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i have a 29 gallon tank, med planted. i am being attacked by thick thick layers of brown algae, and tiny bit of that bluish green algae + brush algae?
(made my crypt leaf look like a hairy brush). i have a clown pleco, and added a BN, will that help? or should i get a SAE instead?

and recently i noticed some snails around my tank, and after closely examine the tank, there are snails EVERYWHERE!!! so i bought a yoyo loach, will that get rid of the snails??

lighting is 10 hours, around 3.3 wpg 6500k, not a lot of liquid fert at all. very low nitrate..... help =(


ps. if i wanna trim my infected plants, how should i do it? i have some jungle vals, amazon sword, crypt wendtti

Last edited by greenfootball at 24-Sep-2005 00:25

The BN & Yoyo will help your problems with Algae & Snails, but i would see from where the problem is coming. Maybe you have too much light & the Plants you bought had Snails with them.


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"Brown Algae" (diatoms)

This is often the first algae to appear in a newly set-up tank, where conditions have yet to stabilise. It will often appear around the 2-12 week period, and may disappear as quickly as it arrived when the conditions stabilise after a couple of months. It is essential to minimise nutrient levels to ensure the algae disappears - avoid overfeeding and carry out the appropriate water changes, gravel and filter cleaning, etc. Limiting the light will not deter this algae, as it can grow at low lighting levels and will normally out-compete green algae under these conditions.

If brown algae appears in an established tank, check nitrate and phosphate levels. Increased water changes or more thorough substrate cleaning may be necessary. Using a phosphate-adsorbing resin will also remove silicates, which are important to the growth of this algae. However, as noted above, it is essentially impossible to totally eliminate algae with this strategy alone. Due to its ability to grow at low light levels, this algae may also appear in dimly lit tanks, where old fluorescent bulbs have lost much of their output. If a problem does occur, otocinclus catfish are known to clear this algae quickly, although you may need several for larger tanks, and they can be difficult to acclimatise initially.

There are some very plausible theories as to why this algae often appears in newly set up tanks and then later disappears. If the silicate (Si) to phosphate (P) ratio is high, then diatoms are likely to have a growth advantage over true algae types and Cyanobacteria. Some of the silicate may come from the tapwater, but it will also be leached from the glass of new aquaria, and potentially from silica sand/gravel substrates to some extent. Later, when this leaching has slowed, and phosphate is accumulating in the maturing tank, the Si ratio will change in favour of phosphate, which is likely to favour the growth of green algae instead.

Blue-green algae/Cyanobacteria

"Blue-green algae" is not really a true algae at all, but Cyanobacteria - a group of bacteria capable of photosynthesis. It can appear as a slimy coating in a number of different colours. It can smother plants and may release toxins harmful to fish. It can fix nitrogen and may therefore occur in tanks with zero or very low nitrates (but possibly high levels of other nutrients, particularly phosphate). It can be removed manually quite easily, as it often forms loose sheets, but it's likely to return quickly. Improving circulation/aeration in the tank sometimes causes it to decline. It can be treated with erythromycin (200mg/10 gallons) - this may however affect the filter bacteria, so it will be necessary to check for ammonia and nitrite after dosing.

Red/Brush algae

Brush or red algae can be very difficult to remove manually. It seems to be favoured in tanks with a high pH and carbonate hardness, leading some to speculate that they may be able to utilise bicarbonates as a carbon source. Limiting phosphate and silicate (either by using RO/DI water or specific adsorption resins) should deter this algae. Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus siamensis) are are often said to be the only common algae eating fish which will tackle this type of algae, although the common plec appears to eat it too.

-- all from thetropicaltank.co.uk

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
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Have you considered otos? I didn't have a huge brown algae problem in my tank, but I added three otos and it was completely cleared up in 2 days.

before i re-modeled my tank i had 4 otos, they lived there fine and happily. but now i cannot keep otos alive if my life was depended on them. so i stopped getting them because they would just disappear so fast.

now i have a much bigger crew, a clown pleco and a BN, used to have 2 SAE, but they lived and ate very good for several months, and died the same time, i have no idea what is going on, nitrate is so low, and everything else is good... =(

, i have no idea what is going on, nitrate is so low, and everything else is good... =(

Well there's your problem right there !

I assume from your statement above that somewhere along the line you read something that states that excess Nitrate and Phosphate cause algae ?

It doesn't. If the Nitrate and Phosphate is too low on the other hand, that always leads to problems. The problem is plants not growing as well as they could be.

Snails will contriol their population. They only explode in numbers if there is sufficient food to sustain the high population. Overfeeding could cause numbers to increase or in this case plants doing poorly (snails prefer soft rotting plant matter as food, they'll usually leave fresh healthy growth alone).

You need to get Nitrate up to about 10-20ppm and Phosphate to 1-2ppm.

A 1/4 teaspoon of Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) and a 1/16 teaspoon of Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4) will get the numbers back up.

Any Co2 added?
If yes dose this 2 or 3 times a week.Along with 5mls of liquid fert.50% weekly water changes.

If no try adding excel and half doses of above.Smaller weekly water change.

If you can't or don't want to add Excel. Only do water changes every few months. Add a 1/8 tspn of KNO3 and a half rice grain portion of KH2PO4 and 5ml of liquid once a week only. No water change.

Remove as much of the algae and damaged leaves and snails as possible before doing this. Don't remove so many leaves that you kill the plant.

Last edited by bensaf at 25-Sep-2005 22:23

Last edited by bensaf at 25-Sep-2005 22:24

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

yeah i have co2, i removed a lot of the rotting plants or algae covered leaves already, i just hope the vals wont die because they are trimmed so much and the amazon swords too because they are way too soft and tender...

yeah i have done 2 25% changes last 3 days, snails seem to slow down a lot, i hope its because the yoyo.

so let me get this straight..... to keep plants happy.. u need high nitrate, but high nitrate kills fish and creates algae, and low nitrate creates algae, and because of algae, it creates snails??? (i havent added any live plants or any fish into my tank in the last 4 months or so, and snails just suddenly came out) i start to think fish keeping is getting really complicated.... omg.... just when i thought low nitrate is like "HURRAY!!!!"...... =(

so let me get this straight..... to keep plants happy.. u need high nitrate, but high nitrate kills fish

Who said anything about high Nitrate?. 10-20ppm is not high at all, definately not going to harm even the most sensitive of fish.Of course you need Nitrate, apart from Co2, Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for plant growth. Without it you are basically starving your plants.Growth slows to zero. Problems come thick and fast.

and creates algae,

Wrong, wrong, wrong. You've got algae and you've got very low probably zero Nitrates, correct? You have just proved that the old myth of Nitrate and Phosphate causing algae is rubbish.Did you have algae when you had higher Nitrates ?

and low nitrate creates algae,

Not quite. Low Nitrate starves plants and stalls growth. If plant growth stops algae growth starts. Algae can flourish in nutrient levels measured in parts per billion (another reason the high nitrate = algae myth is illogical) plants can't survive in such low levels. Algae wins. The only way to defeat algae is have healthy growing plants, algae is done for, irregardless of excess nutrients in the water column.

and because of algae, it creates snails??? (i havent added any live plants or any fish into my tank in the last 4 months or so, and snails just suddenly came out)

Snails usually won't bother with fresh healthy plants, they prefer soft rotting plant tissue,algae and leftover food. Look at your tank, ignore the algae, what else do you see ? I bet it's plants that aren't healthy and dying. Snail food. If there is sufficient food the snail population will increase itself to take advantage of that available food. Poor plants = algae. So it's all linked.

Take care of the plants above all else and you have no issues.

i start to think fish keeping is getting really complicated.... omg.... just when i thought low nitrate is like "HURRAY!!!!"...... =(

Don't worry it's real simple. Unfortunately there's still a lot of nonsense written and lurking around the internet.Throws people off. Times have changed.
Low nitrate is good - in a fish only tank. A planted tank is a completely different beast though.

If you have Co2 it's even simpler.

Dose as I outlined above 3 times a week. Macros (Nitrate and Phosphate) in the morning and the liquid fert in the evening. Keep co2 up to about 30ppm. Plants will take off big time, algae will die back.Snails too. Remove as much as possible first. 50% water change once a week. Make sure GH above 3 dgh.Keep to the routine and the plants have all they need and a very stable environment. You will have very few problems and a tank full of healthy plants. A few minutes work a week.

All the ferts for Nitrate and Phosphate can be bought online from http://www.gregwatson.com. Very cheap.

See it really isn't that difficult

Last edited by bensaf at 26-Sep-2005 02:51

Last edited by bensaf at 26-Sep-2005 02:53

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.