diseased plants?

[georgia]

Many of the plants within our tank have started to develop a kind of algae (?) which looks a bit like blue fluff. We've done our best to pick off the affected leaves but it keeps developing and we're worried that it could be really serious and possibly harm the fish.
Can anyone tell me what it is/recommend treatments/tell me if it is dangerous for the fish??
Thanks in advance
Georgia

 

[red-devil0602]

does it look abit like hair , if so it might be hair algae

 

[reddeerhobbiest]

yep, sounds like hair algae....theres lots of hair algae in this forum. ive never been able to get rid of it, although i have good control through water conditions and breaking up my lighting patern. ive never known it to be a threat, just not nice to look at.

 

[georgia]

it does look like hair, and its blue!

 

[squirrelrabbits]

I've got some hair algae... I have found that tiger barbs will eat it (they have cleared one tank completely) and I have just gotten some American flag fish recently for another tank (though once it's well underway, it's hard for them to clear it). I think the best thing is to clean it out as much as you can, and then see if you can get one of these two types of fish to deal with its re-emergence... There are a lot good threads on it on this site; just do a search for hair algae and I think you'll find some more good advice that way.

 

[Lateral Line]

Blue is more likely to be bacterial then algal. The so called blue-green algae's are cyanobacteria.

The plant Egeria densa, (sometimes called Anacharis), secretes a natural anti-biotic that combats bluegreens, could be worth a try. If you do try it and it works, update us.

 

[georgia]

its certainly very blue and is relaly taking over all the plants. Should I have the lights on for less time (normally on for 10 to 12 hours)??

 

[georgia]

this hair is takig over everything, any more ideas?

 

[majiktouch]

I have been fighting various algae and cyano for a few months and the one thing that has seemed to help the most is a "blackout" period during the day. I have the lights on for 6 hours, off for 4 hours and back on for about 5 hours. I have been doing this for almost a month now and the plants look so much better! Be sure to clean off as much of the algae as you can first. I also found the more water changes I did the worse it got, so I only change about 40 % once a month.
Good luck!

 

[georgia]

Ive cleaned the tank or plants with hair, done lots of water changes and its still there! and growing, can any one recommend any fish to eat this..... was worried about tiger barbs as I have guppies....???

 

[iggy01]

You need to be sure what type of algae you have. After reading this thread, I'm not sure if you have cyanobacteria or hair algae. Take a look at this link and see if you can identify it.

Good luck!

 

[georgia]

after looking at those links, its Brush algae

 

[iggy01]

I would have suggested Siamese Algae Eaters, but I see you have a Red Tailed Black Shark and unfortunately they don't go together.

A major pruning of all leaves covered in algae is probably needed and raising Co2 levels to around 25-30 ppm may help. Make sure your KH is at least 3 dH before doing so.

Do you know what your phosphate & nitrate levels are? Are you dosing any ferts?

Good luck!

 

[Slyspy]

Interestingly I have recently upped my lighting period and my patch of cyanobacteria is starting to die off. Of course, it may be just a coincidence and caused by another factor.

However, this thread has been sidetracked. You have an algae, not a bacteria, and shorter periods of light may reduce it. Maybe even a total black-out for a few days. It is easiest to physically remove strands of algae by twirling a toothbrush through it, and gently pulling the algae off the leaf. Introducing fast growing plants may out-compete the algae of nutrients. Maybe try adding fertilizer to encourage plant growth (they will out-compete alage if they have a good balance of necessary nutrients), though this may not help. I wouldn't recommend getting specific fish to eat the algae - you don't want to be lumbered with fish that you don't really want.