Is This Red Algae?

[FISH-FRY]

About 2 weeks or so ago I noticed something growing on the tip of one of my Java Fern leaves. It looked red/orange/brownish and seemed like it was small hairs bunched together. I was keeping an eye on it and saw it was getting wider as the days went by. I decided to prune some of that leaf and tossed it.

Later on I started seeing the same color dots appearing on my faux tree trunk and on Anubias nana leaves. Some other stuff was on the nana leaves that looked darker and thought it was decaying and was going to schedule a major plant cleanup the following week. I used a small gravel cleaner last week and accidentally sucked up on the bad leaf and noticed that it was a little gooey. I figured it would be easier for me to clean it by rubbing it out and a little vacuuming.

The thing is I think I have two things growing and one of them may be Red Algae. This is the reason why I picked up a Siamese Algae Eater last night to try and help out.

The aquarium is 16 gallons and 18" high with a 15W T-8 8,000K fluorescent light that is on 12 hours daily. I have two Anubias nana Plants, two Amazon Sword Plants, one Tropica Fern and one Wisteria Plant. The aquarium is only 3 weeks young and it looks like the nana are the ones this thing likes more along with the stump. I can't really tell if the Fluorite substrate has any since it would blend in with the color but it doesn't look like it.

Do you think I have too much light going on and should cut back to maybe 10 hours daily? Or are these the signs of a thriving new aquarium? I wasn't even sure if the lighting was sufficient but the plants appear to be doing fine except for this stuff that's growing. Here are some pictures.

Anubias Nana with Growth

Faux Tree Trunk with Small Growth

Anubias Nana With Growth Starting and SAE Standing By

I haven't started the major cleaning as I'm looking for some advice.

 

[5teady_2012]

Whats your PH reading?

 

[FISH-FRY]

Whats your PH reading?

It's been a consistent 7.2.

 

[5teady_2012]

Im not sure then, im pretty certain red algae is promoted in high ph levels, but i maybe wrong, how often do you do water changes?

Is the tank in direct sunlight?

 

[FISH-FRY]

Im not sure then, im pretty certain red algae is promoted in high ph levels, but i maybe wrong, how often do you do water changes?

Is the tank in direct sunlight?

I've done water changes at about 3 to 4 days and will be doing another tomorrow. I'm wondering if I need to rinse my filter cart. in some of the siphoned tank water since I haven't yet.

No direct sunlight, only 12 hours of the fluorescent.

 

[scotty]

i've been advised,to have my lights on between 4-6 hrs a day,but i reckon that depends on what type of lighting you have,i have a juwel rio 125,with t5 lighting.maybe try and cut down the hours you have the lights on

 

[FISH-FRY]

i've been advised,to have my lights on between 4-6 hrs a day,but i reckon that depends on what type of lighting you have,i have a juwel rio 125,with t5 lighting.maybe try and cut down the hours you have the lights on

I changed my light timer to 10 hours and see how that goes. I also did something during my water cycle today that I'm not sure would help. I rinsed my filter media in the water I expelled and later noticed fine specs of "stuff" floating about the tank after I turned on the light and filter. I hope to see it clear up by tomorrow. I tested the water a couple of hours after and noticed my Alkalinity had gone up to 80 from about 40 where it's never been higher. I'll see what I get tomorrow as well.

I found one of the shrimp on the leaf with the most crud munching on it. I'm hoping the others will follow suit!

 

[Dave Spencer]

For a new planted tank, it is best to start with the lights at about four hours. After it becomes established, start to increase the photoperiod up to around eight hours.

It looks to me as though you have diatoms, which will be triggered by low, persistent levels of ammonia. Are you injecting CO2 and adding ferts of any kind? The lighting you have is quite low, so you won`t be getting rapid plant growth that will keep algae suppressed. I suspect you may also be a little low on plant mass, too.

dave.

 

[lljdma06]

Im not sure then, im pretty certain red algae is promoted in high ph levels, but i maybe wrong, how often do you do water changes?

Is the tank in direct sunlight?

Thank you for the pictures. As David Spencer said, these are diatoms, common in newly setup tanks or in tanks that have gone through a major clean-up or rescape. Caused by small ammonia build-up (non-toxic to fish at this point but enough to trigger the algae spores to multiply, if memory serves).

For the low light tank that you have, I would look into the cause of the ammonia build-up? You seem to be doing waterchanges, maybe something is decaying in there. How have you planted your anubias? They should be attached to rocks and wood, not buried in the substrate. Otherwise, the rhizome (fleshy, green stem root thingy) will rot = ammonia.

CO2 or ferts might not be necessary if you are careful with your plant choices. Show me a picture of your tropica fern, please. Many terrestrial ferns are sold as aquatics.

llj

 

[FISH-FRY]

For a new planted tank, it is best to start with the lights at about four hours. After it becomes established, start to increase the photoperiod up to around eight hours.

It looks to me as though you have diatoms, which will be triggered by low, persistent levels of ammonia. Are you injecting CO2 and adding ferts of any kind? The lighting you have is quite low, so you won`t be getting rapid plant growth that will keep algae suppressed. I suspect you may also be a little low on plant mass, too.

dave.

Thanks for responding so quickly to my question Dave.

Since I started out with 12 hours and just cut back to 10 hours, is cutting back to 4 hours going to be okay? I'm almost at 4 weeks with the tank.

I'm not doing any CO2 injection nor have I added fertilizers. I'm using Flourite as a substrate and didn't want to start with a jungle. I didn't want to get brighter lighting because my fish don't seem to like it much with the lights on. This is what I had prior to 3 days ago.

I got some Java Moss 3 days ago but it wasn't in the best shape because there was plenty of brown in it. It was the only store between two major cities I could find any. I'm hoping the green parts will grow out and then trim it. I got some Tropical Hornwort today and having it float about. I didn't add the bunch because I only picked out the greenest of the plant and it was just too much for the 16 gallon I have. This should grow fast and help out I believe. I also had about four Duckweed pieces make it into the bag and put them into the tank. I noticed some tiny freeloading snails in the bag and looked through the pieces I chose while trimming what I didn't like and did not see any more. I'm hoping I'm okay with it since I rinsed them out in a bucket and under running water. It was the first time buying plants at this shop. So far I've been snail free.

The first picture above with the bad leaf in my original post is now pretty much clean thanks to at least one of my Red Cherry Shrimp. I saw the large male on there last night munching away at the crud. Not sure who helped out because that was one large mess on there. I've also seen a couple of the other shrimp out today that were in hiding for a few days...maybe they helped.

These are the plants I have:
Anubias nana - 2
Amazon Sword - 1
Tropica Fern - 2
Wisteria - 1
Java Moss - 1
Tropical Hornwort - 1

I have not seen my ammonia go up, only my nitrites have been consistently at .5 for the past week. Water changes don't seem to be doing much to drop it.

 

[FISH-FRY]

Im not sure then, im pretty certain red algae is promoted in high ph levels, but i maybe wrong, how often do you do water changes?

Is the tank in direct sunlight?

Thank you for the pictures. As David Spencer said, these are diatoms, common in newly setup tanks or in tanks that have gone through a major clean-up or rescape. Caused by small ammonia build-up (non-toxic to fish at this point but enough to trigger the algae spores to multiply, if memory serves).

For the low light tank that you have, I would look into the cause of the ammonia build-up? You seem to be doing waterchanges, maybe something is decaying in there. How have you planted your anubias? They should be attached to rocks and wood, not buried in the substrate. Otherwise, the rhizome (fleshy, green stem root thingy) will rot = ammonia.

CO2 or ferts might not be necessary if you are careful with your plant choices. Show me a picture of your tropica fern, please. Many terrestrial ferns are sold as aquatics.

llj

Yes it's a new setup and almost 4 weeks this weekend. I have not seen ammonia spikes and will need to test some more to ensure this isn't the issue. I've been good with taking out leaves that are dying (few but mostly from the Wisteria) and trimming minimal browning (only on two leaves) on the Amazon sword.

These are the plants I have now:

Anubias nana - 2
Amazon Sword - 1
Tropica Fern - 2
Wisteria - 1
Java Moss - 1 (not in pictures yet)
Tropical Hornwort - 1 (not in pictures yet)


The Anubias and Tropica are not planted in the substrate.

Hope these help.

Thanks for the assistance.

 

[lljdma06]

The ammonia spikes would not register in a test kit. The levels are extremely small, not toxic to fish, but enough to trigger algae.

The fern looks fine. I've just always known tropica fern as java fern.

llj