# Staghorn algae invasion!



## sweet chariot (Nov 14, 2010)

Anyone? Come on, 70 people have read this and not a single idea? :help:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

First thing I would do is check my ammonia and nitrite levels. 9/10 when I have this show up, there was a mini cycle. And given that you have goldfish, that would be the first to look at. 

If you don't want to dose h2o2 or excel in the tank, you could put the plants in a bucket, dose there and then rinse well before adding back to the tank.


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## redmary51 (Mar 17, 2011)

I's kind of new, but everything I have read is that you need to feed your plants. Maybe you need to fertilize.


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## latnem (Apr 10, 2011)

I too have a staghorn algae issue with my 55g. I reduced my lighting schedule and intensity and got my DIY CO2 to work correctly and the growth seemed to get cut in half. Hoping once I add pressurized CO2 and dry ferts I can fight it off even more. I would say less light with no CO2 or add CO2. 

I have also heard that sunlight that hits the tank can promote algae growth.


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## sweet chariot (Nov 14, 2010)

sewingalot said:


> First thing I would do is check my ammonia and nitrite levels. 9/10 when I have this show up, there was a mini cycle. And given that you have goldfish, that would be the first to look at.
> 
> If you don't want to dose h2o2 or excel in the tank, you could put the plants in a bucket, dose there and then rinse well before adding back to the tank.


thanks. ammonia and nitrite are at 0. nitrate is 2ppm. I have removed the anubias to treat in a bucket, but I'm worried that uprooting the swords would damage them since the roots are so large... what do you think?


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## bsk (Aug 18, 2010)

I have the same problem H2O2 works wonders and killed the staghorn in less than a day. it turned the algae pink/purple and shrimp went to town on it. My problem is that it keeps coming back every 3 weeks. Peroxide is only a temp fix. let me know if you find a solution, I need one too.


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## sweet chariot (Nov 14, 2010)

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!  


....well, at least partly. I put the Anubias in the dark bucket on Sunday and took it out today on Friday. All the staghorn and even the little fuzzy green stuff is GONE. The leaves look nice and smooth again. 

As for the rest of the tank...well....I notice that the staghorn only attacks old/dying leaves, so it's not so bad. The goldfish are munching on it, but unfortunately it is still spreading.


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

sweet chariot said:


> PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
> 
> 
> ....well, at least partly. I put the Anubias in the dark bucket on Sunday and took it out today on Friday. All the staghorn and even the little fuzzy green stuff is GONE. The leaves look nice and smooth again.
> ...


Twelve hours is probably 4 hours too long. Your plants need nitrate, potassium and phosphate to grow AND a carbon source (Excel can be that source if you don't want to set up CO2). You are driving plant growth too much with a long photoperiod and then starving them for carbon and NKP. Algae can grow under those conditions while higher plants struggle.


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## drlower (Dec 14, 2010)

agree with markmc. your throwing a good bit of light at the plants which makes them really want to grow, but they are starving. what has kept them going thus far is most likely due to the fact gold fish produce alot of waste which can be plantfood. i would cut lights to 8 hours a day and add some ferts. you seem to want your lighting and gas levels as close to mother nature as possible,but what happens in a controlled system is not mother nature.


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## Abrium (Jan 7, 2011)

sewingalot said:


> First thing I would do is check my ammonia and nitrite levels. 9/10 when I have this show up, there was a mini cycle. And given that you have goldfish, that would be the first to look at.
> 
> If you don't want to dose h2o2 or excel in the tank, you could put the plants in a bucket, dose there and then rinse well before adding back to the tank.


 
The common cause of staghorn is an ammonia spike. Even if you test for ammonia and don't find any don't rule this out. An ammonia spike is just that - here now and gone later.


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## sweet chariot (Nov 14, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your advice. 

I removed the anubias because it wasn't doing to good anyway and had some BBA on it. As for the tank, the staghorn is almost gone and the other algae is also turning white and dying- I wonder why? I hope there's nothing bad in the water, but the fish are ok...so far.

What do ammonia spikes come from?


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

I too have staghorn based on this
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php
I do not have CO2. I couldn't find Excel so am using API CO2 booster. Will this help too?


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

I too have staghorn based on this
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php
I do not have CO2. I couldn't find Excel so am using API CO2 booster. Will this help too?


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