Algae!?!

[Super Nova]

Hello all,
I have been in a losing battle with blue green algae for a few months. It resides on my plant like glue, my air stone is completely covered in algae, my gravel and everything else that’s in the water. My water has no ammonia, and I do regular water changes. I have scrubbed and scrubbed, I even tried to steam the algae off in boiling water on one of my ornaments. (It didn’t work, clearly) I’m not ready to give up yet, I’m thinking of changing my sponge filter to an aquael turbo that has biological filtration. As well as this I was recommended to let tap water stand for 4 days to rid it of chlorine before a water change rather than using chemicals. Are these tips good? Are there any other tips that are better? Please help me!

 

[seangee]

What percentage of water do you change a week?
What are your nitrate readings in your tank and in your tap water. Not able to give specific advise without more info but generally:

1. Reduce your lighting (intensity or duration or both)
2. Keep your nitrates low (it is fertiliser)
3. Plant more plants - they compete with the algae for nutrients.

If your ammonia and nitrite readings are consistentlyzero there is probably no need to change your filter (and it won't help).
Dechlorinator or letting your water stand is just a matter of preference as long as your water company uses chlorine to treat the water. If they use chloramine you need dechlorinator even if your water has stood for a few days. Its usually easier just to use a dechlorinator, but try to use one that doesn't contain aloe vera / stresscoat etc.

 

[seangee]

Oh forgot to mention, fast growing floating plants like watersprite, frogbit etc will work much quicker than traditional planting (and you only need to throw them in from the top)

 

[Super Nova]

Thank you! I’d like to ask though, will this stop the growth and remove the existing algae or will I still have to scrub the algae off?

 

[Byron]

First, we should identify the algae. You call it blue-green, which to most of us is cyanobacteria, something very different from a true algae. A photo of this "algae" would help.

Second, we need to know the data...tank size, lighting (what type, how long is it on). And nitrates and pH.

Third, if you only have chlorine and not chloramine in your water (check with your supplier if uncertain), letting it stand 24 hours will gas off the chlorine. But using a water conditioner is much easier than having pots or buckets of water sitting about; something can get in them, like dust even. Sensible use of a good conditioner, meaning only use what is needed for the fresh water volume, will not be problematic for fish.

Edit. Just noted seangee mentioned about the chlorine too.

 

[stanleo]

Those tipe will not stop the algae completely and that’s ok. Some growth is beneficial. Once you find the right balance of nutrients, plants and lighting you should only need to scrub the viewing glass periodically. Wood should have some growth on it which I personally like and fake ornaments will get a tinge of green which may like or remove, your call.

But knowing your nitrate level and lighting intensity and duration will help others help you find the right balance. Also, does the tank get direct sunlight?

 

[Colin_T]

First, we should identify the algae. You call it blue-green, which to most of us is cyanobacteria, something very different from a true algae. A photo of this "algae" would help.

Blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria) comes off things very easily and usually lifts off in pieces and sheets. It is slimy and smells mouldy.
If you have to scrub the algae off the glass and items in the tank, then it is not blue green algae.

Post a picture of it so we can identify the problem.

 

[Super Nova]

I can’t upload my own image for some reason, however it is identical to this. Today I went out and got a bunch of plants to add to my aquarium, and I also started to control my feeding.

 

[Colin_T]

the picture didn't load. If you post the link to the picture we can go to the website it is on and see it there

 

[Super Nova]

Right! Sorry, I’m quite new on here! https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/fish...-the-black-brush-algae-bba/amp/?source=images I suppose it’s called black bush algae from the website, I see the difference in ‘blue green’ or Cyanobacteria algae now. my apologies, I mistook myself. Thank you for pointing that out and letting me know!

 

[Colin_T]

yucko, black beard algae is a pain in the blank.

Some people claim that a double dose of flourish excel will kill it but I just cut the leaves off and do big water changes to dilute the spores in the water.

You can try bleaching the plants but the plants usually get reinfected when you put them back in the tank. Put them in straight bleach (something like White King bleach from supermarket) for a couple of minutes before washing off with fresh water then put the plants into a bucket of water and double dose with dechlorinator. Leave it in the dechlorinated water for 30minutes or so then rinse again. The plants should be free of bleach smell before they are returned to the tank.

 

[Super Nova]

Wow. That sounds like a real pain. I really don’t know about usingbleach on my plants and then putting it in my water with my fish. Is it better to just pick out the plant entirely before it infects others?

 

[Colin_T]

There will be spores from the algae in the tank and they will reinfect anything you put in there. The only way to get rid of it completely is to strip the tank down, boil anything that isn't alive and try to cut off all the infected leaves and only keep the plants without algae on them.

Before you do that tho, wait for the plant guys to come online and see if they have any ideas. Personally I would rather deal with blue green algae any day.

 

[Byron]

The only way to effectively deal with this is to ascertain the cause and fix that. Nothing else will be effective long term and it will come back.

This, like most problem algae, is caused by an imbalance. I am assuming this tank has live plants, so you need to correct the balance. If there were no live plants, it really wouldn't matter much because algae is natural and will appear in some form wherever there are nutrients and light. But to avoid it killing the plants by suffocation, in planted tanks we need to control it.

I have dealt with this algae a few times, it is the only problem one I seem to get (fortunately). It has a couple of different appearances but the same cause. I have had it appear due to excess light (which can be as little as simply more and brighter daylight entering the room in summer), and excess plant fertilizing.

To work out the balance, we need to know your light data, fish load, plant species and numbers, and any fertilizers being used. I would not go chopping down plants yet; once the balance is established, it will not spread, guaranteed. I have chunks of wood in several tanks with this algae dead, it is still quite attractive. Once you have the balance, and plants show new leaves without this on them, you can prune the worst leaves for appearance.

 

[Super Nova]

Oh god that really does sound like a killer job. I would like to be dealing with blue green algae Instead too I turn my light on at around 12 am and turn it off a around 12 pm also. I have 2 mollies, 4 guppies, about 10-11 shrimp, 4 neon tetras, a small young pleco, and a bunch of guppy fry. The only plant that I had in the tank that was effected was a cryptocortne undulate, I also have 2 moss balls which don’t seem to be affected, or at least I can’t really tell on them. I don’t use any fertiliser in my tank. I’m pretty sure I have a higher bio load than I should because my mother loved feeding my fish VERY regularly, she’s stopped now thankfully so that’s under control to one feeding a day and I’m also trying to limit my lighting.

Considering that the algae will always come back eventually, is it dangerous or harmful for my fish to just keep it in there and deal with it like I have?