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Green stringy algae problem

Weell Mark

New Member
Joined
22 Apr 2022
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10
Location
Bristol
Hi all really happy with my plants growing with the co2 but my algae is also out of control I literally pull out handfuls every few days, it's all growing off my plants and ornaments but the water is crystal clear. What can I do or adjust to stop it? The image shows just two days growth for an idea
20220911_125435.jpg
 
Hi all really happy with my plants growing with the co2 but my algae is also out of control I literally pull out handfuls every few days, it's all growing off my plants and ornaments but the water is crystal clear. What can I do or adjust to stop it? The image shows just two days growth for an idea View attachment 194573

Looks like that Java Fern has been placed in the substrate. Being an epiphyte, place on rock or wood with a dab of superglue. The rhizome (woody bit on the base of the plant) requires flow around it.

Also, the two most affected leaves are deteriorating from the fringes. Pinch off at the base and discard. They’re done.

Scrub the wood with a toothbrush as you’re doing your next water change. The algae will be siphoned out of the tank rather than settling elsewhere.

Some information about your tank would help.
Tank info guidelines here.
Please read the guidelines for Algae help!

This please ^^^

System information helps the community to diagnose problems @Weell Mark so we get to the cause, rather than the symptoms.
 
Hi.
Isn’t that Cladophora in the fern?
Could you google it an compare to your algae?
If it is, you won’t get rid of it, unless you restart your tank.

Cheers

I've beaten Cladophora a couple of times. A half dose of API algaefix repeated a few times can work. I learned that from a post by Tom Barr. It didn't kill my shrimp at that dose but it visibly agitated them.
 
Hi all,
Isn’t that Cladophora in the fern?
<"Definitely could be">, Cladophora is branched, like the algae in the picture, although it is usually shorter, darker green and a lot less "wispy"?

Smell and touch might give you some idea, Cladophora <"feels slightly gritty"> and smells slightly unpleasant.
If it is, you won’t get rid of it,
It is difficult to control, because not much eats it and it shares the <"same photosystems"> and <"basic physiology"> with the higher plants. I don't tend to <"get much of any algae">, possibly because the snails are <"grazing off the biofilm"> and it never really develops.
A half dose of API algaefix repeated a few times can work.
I've never tried it, but <"I might give it a go">. The active ingredient has the trade name "Busan 77", and I think you can buy that pretty cheaply for Hot Tubs etc.
I learned that from a post by Tom Barr
Herbicides are Tom's (@plantbrain ) <"field of academic work">.

cheers Darrel
 
I've been having problems with what looks like the same stuff. I've been pulling it out for months - which I suppose is a positive in the sense that it tends to adhere to itself more than to plants and rocks, so if I grab enough of a clump, (visually at least) a lot of it comes away quite easily. It does anchor itself to gravel, so when I pull out a clump it carries away a few bits of 3-4mm gravel. Doesn't seem to anchor to plants in the same way as shown in the OP photo - I mention that because it might help identify it or differentiate from what the OP describes. That said my stuff does look very similar. - Though closer to Darrel's "it is usually shorter, darker green and a lot less "wispy" "

Having moved house recently, I haven't wanted to muck about too much. Indeed I had to back off my weekly water change routine as every time I changed water my crypts would melt as if they were adjusting to completely different water.

As the fish seem to be happy enough and the frogbit and various types of anubias growing OK (it's a low tech tank) I haven't been prioritising getting this sorted (plenty else to do when you've just moved house!) not least because at some point I've always planned to tear this tank down, but I'm glad to learn about Busan 77 / API Algaefix even so.

Reading the reviews on Amazon for API Algaefix the better informed advice seems to be completely in line with what Tom Barr is saying about minimal repeated 1/4 or 1/2 doses with the stuff already well mixed with a large volume of water and introduced during a water change.

Can anyone comment on the impact of this stuff on snails? I mean at 1/2 doses. The API label warns about crustaceans but not other invertebrates, and I like my snails :)
 
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