in my large tank and don't get any algae issues at all apart from green spot on anubius leaves ... The SAE do grow large mine are now 5" long


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Yeah I did a quick Google, and I wouldn't put them in a 20L but I've never owned SAE's, have you just recently purchased that Java Fern? maybe when you purchased it, it has come from a tank with black beard algae? I guess for now you could pick the worst leafs off, and the one's you don't pick, you could try and pinch the black beard algae off, and then net it out the water or hopefully it will remain in your fingers. At least you then would of removed most of it, and then maybe later or tomorrow someone can offer you more advice, or I'm sure there are threads on here explaining how to remove it, but would wait till someone confirms it is black beard algae, and what your best approach is. I really hate the stuff, its odd how you have it on your Java fern and I had such a similar thing happen to my Java fern, then again maybe that's where my black beard algae came from as-well lol.
 
It's really chews on my brain as everything else seems ok apart from my H/C melting .... It's all confusing .. But yet my other tank is spot on ... Weird! Lol


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It is 99 percent of a myth that SAE eats BBA. I would try to lower light intensity by increasing the distance from the water surface or dimmer it if you have such possibility. You could treat BBA with 3 percent H202 solution (ask in a drug store) by applying it directly to the algae with a syringe. It is a much cheaper alternative than Excel however you need to watch out for overdosing that means no more than 20 ml for your tank with filters off. Wait for 15 minutes and do at least 50 percent water change. Here is a good thread how to treat a breakout of algae - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=203684
 
It is 99 percent of a myth that SAE eats BBA. I would try to lower light intensity by increasing the distance from the water surface or dimmer it if you have such possibility. You could treat BBA with 3 percent H202 solution (ask in a drug store) by applying it directly to the algae with a syringe. It is a much cheaper alternative than Excel however you need to watch out for overdosing that means no more than 20 ml for your tank with filters off. Wait for 15 minutes and do at least 50 percent water change. Here is a good thread how to treat a breakout of algae - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=203684
Thank you for that I will give it ago :)


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You need to ensure the CO2 is optimum too. What is the kH first? Then measure the pH before injection, and at regular intervals.
You can create a graph like this
Rot41Ri.png


This will give you an idea how much CO2 is being added to the tank.
 

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You need to ensure the CO2 is optimum too. What is the kH first? Then measure the pH before injection, and at regular intervals.
You can create a graph like this
Rot41Ri.png


This will give you an idea how much CO2 is being added to the tank.
I have a drop checker in there Make sure it is lime green throughout the photo period, is this not a good way to measure co2 ?


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I've never used drop checkers but pretty sure if it's calibrated correctly and you have lime green then you've got yourself enough CO2.
 
It is 99 percent of a myth that SAE eats BBA
No, they definitely do...you've got to make sure you get the right type...Sanj has a good thread on them. Now I wouldn't say they went about clearing the tank as if they were paid employees but they do get stuck in...
 
Have you got the TMC Aquaray controller? I think that the light you have over a 20 litre cube could be too much if it's always on at the maximum power.

I think that drop checkers are a only rough guide. If you want to be more certain that your CO2 is correct, buy a pH meter and do a profile over the course of a day. There's a few threads here about this already,

For the leaves that have BBA, you have to cut them off whole or spot treat the BBA with liquid carbon.
 
Hi vaz I was just dosing every couple of days with just a couple of drops of jbl .. 8 hours light and full co2 to lime green on dropper ..


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