# A year of algae



## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

what kind of algae are you dealing with?


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

I don't know the names of the different types of algae. I can describe the ones I've got, though.

1.) Green spots on the glass



















2.) brownish colored hairy type algae on the rotala rotundifolia.










3.) Brownish algae on the glass of the tank, on the brazilian pennywort, and on the anubias.


----------



## iKine (Aug 4, 2011)

I'd suggest shortening your photo period down to 7-8 hours. Also, pick yourself up a bottle of Seachem Excel for dosing come carbon. Also, get yourself some algae eaters.


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

iKine said:


> I'd suggest shortening your photo period down to 7-8 hours. Also, pick yourself up a bottle of Seachem Excel for dosing come carbon. Also, get yourself some algae eaters.


I'll try shortening the time I've got my lights on.

I've heard that dosing excel in a tank with 1.) shrimp 2.) marimo moss ball is a bad idea. I've avoided it for that reason.

For algae eaters, I've got shrimp and 5 pomacea diffusa snails. I've got enough fish in my tank that I don't think I should add any more. I've got 7 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, 2 WCMM fry, 2 leopard danios and 2 danio fry in the tank. Do you agree?


----------



## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

you have green spot algae, brown diatom algae, and I'm not sure what the brown fuzz one is (maybe black brush algae)

I definitely agree with lowering your light period to 7-8 hours. I run my light 4 hours on-2 hours off-4 hours on then off for 14. 

Is your tank sitting in front of a window? What are your water parameters? How often do you feed your fish?


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

My tank sits in a corner between two windows, but both windows are covered by blinds and curtains.

I don't have any good way to test my water parameters. The only thing I've got is those dip stick test things you can get from Wal-Mart. My fish, shrimp and snails are all happy and healthy though. All my plants are doing well, except for the rotala which seems to dislike having any algae on it whatsoever.

I feed my fish twice per day and clean my tank once a week.


----------



## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

My guess is the windows are contributing despite being covered. 

For tests I would recommend the API master test kit as a future investment.

You could try cutting your feeding down to once a day to see if that helps any, don't worry your fish won't starve. 

Excel is great, but I'm not an expert on its effect on moss balls or shrimp.


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

I've done some research and it appears that Excel is ok for shrimp, as long as it is used as instructed. See here: http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=2732

I sent an e-mail to Seachem asking about the effects of Excel on marimo moss balls...


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> I've done some research and it appears that Excel is ok for shrimp, as long as it is used as instructed. See here: http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=2732
> 
> I sent an e-mail to Seachem asking about the effects of Excel on marimo moss balls...


 

Well, that was fast! I've received an e-mail back from Seachem already. With their response, I guess I'll try some Excel and see what happens.

Here's my question:



> I have had an algae problem in my planted fish tank and have considered dosing with Excel. However, I have a Marimo Moss Ball in my tank. Will using the recommended dosing of Excel harm my moss ball? What about my red cherry shrimp?


Here's their response:



> There is absolutely nothing harmful in Flourish Excel that would cause it to harm your moss ball; in fact, the ball can actually utilize the nutrients contained within Flourish Excel, thus causing the moss ball to out-compete any potential algae for growth. When used as directed, Excel is completely safe for both your moss ball and your red cherry shrimp. Please keep in mind, however, that we do not recommend overdosing Excel for the purpose of algae control; simply dose as directed on the bottle.


----------



## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

great news, so if I were you I would combine

less lighting period, less feeding, and Excel dosing as recommended as see what happens.


----------



## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

I can verify from experience that 2x Excel overdose has no effect on Marimo balls. Although they're an algae, they seem to be as hardy as any plant when it comes to algae treatments. The only time I've damaged one was when I injected H2O2 into the substrate. It was trapped for an extended period between the Marimo and substrate, and burned its bottom. I turned that side up, and it recovered after a month.

Your plants need nutrients to grow. Flourish is a fairly light fertilizer, and contains primarily iron and other trace nutrients that are unlikely to be provided in adequate amounts from other sources, like fish waste. I would continue using it.

Reducing photoperiod as suggested will help with the GSA.

#3 shows both diatom and GDA. An oto or some snails will help with that.


----------



## herns (May 6, 2008)

You dont inject CO2. Yeah, I would start reducing light period.


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

I've changed the settings on my light timer. Hopefully, I'll know in a week if reducing the photo period on my tank is gonna help enough. If not, I'll look into getting some excel. Thank you for your input!


----------



## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

Buy an oto... or two.. they would go nuts..


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

Eldachleich said:


> Buy an oto... or two.. they would go nuts..


With the number of fish I have in this tank, do you really think I should add more? Plus, I keep my tank as close to 70 degrees (for the WCMMs) as I can (kinda difficult in the summer). Isn't that too cold for otos? 

Current tank inhabitants:
7 White Cloud Mountain Minnows (WCMM)
2 WCMM fry
2 leopard danios
2 zebra danio fry
red cherry shrimp

I can list the plants if it would help...


----------



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

Update:
On Thursday 10/20, I changed the timer on my lights so that the lights would be on from 9am - 1pm and again from 3pm-7pm. 

On Friday, I started feeding the fish only once per day. I also did a ~30% water change, vacuumed the gravel and cleaned most of the algae off the glass.

So far, there is a little bit of algae starting to grow on the walls of the tank but I don't see any starting to grow on the newest brazilian pennywort leaves. The hair-like algae on the rotala has also started to decrease. I realize I'm not out of the woods yet but am excited to see positive progress in the fight against algae!


----------

