Staghorn Algae

[xxBarneyxx]

Well I have been infested by Staghorn Algae for about 3 weeks now. I seem to be able to keep it in check and I think it is gradually coming under control (though it has taken some pretty drastic trimming of some of the plants).

I was just wondering what caused it though and what is the best way to make it go away.

I dose with ADA ferts (step 1 and brightly K) with ADA substrate. Lighting is just over 2wps for 8 hours a day, CO2 is now stable at around 30ppm.

I got hit by it originally because the flow rate on my filter dropped quite a bit and it took a wekk to get it sorted again. During this time the water flow in the tank was pretty poor and the CO2 levels dropped to about 20ppm. Since then it has take about a weeks to get the CO2 back up to 30ppm and after a week at this level I dont see it spreading quite as much.

I'm just wondering if there is anything more I should do. I'm thinking cutting the lighting period down might help but then I'm also thinking that might make things worse as then the plants arent growing as much? Maybe a complete blackout for a couple of days will help?

 

[Themuleous]

Low co2 would be my first guess. I also often find I get it with poor tank maintenance i.e. getting a build up of junk on the substrate. I guess with a planted tank you probably dont/cant gravel vac much? I would try to get more crap off the bottom if its there, perhaps also increase water changes.

My only other suggestion would be to overdose excel for a week or so just to get back on top of it, then the 30ppm CO2 shoudl stop it coming back. I have recently been treating a very small case of staghorn by overdosing excel, it worked a treat I have to say, the strands turned red within just a few days and they have gradually broken off with there almost none visible now. Be aware that it can kill some plants as well though, such as hornwort, valls and some mosses as I understand it.

FYI blackouts only work against BGA, nothing else that said they are very effective against BGA!

Sam

 

[DevUK]

Might try overdosing myself, as I seem to be developing Staghorn on my big tank

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Thanks. I might have to give Excel a go, that being said though the worst hit plant is my Vall's so might just give it some time and see what happens first

I do a 10% water chnge every week but I dont (cant) really use a gravel vac (the substrate is pretty much 100% covered now). I clean the filter once a month (rinse out the filter media/pads in tank water) but might have to do this a bit more regular. Ammonia, Nirite, Nitrate are all 0, TDS is about 300 (which is lower them my tap water).

I'm going to get some MTS to turn the substrate over a bit which might help. I'm also going to get some Nirite snails as well as apprently they are pretty good and cleaning up dead and dying leaves.

Will have a look into using excel anyway just in case

 

[Themuleous]

Is this a high light tank? I would be very surprised if your NO3 is actually 0, there has to be some in there, unless you're got about 3 fish. If its a high light tanks you might want to consider adding some more NO3 as the plants will be lacking it if your tank really is running at 0 NO3. Don't be afraid of NO3, its commonly accepted these days that NO3 and PO4 do not on their own cause algae.

Sam

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Its about 2.5 ish WPG. Could very well be my test kit is just not sensitive enough to pick it up but it is at the least less then 5ppm.

Tanks stocking level is 29 medium sized tetras (flame and silvertips), 6 peppered cory's , 1 whiptail and X amount of cherry shrimp (no idea how many are in there now but it is definitely more then the 12 I started off with ). Not really a massive bioload for the size of tank with that amount of plants.

I did ask awhile back about adding NO3 and was told that it is probably ok without when using the ADA soil. The plants seem to be doing fine (in fact I spend most of my time now trying to cut out all the runners from everything ) but I have been thinking about adding it anyway just to see what effect it has. If it gets rid of the algae then I dont mind the extra gardening

 

[SuperColey1]

From reading on here and barrreport, staghorn is usually because of fluctuating CO2 and substrate inteference.

I notice you say the CO2 is NOW stable at 30ppm. Does this mean it wasn't before?

Also when they say substrate inteference they mean when we are moving plants etc and not doing a large waterchange imediately afterward.

Andy

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah it dropped down to about 20ppm for just over a week while I was getting the stupid canister filter sorted. I'm pretty sure this was the initial cause of the problem and now it is stable again I think it will quite likely go away on its own. Just wanted to see if there was any way to speed the process up a bit though

I guess the plus side of it is that it seems to catch really small particals in it which the baby shrimp seem to love

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

Turning over the substrate was the reason that I got the MTS, however if you do not remove the adults regularly you can become infested. Not that i mind to be honest. They clean up well too. They also help to prevent BGA by stopping dead spots from forming in the substrate.

The seem to cover everything at night and the do a good job at keeping the glass good 'n' shiny.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I'm already infested with snails and also some kind of aquatic beetle/larve so a bunch more wont hurt I actually like them almost as much as the fish

 

[nry]

Snails thrive if there is excess food for them - cut back on feeding the fish and the snails should die back a fair bit. I moved from two daily feeds to one - fish are happy and I have so few snails now I have to hunt for them to check if there are any around.

 

[DevUK]

Odd, igenerally feed once a day and I have loads of ramshorns. Maybe I'll cut back the amount (didn't think I was being too excessive).

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I feed small amounts twice a day. That being said I had the tank running for about a month with no fish in at all (and hence no food) and still had the same amount of snails they dont bother me though as long as they leave the plants alone .

 

[DevUK]

Mine didn't at first, but the amount of waste they produce is imense!