# Relentless Staghorn Algae



## Peter (Apr 21, 2005)

I have been fighting staghorn algae for weeks now and am getting discouraged and would like some advice. On water change day I snip off all I can see and rub/pull off as much as I can from the slow growing plants I don't want to toss, I look into the tank the next morning and it looks like spoors have been swept by the spraybar onto the leaves and the growth process has started all over again. I have also started too snip and rub in the middle of the week. I have thinned out the plants in the current's path to reduce the thicket. I'm keeping the algae in check but it is there to take over the minute I look away.

My specs: approx 40 gal net volume , Eheim 2213, 3wpg lighting, pressurized Co2 with a target of 30 ppm, dosing alternate days of macros (1/2 tsp KNO3 & 1/16 tsp KH2PO4) and trace (10ml of 1 Tb/250ml CSM+B). I have purigen in my filter, as I also have been experiencing some cloudy water.

My lights are on from 7:30am - 8:30am (pre-school viewing and feeding/fertilizing) and 1:00pm - 10:00pm. Co2 comes on around noon and goes off at about the same time as the lights. There is sufficient indirect light in the room in the morning when the lights are off to read by which I wonder about being a contributing issue.

If anyone has a tried and true game plan to share I will be eternally grateful. One thought is to drastically snip the stem plants back and give the anubias and java fern a bleach bath, clean the filter (leaving enough medium to keep the biofilter alive, bleach the spraybar, intake and heater and boil the driftwood and perform a complete water change. However, besides this being more work than I want to perform on a hobby, I wonder whether there would still be spoors in the tubing and the water that would start the cycle again. Help!


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

It seems like you're doing the right thing by removing as much as you can...but you may want to clean out that filter really good. Give the tank a good cleaning too (drain it as much as possible--90%)...it won't hurt it...that will reduce the chance of any other spores attaching. Drain another 90% the next day too. 

Snip and prune as much as you can...have you checked for any on the substrate? 

The dosing seems fine. I'm not sure if lighting is an issue. IMO, I'm not a big fan of the lights on--lights off--back on again type of setup. I say just let them run for a straight amount of time (I run mine from 10 am to 7 pm and feed after work).


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

SeaChem Excell does a job on staghorn, which is a really easy algae to get rid of with just the usual tank maintenance. Are you sure it's staghorn, and not something like black beard algae which is a real pain in the @$$ to get rid of? 

I'm with GAdawgger about the split lighting. Is there a reason for you not wanting to leave the lights on for a straight 8 to 10 hours?


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## dissident (Oct 15, 2003)

When I set up my 65 I had staghorn for alittle while. I kept up on my CO2, ferts and did 2 30-50% WC each week after trying to remove as much as I could manually. If the staghorn is really bad I would up the WC, I only had it on equipment and not too much of it.


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## Peter (Apr 21, 2005)

Thanks for the replies.

I realize the lighting schedule is not great but it's how our family operates. The morning schedule is really important to my 9 yr old boy who shares my interest in the tank. If you all think it is contributing to the problem, we'll switch reluctantly to an afternoon/evening schedule.

I'll describe the algae (I tried for a photo but couldn't get it): it's on plants and hardware, blackish and grows like antlers with little branches and sub-branches; it can have brownish deletrus seemingly caught in it but mostly it is just branches. You can scrape it off the spraybar with a razor but you can't really rub it off the leaves with your fingers. Large chunks can float a bit like sagebrush until they find new homes. Also it seems to propagate on dead leaves that can fall into a thicket and start up again from there. It also seems to clearly follows the current as you can see new growth on the leaves that face the spraybar and less on the leaves in the back which are somewhat shielded.

Is this what I'm hearing as an approach (probably too detailed by I'm new at this and just want to check on my procedure)?:

1. Keep up the Co2 and perhaps up it until the fish take notice.
2. Keep up the ferts

3. Plants:
a. Stem plants: prune all I can see
b. Slow growing plants with tougher leaves: rub off what I can  (I have a large swordplant, anubias and java fern - these I can retard the growth through rubbing and snipping off some leaves but I can't really erradicate it from the plants without replacing or treating)

4. Hardware:
a. In tank: where I see it, scrape it off 
b. Filter (using a modified Phyllis Ringstad procedure): back flush it and drain it. Rinse in tap water the impeller, pads, ehfimech, and ehfisubstrat (tanks only been up for about 10 weeks so I don't think I need to replace any of the media yet). (I did flush out the filter, rinse the pads and replace the Ehfisynth with poly floss 2 weeks ago).
c. In-line reactor - I have this on the intake side of the cannister. All I can do here is back flush. 

5. Combine the above with a massive water change and do one again either later in the day or the next day. Include in the water change, a thorough vacuuming of gravel.

Any thoughts? Thanks again for the help.

Peter


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

That's exactly what I would recommend you do...a major overhaul. 

It does sound like staghorn from your description...IME just as nasty as BBA. Do check your substrate too...it may be on it also. 

As far as on the hardware in the tank...don't scrape the stuff while the parts are in the tank...take them out and use peroxide to kill the stuff or soak the tubes in a dilute bleach solution. Peroxide is better since you only have to rinse with water. 

Sounds like you have a good idea on what to do...just execute the plan  Let us know how things are. 

Please do consider the lighting situation...just tell the little one, he'll be the first to feed them when all of you are home for dinner!


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## Peter (Apr 21, 2005)

Georgiadawgger: Thanks for the advise. Some quick questions:

What's the drill with peroxide -- which I take to be hydrogen peroxide? Do you dilute with water in a bucket and soak. How much do you dilute, if you do, and for how long. Also, do you need to clean first or does it act as both a cleaner and sanitizer? Also with the tubing, do you need to push something through to clean first or is just soaking sufficient?

My driftwood: would you brush with a toothbrush or just go whole hog and boil?

The slow growing plants: would you scrape/rub down or replace?

This is going to be a long day's labor, so I want to be very clear about the job. I don't want to do this again, or at least not for a long while. 

Peter


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

Peter said:


> Georgiadawgger: Thanks for the advise. Some quick questions:
> 
> What's the drill with peroxide -- which I take to be hydrogen peroxide? Do you dilute with water in a bucket and soak. How much do you dilute, if you do, and for how long. Also, do you need to clean first or does it act as both a cleaner and sanitizer? Also with the tubing, do you need to push something through to clean first or is just soaking sufficient?
> 
> ...



Happy to help...

Yup...hydrogen peroxide. You can spot treat and watch the algae fizz...or fill a bucket with water and just pour a bunch of the peroxide in. I've never really measured how much since its so cheap (and less harsh than bleach). I have used bleach before (works really fast) but then you have to rinse the bucket well...refill and add dechlorinator. Actually, you could just take a good rag and soak it with the peroxide and give the tubes a good rub (as in the intake and outflow tubes, heater, thermometer, etc). 

As far as the filter tubes...don't boil them. Two ways to do it. They do sell those extended filter tube brushes you can jam in there and wiggle around that will scrape off all the gunk inside, or you can soak them in a bucket of bleach or peroxide...again choose your poison. 

If you can reboil the driftwood, I would...no bleach...you can spot treat first with peroxide, then boil. 

Slow growing plants: here's the bad part...snip and prune...given the amount of ferts and co2, if they're adequate the plants will grow back. 

I know its a major pain in the butt, but algae has gotten the best of us at one time or another 

Remember...go out and get some new plants to replenish the hack jobs...some good fast growers at a LFS that will hopefully take them back from you for store credit after you've grown them into monsters!! 

I'm sure you can also find some in the swap n shop. Just ask for fast growing clippings and I'm sure all you'll have to pay is minimal...relatively speaking.


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