# Green Spot Algae Treatment Suggestions



## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

I have a 40 gallon tank that was overrun with just about all kinds of algae imaginable. 

Substrate: Schultz Aquatic Soil and Fluorite Mixtue
Pressurized C02: 30 PPM as measure with drop checker
Filter: Overflowfilter + Hagen Submersible for added circulation and UV sterilizer.
Plants: Jam packed with plants, cardamine for floaters(15-20% surface area), rotala indica, hygrophilia polysperma, ton of java ferns, anubias.
Lighting: AH Supply 2 55 Watt bright kit with split photoperiod of a total of 8 hours.
Fish: 3 black skirt tetras, Siamese Algae Eater, Albino Bristlenose Pleco, Oto, Giant Zebra Danio, a whitecloud minnow, and 2 Kribensis.
Fertilization: EI for 40 gallon dosing scheme with 50% weekly water changes.

After a 3 month fierece battle which the algae which included, manual removal, increased water changes, tweaking of ferts, monkeying around with photoperiod and even lighting intensity, adding floaters, 2x dosing with excel, and adding algae eaters. The tank appears to be heading towards a balance and is finally on its road to recovery with the the exception of the nusiance Green Spot Algae on the glass. I know I could scrape the Green Spot Algae off with a credit card, but I am afraid to do this. The tank is 9 years old and as weird as it sounds I am scared that if scrape real hard with a credit card to remove the GSA I could inadvertently loosen the old silicone which could lead to a major leak. The tank was custom made by the person I bought it from and I think it may be nearing its lifecycle and I don't want to do anything to speed up the process.

I have heard that spot treatment with a phosphate solution could help with GSA, but no one seems to know the proper amount to mix in a solution of water. Any ideas??

I have read that a nerite snail is known to clean GSA. The problem is my tank does not have a tight fitting lid and the snail will likey escape and end up in my overflow filter media.

One more thing, my P04 calibrated test kit indicates that both my tap and aquarium water have phosphate levels of 5+. I know the tap water is treated with the orthophosphate form of the phosphates, but if I understand correctly plants will also readily utilize this form of phosphates. So, this really puzzles me as it is difficult to explain this being caused by a phosphate deficiency. That leaves c02. I thought that with the circulation being provided by the filters that the c02 drop checker reading of 30 ppm would be pretty accurate. The last thing I want to do is mess with the bubble count or increas c02 levels. The last time I did this, I killed my elderly Siamese Alagae eater due to c02 poisoning and just about all my other fish. I could leave the c02 on 24/7 but am not sure what effect this would have on my fish.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks.


----------



## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

If you're too scared to scrape the glass with a credit card because the tank is old then you have no business even putting water in it. The pressure the water is putting on the glass is much more than you're going to use scraping off some algae.


----------



## ken05salmon (Feb 1, 2007)

Hi Homer:
Not sure if this will help, but some of my algae experiences may apply. First of all, we set up a 90 gal. tank little more than a year ago, substrate was just typical aquarium gravel. Plants would not grow, so added laterite plus some garden soil (thanks to D. Walstad's book) and pretty much "Stuff" took off. Built my own (AH supply) hood for lighting (4X 55 watt bulbs, 2 were of the 6700 variety, and 2 of the higher output). Well, in short time, plants taking off, then water started looking like "green Jello." D. Walstad recommended in book 4 things:
1) blocking all light that may penetrate the back of the tank (adding background, painting, etc.)
2) applying a tape to base of tank on remaining sides- this covers the sides of tank and prevents sunlight getting to substrate.
3) adding charcoal to filter.
4) reduction of lighting, especially the more "full light" type bulbs and replace with "Cool white" type bulbs. 
I had taken the above steps and indeed, did help, but took some time. I also did find that some plants seemed to be better at limiting algae growth and believe I had good luck with Myria, am thinking this was called "Green Myria?" I also understand the Hornwort is in the same family and may be helpful. Now, as to "Scraping," just my $ .02 but think you'd be OK on any flat surfaces with scraping. And in corners, (where silicone is present) I've used a corse type sponge with light pressure and have not incurred any tank damage. 
Good luck....


----------



## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

ken05salmon said:


> Hi Homer:
> Not sure if this will help, but some of my algae experiences may apply. First of all, we set up a 90 gal. tank little more than a year ago, substrate was just typical aquarium gravel. Plants would not grow, so added laterite plus some garden soil (thanks to D. Walstad's book) and pretty much "Stuff" took off. Built my own (AH supply) hood for lighting (4X 55 watt bulbs, 2 were of the 6700 variety, and 2 of the higher output). Well, in short time, plants taking off, then water started looking like "green Jello." D. Walstad recommended in book 4 things:
> 1) blocking all light that may penetrate the back of the tank (adding background, painting, etc.)
> 2) applying a tape to base of tank on remaining sides- this covers the sides of tank and prevents sunlight getting to substrate.
> ...


Many thanks for those excellent suggestions Ken05salmon. Despite the green spot algae, the tank has really made a remarkable recovery from all types of algae. When I have a chance, I will post after pictures. Below are before pictures. The massive algae bloom situation persisted for months and I was ready to tear the tank down and start over. A combination of Diana Walstead El Naturalist follower recommendations combined with Tom Barr recommendations made a huge difference in eliminating 93% of the algae. Although initially critical of Tom Barr, I am gaining more and more respect for the man as I am beginning to witness most of what he says to actually work. These included: reducing photoperiod, increasing water changes and filter cleaning to 2x/week, manually removing as much algae as possible and trimming what could not be saved, EI fertilization for 40 gallon, increasing cardamine(floating plant) to cover 10-15% of the tank's surface, dosing excel at 2-3X the recommended dose daily, and introducing an oto, albino bristlenose pleco, and Siamese Algae Eater that worked 24/7(around the clock) to clean up the most stubborn of the algae. Now, all that is really left is the green spot algae on the glass and isolated spots of diatom algae(very minor).

The tank no longer looks like this, but this is a shot of the tank when it was in the worst shape ever. You can only see green dust algae in the shots, but if you could have seen the insides it was a real dog's breakfast too with everything from diatoms, to thread algae, and even black brush algae.


----------

