# Thickest suffocating algae I have seen



## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

I have been vacuuming out this algae every couple of days but it just keeps growing back fast. I am not actually sure what it is, I looked at the algaefinder and think it may be hair algae. But I don't know much about algae types, it could also be red beard algae. Could someone identify it for me? Thanks.

Here is a picture of it: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r169/Caribe13/IMG_4423.jpg
it actually vacuums up really easily but sometimes the algae that is on the gravel will bring attached pieces of gravel up with it when I vacuum.

I am getting flooring reinstalled in my house after flooding from a broken pipe, so I have to wait to get more fish since I don't want to have to worry about more fish until after I'm done moving the tank around(that way there will be less stressed out fish). I was wondering though, do you think SAE will eat this? If so I will buy a bunch once my house is less chaotic. What about otocinclus?


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Try a search for grey slime. I believe Guiac_boy had something similar in his 180g when he set it up. There should be a big thread on his tank setup too.

Oh yeah, I don't think SAE or Ottos will touch this stuff.


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

Oh yeah, here is some info about my tank:
-100 gallon
-4 65 watt power compacts (2 are 6500K the other 2 are 10000K)
-2 soda bottles of yeast sugar (just started this less than 2 weeks ago in an effort to get rid of the algae)
-I dose the Tetra Florapride at a half dose. I do this to avoid algae problems associated with overly nutrient rich water, and I'm not sure if this underfertilizing is part of the problem. I don't know the phosphate levels in my tap but the ferts dont contain phosphates or nitrates.
-I use flourite substrate gravel
-I have two 400gph canister filters running. They dont cause much current though. One is Fluval and the other is a Catalina.
-Right now I only have two ottos, an angelfish, and a peppered cory. Going to give the cory and ottos some buddies once my flooring is done and the tank is ready to stay put.
-The PH is 8.1 out of the tap, drops to 7.8 once in my tank for a while, put now stays at 6.9 after the CO2 addition.


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

MatPat said:


> Try a search for grey slime. I believe Guiac_boy had something similar in his 180g when he set it up. There should be a big thread on his tank setup too.
> 
> Oh yeah, I don't think SAE or Ottos will touch this stuff.


Yeah it doesn't seem like my two ottos eat it when I watch, but they might be. The weird thing is, my angelfish actually eats it a lot. It will yank it off plants and suck up big strands of it (the angelfish is really small right now). It makes me think that maybe if I put a bunch of guppies they may like it too.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Since you are using DIY CO2 on such a large tank I would double your 2L bottles and stagger their start times. i.e. start 2 bottles one week and then start 2 bottles the next week. Inconsistent CO2 is a major contributor to algae. Add to that the fact that you aren't dosing any NO3 or PO4 and you have a great recipe for algae  Plants need NO3 and PO4 to grow...without it they stop growing and the algae take over.

Try reading this article by Bert H. It should be a big help ;-)


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

MatPat said:


> Since you are using DIY CO2 on such a large tank I would double your 2L bottles and stagger their start times. i.e. start 2 bottles one week and then start 2 bottles the next week. Inconsistent CO2 is a major contributor to algae. Add to that the fact that you aren't dosing any NO3 or PO4 and you have a great recipe for algae  Plants need NO3 and PO4 to grow...without it they stop growing and the algae take over.
> 
> Try reading this article by Bert H. It should be a big help ;-)


Yeah, I think that is the concept problem I am having. Nitrates and phosphates can cause algae yet not having enough can also cause algae. So I never know if its because my nitrates and phosphates are too high or too low. Where can I get a test kit that tests nitrates phosphates KH and various fert levels (iron, potassium). The only one I could find at my lfs was one for the nitrogen cycle and GH.


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

I get that kind of algae in most of my newly setup tanks before I get my levels right. I don't know what it is but black mollies eat it. Also, it seems to disappear almost over night once you get things straightened up.


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

NoSvOrAx said:


> I get that kind of algae in most of my newly setup tanks before I get my levels right. I don't know what it is but black mollies eat it. Also, it seems to disappear almost over night once you get things straightened up.


Can black mollies live ok without any salt? I don't want to add any salt to my planted tank.


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

I've got several generations of mollies all born in my salt free tanks. They seem to do fine. They breed like crazy and I can't seem to kill the fry...  I don't think my LFS is going to take anymore of them from me.


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## sayshrimp (Nov 5, 2007)

Endler's eat it as well. haahahah


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

sayshrimp said:


> Endler's eat it as well. haahahah


Really? Would guppies eat it too then? My angelfish eats it but I'd like to have some livebearers in the tank(and I want to get rid of the angel so they can breed without such a good predator around)
I haven't seen any endlers in any of my LFS but I have heard a lot about them. They are very similiar to guppies right? (I think they can even breed together as far as I remember)


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Guppies would eat it , too. So would snails.


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## Uncle Rico (Oct 22, 2007)

Does anyone know whether this algae can be caused by an excess of nutrients instead of too little. I think that I may not have enough plants so there is an excess of nutrients in the water for the algae. When I looked at the pinned topic, it realized that my tank is only lightly planted. I hear stem plants help solve this problem of algae because they are fast growing. Does stem plants mean that they contain no roots?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Stem plants are those that can be pruned and the cutoff stem replanted, where new roots grow. The reason for using lots of plants from the beginning is not to consume the fertilizers you add, but to consume any ammonia that is generated in the tank - fish waste, rotting plants, rotting food, etc. It is that ammonia, in very small amounts, that can cause algae to begin to grow.


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