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Hi I'm new here and I have a problem with black algae killing most of my plants. It was ok in the summer but now that it's winter the problem is out of control.

What information so I need to supply in order to get some help? Thanks.

Some information such as tank size, ammount of light in watts, plant species, type of substrate, any ferts, CO2, water quality(ammount of nitrAtes and pH mainly), large or small fishload, how long the tank has been up and running, and weekly maintenence schedules will all help.

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 09-Dec-2004 14:19

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
Check out this site:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/algcontags.htm

Filled with good information on what the problem is,
how it occurs, and how to eliminate or control it.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Matty I have some more info for you after I say thanks to Frank.

Thanks Frank I'll check out the info at the site, but in the meantime I'll give some more info about the tank.

It's a 120 gal tank, the substrate is black gravel, I use a external filter system. The tank is maintained every week with one third of the water being changed. The new water is from the tap which is first put into a holding tank with a chemical to rid it of the chlorine.

The water Nitrate levels are 10mg/L, CO&amp;#178; is 3mg/L, the pH is 7.5,almost no ammonia, the KH is 4dH,the GH is 8.I've recently treated the water with 2 chemicals to try and get a handle on this situation, they are, an iron and potasium supliment called "Leaf Zone" and an organic carbon called "Flourish excel".

The tank contains[list=1]
[*]3 Swordtails
[*]2 Honey Gouramis
[*]1 adult and 4 baby Dalmations
[*]2 Gold Comets (Platy)
[*]10 Neon Tetras
[*]3 Glass Catfish
[*]5 Catfish ( Corydoras )
[*]1 Angelfish
[*]7 Zebra Danios
[*]3 Silver Dollars
[*]3 White Clouds
[*]1 Algae Eater ( either a Leoparacanthicus or a Pterygoplichthys )[/list]

The lighting consists of 6 - 4ft fluorescent bulbs.[list=a]
[*]2 Red spectrum 2500K&amp;#176;
[*]2 Blue spectrum 6500K&amp;#176;
[*]2 Full spectrum K&amp;#176; uncertain as they came with the original aquarium, purchased 6 months ago.[/list]

I have some photos if needed, but I don't want to waste bandwidth unless I need to.
Thanks again for any info.


**EDIT; I didn't realize that I couldn't make an ordered list. Sorry for the extra verbage.

Last edited by malvern at 09-Dec-2004 16:58

Last edited by malvern at 09-Dec-2004 17:12

Your stock looks fine, but DOH - you forgot the plants!

Anyways, It seems that you have pretty adequate lighting (Can't be certain as I don't know your plants), and you are adding ferts. However, the nutrient that is most likely to be limiting your plant growth is CO2 (the idea being that your plants will outcompete the algea). Excel is supposed to promote plant growth through a solution with carbon in it that doesn't promote algea, but I have no experience with it, as I was told that plants will be able to break up and use CO2 much easier than the carbon that is in Excel.

I have been having the same problem as you, and simply adding some DIY CO2 has really helped with the algea, even though I'm still fighting some off. Your tank is pretty big though, and DIY CO2 might be out of the question. You would probably have to go straight to the compressed CO2 method, which can be quite expensive.

It is possible to find an equilibrium between the lighting you now have and the ferts you want to dose, but most find it easier to use the CO2. I could easily show you how to make the DIY CO2, but I can't exactly show you to any good sites for shopping for compressed CO2, as I have not been there myself. Some others could give you a good site I'm sure.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

malvern:

Black algae, or beard algea, is a very tough strain to eradicate. Both of the prior posters have good advice. Though it is very hard, the best method is mechanical removal - that is physically removing it. It's quite stubborn and quite adherent to whatever it's growing on. If it has covered a leaf, it would probably be best to remove the affected leaf. If it's ALL the leaves, well, you might want to consider pulling everything up and starting over. Again, you don't say what types and how many plants you have, so I don't know what kind of chore/expense that would be for you.
Regarding your livestock, that's not a whole heck of a lot of fish for a 120g. As an offside, please note that Silver Dollars are herbivorous and will have a strong tendency to eat whatever vegetation to put in the tank.
With such a low level of livestock, I'm wondering why you are registering ANY ammonia at all. It should be at zero. Something's not right there.
Remember that all algae is a lower form of plant life. The aquatic plants will take whatever nutrients they need. The remainder will be free to the lower forms. So somewhere, there is an imbalance in your system on which the black algae are exploiting.
Hope this gives you a little more direction in where to look.
-Wayne

/me slaps forehead, D'Oh! :%)

Here are the plants in the tank;

Java moss

Fan wort

Tape grass

Water Hysop

Water Wisteia

Cabomba Piauhyenois (SP?)

Thanks again for all the help.

I've tried making a DIY CO2 but the volume wasn't sufficient.

Last edited by malvern at 10-Dec-2004 17:42

Last edited by malvern at 10-Dec-2004 17:51

It looks like you have a few fast growing plants there, but unless you have a lot of each plant, it just might be that you don't have enough plants. A 120 is quite a big tank. Thats about the only other thing besides the CO2 (which really helps) that I can think of. Maybe run through the threads looking for one on pressurized CO2, see if that interests you.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients