[Red_Rose]

I wouldn't want to take the chance of adding other types of fish to the tank because of my betta. He's very territorial and mean and I know that a fish would end up getting hurt or even killed by him.

Since I last posted, the amount of algae on the stem plants has lessened.*knocks on wood* I keep getting in there to remove it and today I'll be getting some new floating plants so I can remove the Riccia.

Thanks.
That's my Riccia. I placed small clumps of it in between my Java fern leaves when I set it up and it's grown into those 'rounded lumps'. Every couple of months I have to remove it as it grows huge. I have a mere 11W overhead light on it. I sell the lumps to my local club.
I also have a bit growing on top of my filter outlet, Riccia turns a different shape leaf which looks rather nice when it's just out of the water. You can see this here - Riccia pics (Those are of my 250L tank with Riccia in it).

I also like the way the Frogbit grows its roots down so it touches the substrate.

I never would've thought to put some in between java fern leaves! That looks so nice and I can't believe at how different it looks above water.

 

[SvenBoogie]

I've been having a huge green hair/brush algae issue in my work 10g, so I bought about 10 amanos and ordered some excel. The excel just came yesterday, dosed initial dose today and planning on trying 2ml/day. Will post the results once I see if this is working.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi SvenBoogie,

Excell has done wonders for me dealing with algae issues, but it does not solve the underlying cause. I don't know what you are doing for light (watts, duration, etc) but you may want to rethink your photoperiod and cut it back some. I usually have problems with hair algae if I am providing too much light or too long a photoperiod.

 

[SvenBoogie]

Hi SvenBoogie,

Excell has done wonders for me dealing with algae issues, but it does not solve the underlying cause. I don't know what you are doing for light (watts, duration, etc) but you may want to rethink your photoperiod and cut it back some. I usually have problems with hair algae if I am providing too much light or too long a photoperiod.

Thanks, yeah I actually cut my light back today from 2 x 26w spiral CF to 2 x 18w spiral CF.

I suggest "Algae control" as the topic for the next GSAS meeting! :biggrin:

Day after initial treatment (5ml/10gal)...

Algae is worse than it was yesterday.

 

[Essenza]

I setup a new 55g tank recently and were having BBA,hair algae everywhere(I mean everywhere from plant to equipment), I over dose Flourish Excel 3X and 2 days later, all the algae just turned red and then pale and die off, however my Ceratophyllum demersum,Vallisneria americana just melted away,and my Hemianthus callitrichoides turned yellowish and were also dying.The rest of the plant(Rotala wallichii,Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata,Blyxa Japonica,Nuphar Japonica,Limnophila sessiliflora) and critters(Amano,cherry shrimp,cardinal)were fine though.

Essenza

 

[Engold]

Some plants are sensitive to excel overdose... especially HC

 

[snail_chen]

I already have CO2 injected, how come I still got algae ??

 

[quatermass]

Lots of reasons!

Perhaps your CO2 system is inefficient?

Perhaps your plants lack key nutrients?

Perhaps your water circulation system isn't well distributed?

Perhaps you have too much light or for too long a on period?

Perhaps you do not have enough filtration and have levels of ammonia?

Have you measured your Redfield Ratio

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi snail_chen,

It is true that Excel is a source for CO2, but CO2 does not rid an aquarium of algae. Excel also has "undocumented" algaecide properties due to the active ingredient Glutaraldehyde. This thread deals with algaecide properties of Excel. If you are interested in Glutaraldehyde check out the post here.

 

[cwhite67]

double check my math

I got the 50% biological grade glut.
I filled my 2 liter empty excel bottle with 2 liters of distilled water.
I added 6ml of the 50% solution of glut.

Is this correct for a 1.5% solution of glut?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi cwhite67,

1) Let's see, 1000 ml per liter

2) 2000 ml in two liters

3) 1.5% of 2000 ml is 30 ml

4) If your Glut was 100% pure you would use 30 ml in 1970 ml of water. However since you are using 50% concentration Glut; to get a 1.5% percent concentration you would need 60 ml of Glut in 1940 ml of water.

 

[shark1505]

Wow, I need to look into that, I had the worst time with algae. Left on vacation, for 2 weeks and you know how it goes, spotless the first day and the whamoo, I had to redo the whole thing. I would love a solution to algae

 

[SirLancaster]

I'm using a 1.5% glut solution, dosing as per flourish excel instructions daily for around 3 weeks now. I had brown algae on plant leaves, it is now gone. Now I'm mostly getting a green "film" (maybe hair, but it really forms as a film) on top level leaves.

The way I apply the glut is with a sprayer, so most of it falls directly over those leaves that are getting the green algae.

Is the glut "feeding" that algae?

Anyone had a similar experience?

 

[Outtasteam]

I have a 55 gal. tank with mostly cichlids. Although I feed them small amounts 2x day (i use omega one and hikari) after a couple days my tank has a brownish tint to it. I dont leave the light on more than 6 hrs. daily and it is not near a window. Any suggestions please??

 

[Outtasteam]

How do you know if you are over-feeding?? Seems like a very thin line between feeding enough and over-feeding. Thanks

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi Outtasteam,

Algae is typically not brown. The condition called "Brown Algae" is usually caused by Diatoms, which are actually a silica based organism that grows on the surface of the glass, hardscape and plants. Regular water changes and adding Otocinclus to the aquarium typically resolves the problem.

I have experienced "brown water" in the past when I added new driftwood to an aquarium. It leached tannins for about 6 months before the leaching process was not as noticeable; and that was with weekly 33% water changes.

 

[Treetom]

I'm doing the 5X treatment with no luck. 58 gallon = 6 caps per day correct? Plus DIY CO2 set up. What gives?

 

[Treetom]

Forgot to say, have BBA, BGA, Thread, and hair algae.

 

[justjulie]

Spectacular Failure

So... after spending hours reading this thread I decided to give it a try.

My fish all died today.

I had a horrible BBA infestation in two tanks. One was a 10 gal heavily planted, the other was a 30 gal only about half planted (due to many of the plants dying off because of the BBA). Both were adequately lit but no CO2.

We gave a 20% water change, dosed 4x the "water change" amount (did 4x instead of 5x to be on the safe side), and then changed the filters for good measure (they were due for a change anyway).

I didn't check the tanks until about 10 a.m.; I found about 2/3 of the fish dead and the water extremely cloudy and foul smelling in the 30 gal. The rest of the fish were at the surface gasping for air.

Filters are running normally, temperature normal, water change last night was the way we've always done it.

I rescued as many fish as I could. Now I'm trying to decide whether to tear down the tanks and give up trying to save the plants, or letting the process continue to see whether the BBA will go away then re-introducing the fish later.

Any thoughts?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi justjulie,

First, I am sorry about your loss. When I lose fish I always feel badly but I try to use it as a learning experience so I don't repeat my mistakes.

If you had read the whole thread, I think you would have seen that most of us dose at no more than 2X the "Daily" dosage level (2 capfuls per 50 gallons). I have dosed as high as 2 capfuls per 10 gallons (2X Initial/Water Change) dosage but my fish show signs of distress when I do.

I think the only post in the whole thread that says "5X" is #257. However, doing the math would show that if he is dosing 6 capfuls for 60 gallons then he is dosing 1X the Initial/Water Change dosage level.

Again, sorry for your loss.