alexyay Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 I'm upgrading one of my tanks to a 220L and want to do a dip on my plants which have both BBA and another type of delightful algae which is black looks a bit like staghorn and the texture reminds me of iron wool. From what I've read these are both CO2 fluctuation/low level based but am yet to get a CO2 unit so am dosing Excel (not as regularly as I should be). (New algae above) I was wondering what I should be dipping them in which is safe for "sensitive" plants like crypts but will kill the algae - something like H2O2 or Excel? Also I'm having algae troubles on one of my tanks and it's getting pretty frustrating The tank is 55L, with the double T8 Aqua Zonic unit. I'm dosing Excel and Brightwell Multi (multi about once a week). Quite a low bioload - 3 Australe killies and 7 hara catfish. The tank has been established for at least a couple of months, now. It's currently suffering BBA and cyanobacteria. I've now changed the lighting to have a 2-hour break in the photoperiod, and will change the "super pink" tube to a 6500K-ish tube (have read cyano thrives under warmer tones). I will "eventually" use CO2 units on my 120L and new 220L that are suffering BBA but I'm not that keen on starting it up on such a low-light tank. I've upped the flow and attempted to get it flowing around the areas on cyano but can't do much as the fish prefer the lower flow. Any ideas as to what might be causing the cyano and BBA to be thriving? Any further things I can do to reduce the algae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 There is a detailed article in one of the digital Aquarium Worlds on getting rid of algae and information on how long to dip for. Cyano thrives in dead spots in the tank so if you can get a better flow it should stay away once you siphon out whats there. Its a bacteria not an algae and you can dose with antibiotics to get rid of it. Excel is supposed to be dosed daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 A combination of a black out, increased flow, co2 and nitrate seems to have delt with my cyano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Crypts won't survive dipping in anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 They will survive but they will probably loose their leaves then regrow them. When crypts are imported they usually only have one or two leaves in order to identify them. They have usually been grown emersed and will lose their leaves when submersed. The plant is still viable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 when my crypts have melted they usually come back smaller and take a long time to regain their former glory, hence my opinion that it's too risky with crypts, easier to cut off the leaves that have algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 When I had a massive melt in my tank around christmas due to prolonged and heavy use of a mix of antibiotics the only plants that did not melt were my crypts and anubias. My crypts do seem to be pretty tolerant of most things, including being moved from tank to tank. I haven't dipped them simply because I don't want the hassle of pulling and replanting but I may yet do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted June 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 A combination of a black out, increased flow, co2 and nitrate seems to have delt with my cyano Higher or lower nitrates? Nitrates are pretty low in that tank. Am doing a "semi" 3-day blackout (not completely covering the tank so it's still slightly lit by the ones around it) to see whether it slows down the growth. They're only T8s so I don't plan on doing CO2 but I guess I maybe could set up my little DIY Nutrafin CO2 kit and see whether that makes a difference (no idea what rates to "dose" for a tank < 70L though). Unfortunately it's not so much the crypt leaves with the algae but the stems (works its way up to the leaves) - the BBA is actually pretty easy to remove from the leaves. You don't think they'd handle an Excel dip? I mean, I can just leave them, but I'd rather remove as much as possible as I move everything over to the new tank (which won't be getting CO2 for some time yet). I don't mind them melting too much but these ones are small and still establishing so I'll do most of what I can to reduce melting (new tank will keep the same lights etc so not too much of an issue there - I find crypts don't like the lights changing and time out of water). I've been trying to do Excel daily but I'm pretty slack and forget it - which of course just makes things worse. Hence why I was wondering whether there was any more low-maintenance options. Sorry, but do you know what issue of the Aquarium World it is? There doesn't seem to be much in the way of a clear index of issues available D: I see some TM sellers saying they "sterilize" their plants before shipping - I'd like to do the same but not sure what to do it with especially around sensitive plants. Ideally you would have an algae-free setup and snail-free setup, but I'm only growing mine casually and am yet to do a "commercial" planted setup. Edit: I'm still getting a lot of brown diatomic algae in every tank (even ones established for 3+ months, and Dad's tank which has been established for years but was moved around February). Are there any ways to remove Silicates (because of the varying conditions in my tanks, I'm guessing it could have something to do with the silicates in my water - water company is yet to get back to me on any average levels though) other than Seachem's product which removes phosphates at the same time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Increase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted June 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Increase Just an excuse to increase stock :gigl: Need 2 more killies, but not sure what else to add after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Theres only been 3 digital AW and it wasn't the last one so either aug or nov which came out in Dec. Sterilising plants generally means they dip them in a potassium permanganate solution. Read this though - its interesting http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=23536 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.