# Fuzzy Algae gone Wild - w/ pics



## scitz (Mar 16, 2004)

OK. This tank has been up and running for over a year now. I had let the rotala completely cover the top (think Mushroom Cloud tank) for about 2 months. 2 weeks ago or so I pulled all that out, kept some nice sections of the rotala, replanted them, added some java fern to the tank and got this aquascape (needs tweaking):









I have noticed a fuzzy hair like algae slowly taking over the plants. Here are some pics:


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## Hidronium (May 10, 2005)

Never seen anything like it.

However I am not surprised given the empty bottles of commercial fertilizer infront of the acuarium 

At the moment it is sparsly planted, with more plants (biomas terms) I do not think you would get algae.

By the way, what is your pH?


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## scitz (Mar 16, 2004)

Tank Info [all Aquarium Pharm test kits]:

10g Tank
36w Coralife PC fixture with a 6,700K bulb.
78 degrees F
pH: 7.5
KH: 9
NO2: undetectable
No3: 5ppm
NH3: undetectable
CO2: DIY from the Hagen kit. 1 bubble every 2 seconds straight into the filter [AC150] intake.Wish the canister was a bit bigger

Currently not dosing anything at all. Water is well water from central PA, I usually top off evaporation with walmart purple cap distilled water. I sometimes will mix 50-50 well water with distilled water when doing water changes. Depends on how much I have left at the house when I'm in a water changing mood. I usually do a 50% water change weekly or biweekly.

Current tank inhabitants are 2 small <1" panda corys and a 3" bamboo/singapore/wood shrimp. The quarantined corys brought mouth rot to the tank ~1 month ago and wiped out my 3 oto's and 3 apisto. juruensis who were doing fine in that tank for the past 4 months prior.

Plant wise I have some java fern, anubias nana 'petite', anubias coffeifolia, 2-3 types of crypts (assorted lot) and a bit of rotala indica left.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

A couple of items jump out at me. First you have a lot of light there 3.6wpg. According to your kh and pH, your CO2 is less than 9ppm. That much light, you better get more CO2 in there, or at least some Excel.

You mention that:


> Currently not dosing anything at all.


 Again, with that much light, you better be dosing something. How're your phosphates, do you add any micros? It sounds like you recently did a major prune/uprooting. This probably set the very tenuous (I say tenuous due to the high light/low nutrients) balance you had in the tank off.

I would suggest trying to increase your CO2 and seriously re-consider your fert regimen.

HTH. Good luck.


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Prune off all the algae you can, add 3x more plants, add 3x as much CO2 and dose:

1/8 teaspoon 2x a week of KNO3, about 1/2 a rice grain's worth of KH2PO4 2x a week, 2 mls of traces 2-3x a week.

50% weekly water changes, feed fish well, add some Amano shrimp(like 6-12).

Keep up on things.

Regards, 
Tom Barr

3rd annual Plant Fest July 8-14th 2005!
[email protected] Get connected
www.BarrReport.com Get the information


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## scitz (Mar 16, 2004)

KH2PO4 isn't Potash is it? I don't think it is, but all the raw chemicals I have are liquid chelated trace mix, Potassium Nitrate and Potash (chemical formula eludes me atm).

I plan on adding the legs to my lighting fixture which will raise it about 3 inches over the tank, cutting down a bit on the light intensity. I am also trying to get the owner of the lfs I work for to order me some Amano or cherry shrimp, so hopefully I will have those guys soon.

I plan to just cut down all the crypt leaves as they all look horrible and beyond saving.
I am going to grab some hygro until I get things more under control.

This weekend I will try to get a really good seal on my gallon jug co2 reactor. I had been having some problems keeping the brass barb from developing leaks here recently and just bought one of those hagen jobs. Solid design, much to small. Needs to be the size of say an Eheim 2213 or so.


First 2 12 hour days, close last night, opened this morning, no real sleep in sight. I hope this made sense. Your assistance is greatly welcomed.


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Scitz,

Looks like Black Beard or Brush Algae (Red Algae). Tough stuff to get rid of it. You need to increase your CO2 and get a school of SAEs in there. You should trim the older leaves to remove some of the stuff too.

Check this post out: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=77 .

Good luck. Be sure to tell us how it's going.


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## scitz (Mar 16, 2004)

Ok, whacked off all the 'fuzzy' leaves. Grabbing some hygro and maybe some ludwigia tomorrow to fill the whole right side of the tank. Going to start dosing some ferts as per Tom's advice. 

Tom, you didnt mention dosing any traces, should I wait until the algae is gone and the tank moves towards a better balance before adding any? I noticed today that the crypts and anubias I have were starting to yellow. The anubias were yellowing the half of the leave farthest from the stem and the crypts were getting a more uniform yellow tint.

Edit: Tom, nevermind, saw you said add traces. Long long days. picked up about 4 bunches of Sunset Hygro, 12 amano's are coming in soon.


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## josh (May 1, 2005)

I just pruned my whole 46g tank and added 5 new species of plants to help combat this red algae. Have been doing the excel thing and it seems to have worked I noticed today that the algae has turned pinkish-red on my java fern (most was choped yesterday but a few leaves made it through) so I am hoping that this is a good sign.


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