tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 We have 3 tropical tanks, each with 1 or 2 amazon swords. All of the plants are being attacked by algae. I have taken off all the affected leaves and am not left with many now to be honest All 3 tanks are out of direct sunlight, are not over populated, and are kept pretty clean. The algae also sticks to the glass sometimes, as well as ornaments, and pipes for air pump etc. The ironic thing is I have lots of bristlenose catfish (aka algae eaters) but they are not doing their job! I have one flying fox in one of the tanks which I bought a few years ago to cure an algae problem and worked (I had 3 at the time), any ideas what I can do this time? I have snails so not keen for any product that could harm them. I don't overfeed either as we only feed 3 times per week. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 we need a pic of the algae. and bn's are pretty useless at eating algae. young ones eat it ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 There is very little algae in our bristlenose breeding tank compared to the other two tanks, so I guess the young ones will eat it. Here are some pics of the algae ridden leaves I removed earlier today: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie841 Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Did it look like this in the tank? http://www.petturtlesandmore.com/wp-con ... 0501-1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 No, I've had that type of algae before and thats what the flying foxes cured. This stuff is not so stringy, it is more like a carpet if that makes any sense. Thick and close together, about 1mm in length. It seems to love to cover anything - plants, rocks, plastic ornaments, plastic piping, the filter, glass! I'll try and take a pic of it in the tank but my tank photos are always pretty bad, maybe I'll get lucky this time though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 I have attempted to take a photo of the algae in the tank and I've found it very hard once again to take a decent pic, must be a combination of a rubbish camera and poor photographic skills! This was the best of the bunch: You can see it growing in particular on the plastic castle. Any idea what type of algae it is and how I can get rid of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Looks like Black Beard Algae to me... Can you get a pic of it in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Oh and a better description of it would be moss like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Looks like Black Beard Algae to me... I'd say BBA too. Just scrub what you can, excel the stuff you can't. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Ahhh... same post time! It is BBA - you can take the ornaments out and scrub them with a tooth brush, plants are more difficult. I got rid of mine by shock dosing Flourish Excel and adding C02 to the tank (std 2footer) then doing regular water changes. Beware the overdosing of Flourish though, it can be detrimental to some fish, particularly cories, discus and some loaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Thanks. I will scrub the ornaments tomorrow, the plants I have removed nearly all the leaves with algae. The glass of the tank I scrub but the spores then end up floating around the tank, yuk. How much roughly is the flourish excel? I have 3 loaches in my main tank I do not want to harm, they are beautiful, unusual and were very expensive! If I stick to the recommended dose do you think the loaches will be ok? The loaches survived an ammonia incident I had several months ago, silver dollars didn't (now have 3 new ones). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 about $20 for 500ml... it'll be more than enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Any chance of putting the loaches in another tank or floating them in the main tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 How long would I need to float them for? I do have 3 tanks but one is too small, the other is a breeding so I'm not so keen to put them in there. Maybe I could set up a 4th temporarily... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Float them until the excel kills the algae and you are no longer dosing it. Be sure to do a large water change before putting them back in. You could risk just leaving them in but being so unusual and beautiful I wouldn't take my chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 It should take about 2-3 days for it to die.... i dont think it should take more than 5 at max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 float a loach in a tank for a couple of days, maybe more??? really? :roll: far out... don't do that... you are better off taking the stuff out of the tank and treating it. what loaches are they? Use a syringe to put flourish on the 'hot spots'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 the loaches are botia angelicus, there's not a great selection of fish around here so they were a find! i'll see if i can find the flourish over the next couple of days and if so probably move the loaches to the small tank, its about the size of display tanks in pet shops so should be ok for a few days. i only have 3 of them. i'll start scrubbing tomorrrow though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 If you begin a low dose of Excel and then slowly increase the dose over a couple of days you shouldn't have a problem. The main ingredient in Excel is actually used as a fish antiseptic/antiparasitic medication. I have absolutely no problem when I use 1 ml per 14 litres of tank water (that's a slightly higher than normal dose but the fish, including loaches and catfish honestly show no stress whatsoever). You can try that dose every day for 10 days and it should do the trick. Keep in mind, while you may kill the algae it may still need to be wiped away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 they will be fine even in a small tank for quite a while. kubotai loaches are order-able through shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 IME just applying flourish excel in single treatments doesn't solve the problem as it will return. Daily dosing is the best way to keep it in check. Just use the single dose rate and the algae will slow disappear. Stop the dosing and it will eventually return. I have 3 SAE in the tank and they only nibble on it, there is no way they can control it by themselves. With flourish excel the larger the amount you purchase the cheaper it seems to work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 i think the algae problem has become a lot more obvious since we moved from a rural house on tank water, to town. i've thought about it overnight and will move loaches to the breeding tank that is large, the fish in there have not bred yet, loaches will be happier. they sell for $36 here so a lot. i wouldn't be so concerned doing a small dose if the algae disappers, in order to keep it at bay. lets hope the sell the flourish around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 The flourish excel is an available form of carbon for your plants and helps with plant growth. This helps to reduce the nutrient available to the algae and starves it. It also has an algaecidal effect which they don't advertise. At normal doses it is usually safe particularly if you increase it slowly. Most algae thrives on an imbalance of phosphate over nitrate and the phospate usually becomes excessive through overfeeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted March 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 thanks for explaining it. i have some flourish excel that i bought today. my plan is to remove the ornaments and scrub them to then return to the tank. i will also move my loaches to my breeding tank which will i will add flourish to at a later time. i will also do the same for my very small tank which just has guppies and a couple of baby bristlenoses. are there any other fish i should remove at the same time? i have silver dollars, a flying fox, guppies, a siamese fighter, bristlenose - normal ones and golden, the 3 botia angelicus loaches, neons, and i almost forgot but i have a khuili loach (a worm like loach). should i remove every leaf from the amazon sword that has any evidence of algae? and initially should i add just the recommended dose of flourish? i did a water change yesterday of about 40%, it says to initially add 1 capful per 40L, so that would be 3-4 capfuls for my big tank (I think it is 160L), and probably 1 for the small tank (approx 35-40L). does that sound about right? then it says every day or two to add 1 capful per 200L, so that would be 1/4 capful for the little tank, and 3/4 capful for the big tank. do my calculations sound safe for the fish, or should I be doing it more gradually? when should my next water change be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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