# Micrasterias laticeps - How to Fight It ?



## macek.g (Oct 29, 2008)

Hello All

For a long time i had a problem with this algea I thought that i have cyano intill now , but no methods of fertilizing worked . some time a go , took a sample of the algea under the microscope and i found out on a bioligical forum thats it's Micrasterias laticeps now i don't know how to fight it . So far nothing worked .


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

LOL
According to these people it is theoretically immortal!
http://worldwidescience.org/topicpages/a/alga+micrasterias+denticulata.html


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## macek.g (Oct 29, 2008)

BruceF said:


> LOL
> According to these people it is theoretically immortal!


Great


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

If it's on your plants work on getting your plants to grow as robustly as they can. Once you've figured what's best for your tank do a massive trim, clean the filter well, and replant only the unaffected portions. It may not completely eliminate that alga, but this sort of husbandry should reduce it by quite a bit.


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## Darkcobra (Nov 23, 2009)

Interesting, I have not seen that before. Do you have a picture of it in your aquarium?

It's likely Algaefix will work against this. It can be very effective against other unicellular algae even at doses of 1/4th of what the bottle recommends. At this reduced dosage, there is virtually no risk to fish, and (I've been told) greatly reduced risk to inverts.

But I wouldn't be too hasty to kill it that way. Algae can teach, and you have a rare opportunity. I'd keep trying to control it through environmental factors, until I was sure I'd tried everything. Not sure what you have (or haven't) tried at this point.

Wikipedia says this about the desmids, of which your algae is a member:

_"Desmids possess characteristic crystals of Barium sulphate at either end of the cell which exhibit a continuous Brownian type motion."_

You don't hear too much about barium in aquariums.  And the amount it requires is probably quite miniscule, but perhaps it's worth looking into. Do you have any unusual rocks which might possibly supply this element? Well water, or unusual levels in tapwater as reported by the water company?


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## macek.g (Oct 29, 2008)

For this algea only no lighting and adding H2O2 those are the only ways i found that work against it for a short amount of time.


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## Darkcobra (Nov 23, 2009)

macek.g said:


> For this algea only no lighting and adding H2O2 those are the only ways i found that work against it for a short amount of time.


If by H2O2 you're referring to a whole-tank treatment (rather than spot), then that can be made more effective by providing high flow _in the aquarium but not in the filter media_ during the treatment. This is one of the techniques used in a more advanced treatment I developed, the "One-Two Punch":

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=203684

The method of H2O2 treatment described there can be separated and used on its own for algae which are susceptible to it, just be careful with the H2O2 dosage as there is a fine line which differs in individual tanks. If there is any question as to what is safe, then start small, observe the results for a few days, and work your way up if needed.

Whether the full treatment - including the Excel component - would be beneficial in your case is unknown. However, in general I would not count on it to totally purge this algae to the point where regrowth is prevented. So if H2O2 alone provides sufficient temporary control, then stick with that; and continue trying to extend the length of time between treatments using environmental factors, until you reach the goal of eliminating the need for treatments altogether.

Would still like pictures and whatever other details you can provide. You did say light and H2O2 were effective, but knowing _how_ these factors were used, and what things were tried that _didn't_ work, are nearly as important. We virtually have no info to go on, other than you have an exotic algae. The solution may be simple and overlooked, like adding a single otocinclus.  But there are so many possibilities like that, we cannot be expected to list them all, you must narrow the field for us.


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