PeteInEssex

I've been using Tom Barr's EI dosing regime since Aug 1st.
Plants are growing like crazy, as is the algae!!

I think I have 3 types -
Green Dust Algae - on most of the glass and plants, which I believe has a 2-3 week life-cycle, so I'm not going to scrape off any more algae for 2-3 weeks and hopefully that'll be gone.

Not sure about the other types - I think one could be Oedogonium (hair-like growth on plant leaves and starts to appear on the glass as a 5-10mm thread a couple of hours after cleaning the glass) and the other stuff is like a very dark green fur that grows slowly on some leaves, every bit of driftwood and rock.

See pic.

Any suggestions as to how to get rid of these please...

Thanks
Pete

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trenac

I would say that is black beard algae (BBA). Make sure that you are keeping the C02 injection at a steady 30ppm.

MatPat

Hey Pete,

What is your lighting level and are you using CO2? YOu say you have been using EI since August 1st, is this a new tank setup or just a change in your fert regime?

If you are having an algae issue you are more than likely deficient on something and CO2 is the first thing to check, assuming you are using it. Follow that by verifying that your NO3 and PO4 levels are in the correct range. If you are following EI they should be fine.

I have had luck with Green Dust Algae by simply reducing the photoperiod for a few hours. For everything else, a thorough cleaning and pruning will be needed to rid the algae from your tank.

PeteInEssex

Hi Matt - thanks for the reply. and I think Trenac has it right about the BBA.

I'm using 3 x 36w triton flouros 12 hrs/day
2 x 150W metal halide 6,500k 9hrs/day

Pressurised CO2 dropping the pH from around 7.0 to 6.4 whilst the MH lamps are on. Tap water here is nearly 8.0, so even with the CO2 off there's still about 1 pH worth of CO2 left in the water from the previous day prior to the CO2 coming on.

I'm losing some CO2 at the reactor base, so I have another on order which should be here tomorrow.

The (100 UK gall.) tank has been in-place for near-on 20yrs. A few months ago it had old tank syndrome so I chucked the UGF's, put in an Eheim 2329 bio filter to compliment the eheim 2217 and put in the MH lamps.
I started the EI regeime using Nutri-Calc on 1st august.
Plant growth was generally amazing, but then the algae kicked-in and is taking over

Best wishes
Pete

MatPat

If you have BBA then I would say your CO2 levels are lower than you think they are! Try increasing your CO2 levels a bit more. Use the fish as your test kit, they don't lie like a test kit will.

When you will be around to watch the fish, slowly increase the CO2 until they apprear to be stressed (hovering or gasping at the surface) then turn it down a little. This will give you the max level of CO2 your fish can tolerate and should keep the BBA away.

You will still need to manually remove the BBA that is in the tank but this is always a good excuse to rescape the tank anyway

PeteInEssex

Thanks Matt - I think I'm near the limit for CO2 - I've taken it down to 6.3 at which point the fish were almost motionless, the gourami were all at the top, not gasping, but just hovering below the surface, and the parrot fish was nose-down at the bottom for several hours. I trimmed the pH back to 6.45 and they recovered, so I don't think I can get more CO2 in.

I'm currently letting the GDA go through its life-cycle so can't even see in the tank to assess the BBA for the time being as there's so much GDA on the glass.
Once the GDA is taken care of - hopefully within a couple of weeks, I'll be able to see what's going on the the BBA. Then I'll get in there and remove as much as I can.

Best wishes
Pete

Intros

Pete, what about Oedogonium invasion, because in the picture above is clear that except the dark green algae identified as BBA, on the leaf in the left side there are some fuzz algae, most probably Oedogonium. I'm asking because I have myself some problems with this algae and for the moment no advice related for the title of this topic.

PeteInEssex

Hi Intros - I haven't has any replies yet as to how to get rid of the stuff.
I posted a couple of times on Barr Report - powered by vBulletin also, but didn't get any advice specific to this algae.

I can't see in the tank at the moment as the GDA has covered the glass so thickly. When that begins to die off I'll be able to see what's happening.
I don't know if Oedogonium has a life-cycle, but I should find out in a week or so.

Best wishes
Pete

PeteInEssex

Here's pic of the GDA after 8 days..

Pete

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