Algae IS taking over and I'm at the end of my knowledge

Angel079

Either you only had brought leaf plants or only a few plants but wiping ALL mine down with a towel is not gonna be accomplished this year any more (assuming I'd still take breaks to allow for sleep)


So you also took the siesta approach...Right now, for today mine is blacked out and I think when I "restart" the tank after the 3 days of treatment I'll do that too then...

WisFish

I tried the bleach test with some plants. I think in my case either 2 minutes was too long or the solution was too strong. It did kill the algae but my test plants don't look so good.

Out of curiousity, what type of light does this tank have? # of bulbs and wattage; K rating. Sounds like you have the lights on for 10hrs. What type and size filter does this tank have? How often are you changing the water and how much do you change? What temp is the tank at? Can you take a picture of the entire tank and post it? You don't use ferts, correct? Just looking for anything or a combination of things that may be contributing to the problem.

Angel079

Ok...I just typed you a half pager reply & it vanished - Just my day really
So what I was saying...IF anything I'd only do the bleach dip half dosed for starters...but that would really only be my very last option before totally breaking the tank down and using it for target practice (it aggravates me just a *lil* right now)

I have 2x4ft fluorescent on it 32watts @5000k and 40W@ 6500K. They used to run 12hrs/day. Then I went down to 10hrs and today its blacked out.
Which I will prop after all dosing change to something like 6hrs on - 4hrs off - 6hrs on
Running a eheim 2213 (55g tank)
Well after the initial cycle I had to do 2 large w/c because of the ick meds & 5 dead cardinals. since then i done 1 normal one ~40% on scheudle (1xweek) and after the 3 days dosing is up I'll do another large one now incl filter disassembly & re positing bars)
Temp is 72-75F dep on room temp and light on/ off (since there's no fish in it no harm there)
I took algae close up's which are posted on page 1. Can't take no picture right now being blacked out, but I can post you a pic from before the "hardcore attach" below.
No I hadn't used ferts before. What I plan now after the 3 days dose is up & large w/c is done is use root tablets and liquid ferts to "jump start" the plants (hopefully)

And yes I'm convinced its a combo of murmurous reasons (well actually since the sick Cardinals NOTHING's gone right in this tank). I really think the ick meds triggered something that was a snowball chain reaction from there on and its driving me NUTS right now to obviously not being able to get a handle on this...

Attached Images

55g1-6dec.jpg (65.6 KB, 22 views)

stephanieleah

I have unintentionally used the "siesta" approach (because kids nap in the aquarium room for 2+ hours per day) so we have a 5-6 hour lights on, 3 hours off, 5-6 hours on. I don't know if this schedule fits the recommendation, but I have the same kind of algae growth you do (the brownish and the threads) despite the light pattern. And by the way I also had a ludwigia repens (i think that is the one in your first photo?) and i was never able to get the algae under control on that plant and ended up tossing it. I just started using the Seachem Flourish Excel that Byron suggested about two weeks ago...we'll see how it goes for the algae. I've been using it sparingly as to not disturb the environment of the tank too much. Not sure if this is undue diligence.

stephanieleah

and can i just say jeez what a beautiful planted tank you have???

Angel079

Why do you have to tell me this!? Please I hope NOT....Yes same plants

Yea Excel is ordered via mail here too (store here don't have no fancy stuff like that, now if I wanted a whole cow...other matter lol)

Angel079

Update this AM after yesterday's black out:
Slime algae is almost fully vanished on gravel
Staghorn algae is changing into what I can only describe as 'gray fluff' which for the sake of my headaches with this tank, I'm just gonna assume is a good thing

I'll still leave it blacked out today and either later tonight or tomorrow morning I will do a large w/c and dose with API again, as well as insert the root tab's and prop 1 day after that liquid fert's

Maybe there is hope after all....Gosh I hope so.....

Byron

I can't add much to what I've already suggested, but one interesting thing occurred with my cyanobacteria issue in my 70g that I will mention. Previously I said that when I have outbreaks of abnormal algae, I just ride it out, trying to ensure there is a balance between nutrients and light.

About 6 weeks ago cyanobacteria appeared in my 70g. Each week I spend an hour gently removing the slime from the plant leaves as best I can, then vacuuming the blobs off the gravel with the pwc. This is quite tiresome, with fine-leaf Wisteria and floating Ceratopteris plants; some of them were so bad I just chucked them out without trying. During the following week it comes back bit by bit, and I repeat the cleaning at the next pwc. It was so thick that very little light penetrated through it, all across the top of the tank and down all the plant stems and leaves.

Today is the day for the pwc (once a week). Last evening I was sitting in front of this tank and noticed the cyanobacteria is there but very minimally. It is no where near as heavy and thick as previous weeks, almost to the point of not being noticeable.

When this started, I reduced the light from 12 to 11 hours (on all three tanks actually), not very significant. I also reduced liquid fertilization from twice to once a week on the 70g. No other changes. These two things may or may not have had an impact. But I still think that letting these things run their course with minimal interference is preferable. It seems to have worked this time, as it has before with brush algae and hair algae. The balance may have been out a bit. As several authors have noted, with low-tech natural tanks one does have to be careful with the balance.

Byron.

Angel079

I am also (for obvious reasons this AM) certain that lowering light or even black out for 1-2 days has a significant impact on certain algae's.

Now how I can get to battle all the 3-4 diff types that have developed for me - I'm not sure yet - But I'm not a quitter neither (thou I do have my moments with this tank lol)

Angel079

Before the outbreak maybe...Thou I keep comparing it to my old tank and I find it "empty" because obviously the plants have no filled in and grown over yrs like my old one's and its been a long time since the 1st new tank set up with "little" plants.