# Cladophora - HELP



## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

So I realized I was getting an outbreak of some sort of algae on my glosso a few days ago, and since I noticed some bright green hairs.. and what appeared to be BBA, I did the works - 3 day blackout, 5x excel doses, and antibiotic treatment.. However, after today (which is the end of the 3 day blackout, the third day of excel, and the third day of antibiotics), I notice no change - in fact, it seems to have only gotten worse. And now my water is milky - I assume from the medication.. Since my initial guesses about which algae it is seem to be incorrect, I read on the site's Algaefinder and concluded that this algae is rather similar to Cladophora, as it attaches itself very stubbornly to my substrate and to my plants.. Sometimes invading to the roots of my glosso. What can I do to remove this algae problem permanently? My Otos don't touch the stuff at all.

Tank specs:
29 Gallons
2x55 AHS Bright Kit (3.23 WPG)
Carbo Plus CO2 Unit
Seachem (All ferts)
Rena Smart Filter/Heater
DENSELY planted


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Are you dosing the excel directly on the algae with a syringe or dropper? I've done that with clado and after a couple/few days it discolored and started dieing so it was easier to remove. I kept up on the dosing and removal until it was gone, but I had to fix the cause first (I had too much light coming in from the window the tank was in front of so I closed the blinds - problem solved). Trying to discover the cause of the outbreak can be the hardest thing to figure out, dosing Excel and manual removal just keep it from overtaking the tank.


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

I dosed excel for about 2 weeks since the clado had taken over the entire foreground. I also uprooted the micro sword grass, cleaned out the clado infested grass, and replanted. Once the grass grew too thick for the clado to get light, the clado died back and I haven't had it over take the tank again. Also, I noticed that my angels eat the stuff occasionally. I thought they were going for the shrimp, but when I looked closer the angel had a big wad of clado in its mouth and was swallowing it.


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## bgzbgz (Jul 6, 2007)

When I had a bba outbreak recently I overdosed my tank with excel. It turned the bba hot pink and it killed the little clado I had dead lol. I kinda liked the clado though it was like I had a bunch of little marimo balls in my tank.

The thing about excel is it will kill algae if u use enouph of it. Unfortunatly this might be too much for some plants and many fish. Another thing about it is it doesnt work instantly, it took a few days before my bba turned pink and the clado turned whitish.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

You already know by now but you did a few things wrong in trying to eliminate the algae 

1) Blackouts are only effective against Blue Green Algae (BGA) and sometimes Green Water. Most every other type of algae I have encountered I (which is probably about every type by now) will survive a 3-4 day blackout. A "real" blackout involves placing garbage bags or some other item that light will not pass though over the tank. Most people also add a quilt or large blanket over top of the first layer. I'm not saying you are one of the following people but a lot of people think turning off the lights is a blackout 

2) Antibiotics, namely erythromycin, are only effective against BGA.

3) Excel is another story. When dosed at double to triple the recomended dosage ( I use 30-45ml daily in my 75g tank when I need to fight off algae), it is very effective against most types of algae. As stated, BBA will begin to turn pinkish in color between days 3-5. Most types of green algae (Clado, Fuzz, Green Thread, etc) are pretty susceptible to Excel over dosage and begin to loose their color in about the same time frame. I have found that most algae will require a 7-10 day treatment period with Excel to be eliminated from the tank. Spot treating can speed up the removal of the algae but it takes a bit more work than dumping Excel into the tank.

The most effective remedy for algae is to learn what causes it in the first place and eliminate that trigger. This is usually an insufficient amount of fertilizers, including CO2, for the light level of the tank. In your case, I don't think the Carbo Plus unit can keep up with the amount of light on your tank. Compact fluorescent lights are more intense then regular fluroescents and the AHS reflectors get a lot of light into the tank.

To eliminate future recurrences of algae I would either:

1) remove one of the lights from your canopy or only have it on for a couple of hours each day

2) I would either supplement some Excel daily (normal dosage) along with your Carbo Plus kit or I would invest in a pressurized system. I think your tank needs more carbon, unless you are not supplying enough Seachem fertilizers for the tank.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Drop your lighting down to 1x55/65w and your problems will be solved. A 29g tank does not need that much light...it just strains your plants and grows algae.


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