damn algae - go away!!!

[corbypete]

I'm having a real problem with algae right now. I had an indicent where my tank recycled and so the nitrates were high, i expected high growth with the nitrates, after all it is fertliser.

however, now ive go the levels down, the algae just keeps on coming. i have sand, but it looks more like grassy sand dunes!! ive tried swishing the sand around etc. but it grows back within 2 days.

any ideas, or do i just expect to have a putting green permenantly in my tank?

I did notice my catfish pellets contain algae, could this be a source?

 

[rdd1952]

If it is green and on your sand, it sounds like the dreaded blue green algae which is actually not an algae at all but a bacteria. None the less, it is very difficult to get rid of.

Possible solutions:

Add plenty of live plants to consume the nutrients before the algae does
Cut down on the amount of time your lights are on. If you don't have live plants, you really only need the lights on when you are there to view the tank.
A 3 day blackout. I haven't tried it but a lot of people say it works.
Maracyn. Also haven't tried this but there is a thread in the planted forum that says it will work.

Try searching this forum for blue green algae or cyano bacteria. Also, you will need to try to remove as much as you can by hand or by vacuuming it at your next water change. I have fought that stuff and still have a little. I am getting ready to add quite a few more plants in the hopes that I can finally rid myself of it. Good luck.

 

[colegamby]

my girlfriend had problem with that algae growing in her tank. first try not using the pellets for your catfish. He will find plenty to eat in the bottom. Then start doing some partial water changes to lower the amounts of nutrients for the bacteria to eat. also do what rdd said in lowering teh amount of time your light is on. after a couple weeks your problem should be completely cleared up.

 

[The-Wolf]

if you want to go down the chemical route
I highly recomend esha protalon-707.
so far the only anti-algae, i've found, that actually works.

 

[pendragon]

There are a number of prescribed ways to fight algae, some sensible and some not so much.

However you slice it, algae growth occurs by the presence of nutrients - "algae food" - in your tank. This may be because you have an excess of nutrients your plants can't consume, or because you have no plants. Excess light is also a contributor to algae problems, but in my experience is not always necessary. I've had algae problems in tanks that were only indirectly lit for a few hours each day. In my experience, ridding yourself of algae problems is something of a trial-and-error thing. Robbing the algae of whatever nutrients have convinced it to grow is the way to nip it in the bud, but that's often easier said that done. I've never been much of a fan of the anti-algae chemical additives. Lord knows I've fought algae many times and still don't consider myself an expert by any means.

One thing I have (finally!) consistently found success with though is Blue-green algae. Blue-green algae is a different animal from most other algae (pun intended). As was mentioned above, it is actually a bacteria, not a plant organism (as algae is). Blue green algae, in my experience, can be any shade of blue-to-green and always has a very slimy appearance with a reflective "sheen" to it. It doesn't look like your standard algae. It also spreads like the dickens and frequently has visible pockets that looks like air bubbles trapped inside it. I don't think what you've described above sounds like blue-green algae, but blue-green is a bear to fight back once you get it. After multiple conflicts with it, I've found something that knocks it out completely in my tank: peat granular in the filter. Blue-green thrives most often in hard, high-pH water (like mine, which gravitates to around 8.1 naturally). Lowering the pH sufficiently kills the blue-green algae, but you have to do it in a way that is safe for your fish. Peat granular will slowly drop the pH and soften the water over the course of a few days. It will also make your water dingy, but once the blue-green is dead. the dinginess is easily remedied by partial water changes done over two or three days. It's a small price to pay, IMHO. In the past, and especially right after I first began fishkeeping, I had some truly awful infestations of blue-green. But since I tried the peat granular as a treatment, I have had no problem killing it off when it appears, and my fish have shown no signs of effects from the treatment. I don't know if it will work for every single tank out there, but I can tell you it sure does for mine.

As for the Maracyn treatment for Blue-green algae, a lot of folks have reported success with it, some have reported no success, and some say it's a really bad idea to use Maracyn to begin with for multiple reasons. I've never tried it, but don't intend to ever need to.

Hope that helps.

pendragon!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

don't count on your catfish to eat the algae. if it truly is blue-green algae, no fish will eat it. also depending on what type catfish you have, it may not eat it even if it isn't blue-green.

try putting your lights on a timer. have them on for two hours, then off for one. this will interrupt the algae but not your plants.

add ghost shrimp to the tank. they'll help cut down on the nutrients available to the algae by eating detrius. they'll also eat algae. later they can be fed to jack.

cut back on feeding your fish. this will reduce the introduction of nutrients to the system.

 

[rdd1952]

The peat method won't work for me in fighting BGA. My water is very soft with GH & KH only at 1 and my pH levels out at about 6.6 to 6.8 in my 29 gallon where I have had the BGA problem. Once it starts, it seems nothing will stop it. As pendragon said, it spreads like crazy. When my lights came on, I could almost see it start to spread. I still have a little of it despite the fact that there really aren't any nutrients for it. My ammonia and nitrite are 0. Nitrate only runs between 5 and 10. Phosphate is .1 and I have live plants. It seems to be able to live off nothing. I now have my lights on for only about 8 hours a day. I do have new power compac lights that should arrive today (130 watts for 29 gallon). I plan to add some more faster growing plants and add the better lighting in hopes that they will put the BGA out of business. It is particularly difficult with my sand substrate as I can't get it off the sand. I try to stick my vacuum down into the sand and suck it up but the algae is partially attached to the sand and is heavy enough that it falls back to the bottom.

 

[corbypete]

i really dont know what i have now, it seems it isnt blue-green because it doesnt look as horrid, instead it looks like... well looks like hair on the floor of a barbers shop, but green!

i left the tank this morning with a few green tufts in the tank, i come home tonight nad my glass is hazy, and my tank is an absolute jungle!!!!!

i so confused, does algae grow this fast??

 

[Ferris]

Algae needs light to grow, if you are prepared to sacrifice any live plants you have, leave the lights off until the algae has gone. The fish will be fine without light even for a week to 10 days, which is probably how long it will take, I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and this was the only solution that actually worked.

 

[rdd1952]

The answer to your last quesion is definitely yes. Blue Green algae grows so fast you can almost see it. WHen mine was at it's worst. I swear I could turn the lights on, leave the room and come back 5 minutes later and see the difference in it on the sand. Also as pica said, if it happens to be BGA, very little will eat it. I know otos won't touch it, at least mine didn't. You may have some type hair algae. The best thing to do for now is remove what you can by hand and leave your lights off. Your plants (if you have live plants) won't be hurt by it nearly as much as the algae will. What is your nitrate running and also have you tested for phosphate?