friends tank , can these be saved?

[plantnoob]

my missus' friend just bought a 2nd hand rio 125 . the plants all came with it and are seriously infested with algae .its standard rio 125 lighting , and juwel internal filter . i have no idea what , if any the dosing regime was ie liquid carbon or none etc . not sure what the plants are but to me they look like anubias , maybe crypt of some sort a sword plant of some sort and some type of fern . the laeaves are all literally covered in a thick green coating of algae anlong with the black algae on the anubias which so far i cant identifiy . snapped these on my phone whilst i was there and said i would ask you guys the best course of action . maybe a total blackout ? or could it be better to rip em out and start again . flow in the tank doesnt look too bad but could be improved a bit imo . i have suggested an external filter to help this .

ps ive already told her the kissing gourami isnt suitable for the tank ( she also got a lot of fish with it)

27936_365286513581476_1413298440_n by mark pettican, on Flickr



11701_365286670248127_1687654920_n by mark pettican, on Flickr


63182_365286850248109_1157975944_n by mark pettican, on Flickr


427828_365286150248179_642895557_n by mark pettican, on Flickr


935732_365287036914757_825428916_n by mark pettican, on Flickr

 

[TarkMalbot]

One of my old plants I transferred from my old tank looked like that. A few days with a Bristlenose Pleco and the leaves were all clean. I don't know enough about how to prevent it though.

 

[Ady34]

Hi Plantnoob,
is your Mrs friend intending to go high tech or not? Good c02 and distribution along with comprehensive dosing and good tank husbandry and lower light intensity & duration would rid the algae, but how far does she want to go? Alternatively she could go lower tech, reduce the lighting intensity a lot and those plants should be ok without much intervention if theres a lot of fish to provide some food...perhaps eradicate the algae with liquid carbon dosing first and keep the filter and water clean.
Looks like staghorn algae on the anubias.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Steve Smith]

To add to what Ady has said, they could have a trim and remove the worst affected leaves also. Good maintenance and getting a handle on conditions should bring it back though.

 

[plantnoob]

i very much doubt she would want to go the high tech route ady , she aquired the plants with the tank when she got it . thanks for the advice , i will pass it on to her and see how she gos with it .

edit: the missus has just said she wants to chuck all the plants she got and get new low tech plants . so maybe i should suggest getting a powerhead to get rid of the dead spots and suggest some hardy easy low tech plants

 

[Ady34]

Echinodorus, crypts and Anubias are pretty hardy, there's a bit of bolbitis there too I think which could work or not. Lowering light intensity is the key and keeping it clean, not over feeding the fish etc. Floating plants will help diffuse the light (and act like a duckweed index to see if additional fertilisers are needed) so would be a good investment. removing reflectors if there are any, maybe even use the reflectors to block light rather than intensify it.
Understandable if she wants a fresh start with new plants but those will recover and like Steve says, removing the worst effected leaves will improve the looks and give the plant better chance of producing new healthy leaves. The cryptocoryne don't look too badly effected anyway so they could definitely be reused and suitable
Is it the t5 or t8 ballast in the rio125 she has?
Cheerio
Ady

 

[plantnoob]

i have passed on both sets of advice , that for saving these plants , along with the tips for starting anew . thank you all for the help , spot on as usual

not sure what ballast she has . i will have to look at it next time i am round there