# Algae on glass



## Hoppy

Green dust algae (GDA) on the glass was determined by Tom Barr to be algae in the zoospore stage, and at that stage they are free swimming and extremely hard to kill. So he tried letting the GDA live out it's life cycle on the glass, without disturbing it, to see if it would go away on its own. It worked. After two to three weeks the GDA has changed to the adult form, changed appearance to a jelly like substance, wrinkled in appearance. If left alone still further it begins to die off and drop off the glass. Once gone it doesn't return.

I just finished trying this on my tank. I left the GDA alone for about 18-19 days, as it first became an opaque green curtain, hiding everything in the tank. After about two weeks it started to get thinner, so I could see through it a bit, and changed to a darker color. I finally scraped it away from two sides of the tank yesterday, leaving it on the other sides to see if it will fall off on its own. Now I have my fingers crossed waiting to see if it comes back right away as it always did before.

Yesterday I got to see my plants, shrimp and fish again for the first time in 2 weeks - wonderful feeling!


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## GazK

Keep us informed
I'll be interested to know if
a) the other stuff falls off
b) it comes back

Good luck
I'm already sick of looking at it


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## BluSponge

Anyone care to explain the difference between GDA and diatoms? Reason I ask is a do have a few smears of green on the glass of my tank, but a lot of my plants (particularly the older growth) have a moderate to heavy dusting of algae that looks to be a dark brown (or dark green). It scrapes off with some difficulty depending on how sturdy the leaves are. The tank used to be infested with this sort of stuff, and I've never seen it just "fall off and go away".

I added a few otos to help deal with it, but I doubt two of them are going to make much impact.

It would be nice if this does turn out to be GDA, and just magically go away in 20 days...the tank's been running with this stuff for about 3 weeks now.


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## CrashTest

I've been quoted!

It's been about two weeks of not scraping, in that time I have stocked the tank with more plants, and upped the CO2 as much as possible. I was having problems with a stubby hair-like algae as well as the dust algae...so far so good. Though the sides have not been getting worse as I expected them to, I'll try cleaning it in a week or so. Hopefully then it won't come back.

For those with an established tank, how often to you have to clean the sides? Does anyone have clear glass, and not have to scrape at all?


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## Hoppy

When I had a 125 gallon tank, about 5 years ago, I accidentally did Tom's "let it go thru the cycle" treatment of GDA (I got too lazy to scrape it off!). After I finally did scrape it, it never came back. After that I only scraped the glass about once a month, and it never was very "dirty". Not being nearly as scientific as Tom I concluded that I had been blessed by the God of Aquatic Plants, and just enjoyed the change. I had no idea why I had such good luck, but assumed I had reached the magic point of perfect balance in the tank.


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## spdskr

I haven't scraped the glass in my 29g since the tank was approximately four months old in Nov,05 (knocks on wood). Except for the occassional few strands of hair algae, the tank seems to have stabilized (knocks on wood again). I think my success can be attributed to removing all cork bark from the tank and tinkering with the fertilization regime until I found out what worked for me. Having said all this, I wouldn't want to start from scratch again. I'm enjoying the stable routine I have with this tank currently.


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## GazK

Sounds like ther's at least 3 of us who'll be looking at nasty green glass
for the next few weeks

Let me know how it goes, be interesting to see the end results

Cheers
Gary


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## Cichlid Freq

Question on this treatment, I am assuming that I need to leave everything in the tank alone while I am doing this treatment. No trimming plants no re-arranging, nothing. Just thinking that I don't want to stir up any algae spores from anywhere else.. This is going to be hard...


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## Hoppy

After exactly three weeks I cleaned my tank today. The GDA had all disappeared except for very faint splotches between snail trails. I was able to easily see all over the tank, almost as if I had none at all. So, I did my plant pruning, shifting and scrapping. Cleaned off as much BBA, which I hadn't noticed before, and soaked the driftwood in bleach/water solution to kill the BBA on it. I also had a couple of patches of blue green algae, which I scraped off the glass and sucked out with the water change siphon. I cleaned the sponge filter on my powerhead and shifted the output flow to get less strong current. I lowered the water by about 2/3 and scraped/wiped off the glass, being carefull not to allow the scrapings to get into the water. I fluffed the blyxa japonica field, and decided not to thin it yet. Then refilled the tank, added Prime and fertilizers, plus Excel. Now I have my fingers crossed! But, it sure looks good now.


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## GazK

I've been trimming and pruning while leaving the sides of the tank untouched.
Had quite a bit of BBA which I've just been removing (aggressive pruning).

The GDA has now nearly all turned brown and a lot has either dropped off or been eaten by my (now extremely fat) platys and flying foxes. About 10 days ago you could barely see into the tank at all, now you can see into the tank but it's not something you'd want to spend time looking at with the dead/dying GDA on the glass. It's been just over 4 weeks now since I started "leaving" the GDA.

Hoppy question 1 - Did all the GDA drop off completely so it looked clear ?
Hoppy question 2 - How did you stop the stuff you scraped off dropping in ?
Hoppy question 3 - How did you clean off the GDA in the bottom 1/3 of your tank (below the water line).

Look forward to hearing how you did it

Cheers
Gary


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## Hoppy

GazK said:


> I've been trimming and pruning while leaving the sides of the tank untouched.
> Had quite a bit of BBA which I've just been removing (aggressive pruning).
> 
> The GDA has now nearly all turned brown and a lot has either dropped off or been eaten by my (now extremely fat) platys and flying foxes. About 10 days ago you could barely see into the tank at all, now you can see into the tank but it's not something you'd want to spend time looking at with the dead/dying GDA on the glass. It's been just over 4 weeks now since I started "leaving" the GDA.
> 
> Hoppy question 1 - Did all the GDA drop off completely so it looked clear ?
> Hoppy question 2 - How did you stop the stuff you scraped off dropping in ?
> Hoppy question 3 - How did you clean off the GDA in the bottom 1/3 of your tank (below the water line).
> 
> Look forward to hearing how you did it
> 
> Cheers
> Gary


My GDA didn't seem to drop off the glass at all. The snails, the Oto and the guppies seemed to eat it off. When I finally cleaned it up there was a splotchy haze of green left, crisscrossed with snail tracks that seems completely clear. I lowered the water, then used a 4 inch wide razorblade type scraper to scrape horizontally, wiping off the residue from the blade each stroke. Then I used paper towels to wipe off the remaining haze where I had scraped. Below the water line I used the towel mostly, wiping until I couldn't see any haze left. I'm sure some dropped into the water, but I don't know how to keep anymore of it out.

Your 4 week wait should be more than enough. I would do a complete cleaning now, if I were you. I haven't yet had the nerve to look carefully at my tank this morning to see if any haze is reforming - my optimistic side says there won't be any.


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## GazK

Nice one

I did a water change and pruned the plants yesterday so I'll probably leave
it until next weekend now.

Can't wait to get it off, it's too depressing looking at shadows swimming around behind a green mess.

Need to put the flying foxes on a serious diet as well :hihi: 

Cheers


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## Cichlid Freq

Is this going to be effective on the algae growing on my plants also (believe it is GDA also)? I am about a week into this and the algae seems to be keeping up with the new growth on my plants pretty well, the new leaves will be clear for about 2-3 days then they start getting algae growth on them; within about 4-5 days they are covered...


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## Hoppy

It has been a week now since I scraped off my 3 week old GDA. So far the results are perfect! No haze at all on the glass, and the green fuzz that had formed on a lot of the plants has gone too. I'm ready to declare victory! Now I enjoy my planted tank again, I have seen as many as 7 cherry shrimp at one time, I can see how miserably I am doing trying to grow Proserpinaca (mermaid weed), and how great my blyxa japonica is doing. I can even admire my second generation guppies for the first time. Life is great without GDA!!


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## Cichlid Freq

I am glad to hear that this is working for you. I am keeping my finger crossed that it works out for me also. This is driving me nuts just doing nothing with the algae growing in the tank.. :icon_eek: Hopefully after this torture session I can get on with enjoying the tank again instead of cringing every time I walk past it..


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## GazK

Cleaned mine off on Saturday (that was a big job, not looking to do that again in a hurry). Looks really good now, but it's only been 2 days so I'm just going to wait and see. Fingers crossed !


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## stcyrwm

If your current technique doesn't work out you could try raising the dosage of KH2PO4. I have found raising the dosing of KH2PO4 works to rid any of my tanks of GDA. I normally dose a quarter as much KH2PO4 as KNO3 but as soon as I get any GDA I double that and the GDA doesn't come back after I clean the glass. 

Hope you don't need this ,
Bill


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## GazK

OH NO IT'S BACK :icon_cry: 

3 days after the big clean off and the GDA is back
Just starting to mist the glass
AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hoppy how's your's doing ?

Where did I go wrong ?


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## duck

After awhile mine came off on it's own,I don't have any on the side's or back it's just the front which i used to clean.
I wish had taken more notice of the time it took to leave on it's own.


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## GazK

Hmmmm I'm not sure another 4 weeks looking at a brown/green mess is an option at the moment
Not much of a choice though
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Bugga


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## Hoppy

The first time I tried this grow out method I accidentally scraped a portion of the glass when I did a water change - the siphon tube rubbed it off. Then it came back when I tried to clean it off after 2 1/2 weeks. My conclusion was that some of what I accidentally scraped must still have been zoospores, which swim around looking for good places to colonize, and it just restarted as a result. But, the next grow out episode wasn't quite as thick as the first, but the plants all got covered with green fuzz instead. The fuzz went away as the stuff on the glass was eaten by the snails and fish. My glass is still free of GDA now, and I did a cleaning yesterday. I wiped the glass yesterday with a paper towel, and got a faint green color on the towel. I'm finding it to be worth the agony of looking at a green mess for three weeks to finally not have the tank become an opaque green curtain 3 days after every cleaniing. So, hang in there, give it another try and just ignore everything going on in the tank for three weeks. (I think it would be a good idea to watch for dead fish and remove any that do die, just to avoid the ammonia spike.)


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## GazK

Cheers for that
So the key is "KEEP AWAY FROM THE SIDES"
I take it you still did your water changes while you were doing this ?
Ta
Gary


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## mad921

I think I'm dealing with the same problem but wanted to double check before I tried leaving it alone. I have bright green spots forming on the glass (mostly the lower portions) and also on some parts of the substrate and some of my wood (those areas most exposed to direct light). I've been scraping it for weeks and it never gets too bad, but it always comes back. It's really hard stuff; the algae scrubber won't touch it, I've been having to use a razor blade.

Sorry to butt in BTW. :redface:


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## Hoppy

Mad921 - What you have sounds like green spot algae, not green dust algae. For that you need more phosphate - try doubling your dosage.

Gary - I did no water changes while doing my successful 3 week "let it alone" cycle. All I did was add enough water to make up for evaporation, and I used a pan to pour that in. Let it alone, means really leave it be! I was almost afraid to breathe on the algae that time. My glass is still algae free too!!


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## Cichlid Freq

So is the time I spent trimming my plants back going to mess with the timetable on this? I had to trim there was almost no swimming space left in the tank from my ludwiga.. ..:icon_cry: I can't take starting over on this again.. I already had to once, one of my sons was being helpful and cleaning the mess off of my front glass for me, he got about a quarter of the way through before I noticed what he was doing :icon_eek: .. It is hard to explain to a 10 year old that helping is not always helpful LOL...


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## GazK

Hoppy - ta for the advice, I'll keep well away from the tank for the next few weeks

Cichlid Freq - wait till he gets older you won't have any trouble with him trying to help then :icon_lol:


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## Hoppy

It just occurred to me that if the green fuzz on the plants that accompanies some GDA infestations is also GDA, then pruning plants would release zoospores to swim around and mess up the "live out the life cycle" process. So, I guess that means we have to totally ignore the tank, other than make up water, for the whole 3 weeks. The good news part of that advice is that when you do go back in there and do a cleanup you see some really good growth of plants - you have to reintroduce yourself to the tank!


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## Cichlid Freq

That is what I was worried about Hoppy... I am thinking I am just going to leave well enough alone until this stuff starts falling off the glass on it's own and see how things look then. This is a frustrating process though. 

Tom, any thoughts on the algae growing on the plants?


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## Kiran

So, with this method you just have to leave the tank completely alone? Does this mean no ferts and CO2? I always get this fuzz 2 or 3 days after cleaning and it drives me mad!


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## RoseHawke

Good question, I was wondering the same thing Kiran. I do EI and would be terrified that something else besides GDA would take up residence if I suspended ferts and the routine for 3 weeks :icon_eek: !


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## Hoppy

Don't stop fertilizing or adding CO2 during this process, just don't disturb the glass or the plants. Maybe you will get the same pleasant surprise I got when I did this! Oh, I see no reason not to reduce the photoperiod down to 8 hours or less during the process - it's not like you can see anything in there anyway.


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## GazK

OK It's been (at least) another 3 weeks.
Been away on Hols and the tank has not been touched for 2 weeks

There is a thin layer of GDA on the glass, nowhere near as bad as last time
but still pretty nasty

When I clean this some is going to get in the water
Best suggestions ?

Hoppy - last time you said you scraped of the stuff above the water when you did a 50% change and then wiped below the water as best you could.
Is yours still OK. You reckon this is the best method

Cheers
Gary


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## RoseHawke

Okay, I'm starting to try this now. I had to do a fairly good cleaning of the tank this past weekend as I had company, but that was Friday. The dust is coming back now but I've been extra careful not to touch it. 

I'll let you know how it looks in three weeks .


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## turbosaurus

Just to butt in for a moment- I THINK what I have is green dust algae- its not hair algae- its not beard/brush algae, and its not GSA- but mine is growing on all of my plants too! Even the hornwort! I mean it covers EVERYTHING....could it be dust algae? I will suffer through three weeks (UGGGGHH) if thats what this is- but its bad- I am afraid that in three weeks I am going to clean off the glass and the whole freeking tank will just be one giant gob of the stuff... 

(29 gal, DIY CO2 + excel, GW PMDD, 65W PC, low PH (6.2 or less) and very low KH and GH)


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## Hoppy

GazK said:


> OK It's been (at least) another 3 weeks.
> Been away on Hols and the tank has not been touched for 2 weeks
> 
> There is a thin layer of GDA on the glass, nowhere near as bad as last time
> but still pretty nasty
> 
> When I clean this some is going to get in the water
> Best suggestions ?
> 
> Hoppy - last time you said you scraped of the stuff above the water when you did a 50% change and then wiped below the water as best you could.
> Is yours still OK. You reckon this is the best method
> 
> Cheers
> Gary


My tank has been free of GDA since I did the full 3 week grow-out thing. I do get a thin haze of green spot algae between water changes, but until about 10 days go by I can't see it from the outside. It is only when I wipe the glass again that I notice it as thin green smudge on the towel. Yesterday I did a water change and minor cleaning after only about 5 days, and when I wiped the glass, as clean as it looked, I did get some green color on the towel. I do think the grow-out method is the best, if not only method to get rid of GDA.


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## 247Plants

My 2 cents on this.....

I "accidentally" didnt clean my glass for a few weeks when I first set it up because of work related issues, but I kept up the WC's and ferts because I was just waiting until I had the time to do a complete clean up and the plants didnt need much trimming at that time....well that was about a year ago and to this day I have not cleaned my front glass other than maybe twice just to get all the "dust" off of the surface to really clear the front glass for some macros.....Currently Im on about a month with my 20H and it is receeded on a daily basis...Im not gonna clean the glass just do regular WC's to see if the tank can naturally clear the front glass on its own...looks promising so far...


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## GazK

Torn between leaving it and seeing if it clears and cleaning it off
I'll have another look later and make a decision (toss a coin :icon_conf)

Cheers


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## Hoppy

I found it was worth it to lose the tank for three weeks in order to gain an algae free glass for the rest of "eternity"!


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## distrbd

Hoppy said:


> I found it was worth it to lose the tank for three weeks in order to gain an algae free glass for the rest of "eternity"!


I have been following this thread with interest for a while now and have decided to wait for 3 weeks or so to get rid of GDA in my tank ,but was wondering why it all started? I only have come up with two reasons for GDA appearing in my tank:
#1 : I recently added more light .
#2 rearranged my plants
I believe #2 is the actual cause of it not the added light.As you all know when you rearrange the plants ,you disturb the substrate, and I really made a mess that day,lots of junk floated around (for a few hours) and I noticed the GDA a day or two after that .Could I be right about this?
Any ways one week is already gone and 2 more to go.I can't wait to clean the tank and hopefully get rid of this menacing GDA for good.


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## RoseHawke

Here's a thought. How much of these spores could just be floating around in the air do you reckon? The reason I'm asking is that I've got a large pond (3 acres?) cattycorner across the street and another one a couple houses down. I'm wondering if I'm just spinning my wheels here.


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## Hoppy

I would bet that all of our aquariums have various algae spores in them, including this one. But, until something tells the spores it is time to try growing they are dormant. That something most likely is a spike of ammonia, but could be other things. The part I don't understand is why, once the GDA goes thru its life cycle, no other GDA spores in the tank give it a try.


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## RoseHawke

One week. Urggghhh :icon_neut . Don't know if I can stand two more weeks of this, but I'm gonna try! I did a W/C today being _extremely careful_ not to let the siphon tube bang against the walls and not vacuuming or anything. I figure it can stand it for three weeks. I've got my digicam set up on a tripod where I'm leaving it and taking a daily picture of the progression of the algae over three weeks. That should be interesting if nothing else.


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## fresh_lynny

lol congrats Hoppy!!!
see? I guess it is true...patience is a virtue!


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## distrbd

I have waited 10 day And I see no differane in the GDA so I did a water change without touching the glass ,did some prunning also  I think I realy screwed it up .Its just I find it so so hard to ignore this ugly mess on my otherwise not so bad looking tank specially now that I am home for two weeks so called vacation.What do you guys think?start all over and no touch for 20 days?


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## distrbd

This is what the front of the tank looks like from inside.


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## Hoppy

I had to wait almost 3 weeks before I was sure the character of the GDA had changed. By then the snails were gorging on it and their tracks were remaining clear of algae. So, I vote that you wait another week and a half at least.


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## GazK

I noticed that my mollies, algae eaters and snails were eating away at the GDA on the front of the tank and it was a lot thinner and more patchy than the thick mess I ended up with last time.

At the very least the amount of GDA is reduced by 50% from last time I tried this.

I did a 50% change at the weekend and cleaned of all the "gunk" above the water line. It had been well over 3 weeks since I started the grow out so I'm hoping the top remains clear. If so I'll clean the rest next weekend.
Fingers crossed.


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## RoseHawke

Here's mine Sunday after one week:










These pictures aren't meant to be "pretty" so I didn't bother about reflections and such. I've left my camera set up on a tripod and am taking a new pic each day. I had to take it off Sunday though to recharge the battery and downloaded the pictures I'd taken so far while I was at it.

Two weeks to go!


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## RoseHawke

When is this stuff going to be ready to scrape *sigh*? This is it as of yesterday:










Two weeks today! Also it's _*on my plants,*_ Mostly the _A. reineckii_ and _Ludwigia repens_. It seems to mostly be staying off the dwarf sag. Will I be able to rub it off of them, I hope, when the time comes?


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## distrbd

RoseHawke said:


> When is this stuff going to be ready to scrape *sigh*? This is it as of yesterday:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Two weeks today! Also it's _*on my plants,*_ Mostly the _A. reineckii_ and _Ludwigia repens_. It seems to mostly be staying off the dwarf sag. Will I be able to rub it off of them, I hope, when the time comes?


:eek5: your looks really bad,I have waited 20 days and tomorrow I will clean it all up .You should wait until it looks brownish in color,I feel for you. just be patient.


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## RoseHawke

Yeah, I skipped the water change this week just to make absolutely sure I didn't stir anything up. I do EI, but I've been dosing ferts half-strength and have my light halved from what it was, so I don't see any issues with skipping a WC at this time. 

If, after 3 weeks (next Sunday) I STILL don't see any change, I'll let it go even longer if that's what it takes. I want to make sure this stuff is GONE :icon_evil !!!


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## Hoppy

Before the three weeks were done mine started to thin out enough that I could see thru areas of it. That was my first sign that I was succeeding. I also had a big snail population explosion because they really, really enjoy eating that stuff, and they got very big as a result. The snails were removing the stuff pretty fast by the end of three weeks. Tom says wait even less than 3 weeks before cleaning it up, but I wanted to be absolutely sure before I cleaned mine up. The best news was that the plants which were all covered with green fuzz cleaned themselves (?) as the algae aged to the 3 week time. And, it hasn't come back yet several weeks later.


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## distrbd

*Patience is a virtue*

Well, it looks like Hoppy and Tom were right.Today I looked at the front of the tank from inside and there is no sign of GDA ,normally 24 hours after cleaning it I could see a thin green ugly layer on the sides .
For some reason the water looks clearer!My advice: wait 21 day as painful as it might be.


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## RoseHawke

Man, oh, man I hope so! I have noticed that the texture of the stuff seems to have changed. Spots are clear(er) than they were, where something (snails or otos) have cleaned them, but so far they've been getting speckled back with the stuff. But that's all it is, speckles, maybe it's slowing down.

Just what I need, more snails :icon_roll . . . I may end up fishing out as many shrimp as I can find and putting some loaches in there!


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## turbosaurus

Haven't touched mine since 7/18. Today is 2 weeks and it has gotten progressively worse! I can't stand it! UUGGHGHGHHG! Mine has already turned brownish and is starting to look almost Jelly like instead of just a smooth even dusting... should I wait?


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## distrbd

turbosaurus said:


> Haven't touched mine since 7/18. Today is 2 weeks and it has gotten progressively worse! I can't stand it! UUGGHGHGHHG! Mine has already turned brownish and is starting to look almost Jelly like instead of just a smooth even dusting... should I wait?


I wouldn't wait .Don't torture youself and start cleaning.


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## distrbd

RoseHawke said:


> Man, oh, man I hope so! I have noticed that the texture of the stuff seems to have changed. Spots are clear(er) than they were, where something (snails or otos) have cleaned them, but so far they've been getting speckled back with the stuff. But that's all it is, speckles, maybe it's slowing down.
> 
> Just what I need, more snails :icon_roll . . . I may end up fishing out as many shrimp as I can find and putting some loaches in there!


I remember that Clown loaches were great for getting rid of snails.Throw in 5-6 clowns they would love you for it.


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## LS6 Tommy

I haven't done anything in my tank other than topping off. My GDA was starting to get "patchy" and browning up in spots before I went on vacation last week. I also had what looked like the beginning of a round of green H2O. I obviuosly didn't dose any ferts while I was gone and didn't change the lighting or CO2 schedules. When I came home it was looking better, and within 2 days the H2O had gone clear again. As soon as I get my _Turbo Twist_ and get it installed, it's glass cleaning time.

Tommy


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## GazK

Cleaned mine off Saturday
Tank looks really good and the water's very clear
Still not convinced though, only time will tell but I'm
thinking by Thursday it's going to be GDA again

Yesterady I noticed some new algea on a lot of the plant stems that
I hadn't seen before. Sort of like fluffy, grey tufts ??
Any ideas ?


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## RoseHawke

Sounds like it might be BBA (Black Brush Algae) GazK. I actually noticed bit of it trying to start up on the edges of a few leaves of my dwarf sag yesterday as I was cleaning up my own tank. Presumably one of the causes can be low CO2 but I find it interesting that it's trying to take up residence in a tank that's never had it before, one that hasn't been touched in 3 weeks and yours as well. I'll bump the CO2 up a bit today just in case.

Man! It's good to be able to see in the tank again! I've got a very slight haze to the water also, and will be running the diatom filter today to polish it up. It'll probably take a week or two to whip the 'scape, such as it is, back into shape it's so overgrown. As hubby was handling the python I was wiping the glass down with paper towels and he wanted to know if it had always come off that easily. "No, not like this. Not hard, but not this easily." Almost felt like I could blow on it and it would come off. Although I've got a few little spots of GSA (Green Spot Algae) that were apparently lurking in the murk. So to speak. I'll have to up my phosphates a bit.

Like you though, I'm a bit sceptical even though I've got my fingers crossed that I've seen the last of it.


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## RoseHawke

*It's baaaaaaaackkkk . . .*

Well, the lights just came on on the tank, and guess what? There's a green haze on one of the end panels  .

*sigh* *If *I do this again, it's not going to be touched for a bloody _month_. I am just heartsick. I don't know if I can do this again.


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## distrbd

I also got that green haze so did Hoppy as far as I remember,It's just a thin layer and doesn't really bother me.
I have resolved myself to the fact that in a mature tank there is always going to be a little algae of one sort or another,I can only try to limit their growth rather than eradicate them completely.


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## RoseHawke

Well, it's spreading then . It's on the back and the front as well now, this within 24 hours. I don't think this is just a "little bit" as my little low-tech tank _never_ gets any kind of a haze at all. It's been set up for several months now as a matter of fact and I don't remember ever cleaning the glass on it!


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## Hoppy

My thin haze proved to be green spot algae, and I still get some of it. The fix is supposed to be more phosphate in the water. I add almost double what the dosing tables say I should use, so I just live with having to clean the glass every week. It is many times less severe than GDA was, but much harder to clean off the glass.


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## RoseHawke

_*sigh*_ Unfortunately I know what GSA looks like and this ain't it (also I ran a finger through it and it came right off.) Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) I know what most types of algae look like. 

Ah, well, I'll try it for a month this time :icon_roll. I'm going to be out of town for 10 days toward the end of that period visiting my sis, so at least I won't have to look at it for that length of time!


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## GazK

Well it's been 2 days and the glass is still clean and the water clear so that's a good start

Last time it took 3-4 days before a little dusting started to appear but I reckon I might go with the cleaning method if this happens again (depending on the severity).

RoseHawke- I agree I think it's BBA. I've upped the CO2 and will keep an eye on it. I'm always wary about the CO2 as my Platys tend to start suffering.


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## GazK

1 week no GDA
Please let it be so


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## RoseHawke

GazK, maybe third time's the charm, eh? 

Sunday'll be one week into it for the second time for me :icon_roll . It doesn't look _quite_ as bad this time around, but it's still pretty bad .


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## GazK

Each time a did it the amount that came back was less
Last time it was very thin, still left it 3 weeks
I'm hoping that's the end of it  

Persevere it does seem to work


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## LS6 Tommy

I scraped my glass Sunday. Let's see how we do...

Tommy


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## LS6 Tommy

Still clean 2 days later...

Tommy


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## Bert H

> *sigh* If I do this again, it's not going to be touched for a bloody month.


Cindy, don't give up! I went through this as well. The first time I let it go for 3 weeks, cleaned it up and saw it returning within 3 days. Then I let it go for 5 weeks. This second time it didn't get as bad as the first, and by the end of the 5 weeks, about half of what had formed disappeared. At that point, I did a big wipe/scrape off and (knock on wood) all's been well since then.


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## CrashTest

I guess it's been close to 3 months since I let my GDA go for a few weeks. It was never as bad as some have described, though an annoying weekly ritual to scrape. It will now consistently take 2 weeks to be noticeable, and another week for me to be motivated to clean it. So in theory, I let it go for three week cycles. It's not a lot to complain about, but it would be nice to have clean class (or acrylic in my case) all the time.

I do need to be more consitent in my ferts and water changes, and also need to diffuse more CO2 (my DIY difuser isn't getting enough in). Once I can manage those things, we'll see what happens.


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## EricSilver

This method definitely works. :thumbsup: 

Two weeks ago my heater failed in the “On” position, raising my water to about 102 degrees. Fortunately, I was at home when it occurred. Unfortunately, my fish were well into their death spirals when I noticed it. Interestingly, with the exception of a Crypt that melted about 90%, the plants were unaffected, nor were the Malaysian Trumpet Snails (who simply dove deeper under the sand to escape the heat). 

After cleaning up the mess and doing a water change, I added a small bunch of Ludwigia and left the tank alone to settle. Two days after the water change, the green dust algae appeared, as always, on the front glass, and I decided to leave it alone. 

It has been 10 days since the algae appeared, and it has already largely disintegrated, with no scraping required. It began as a large, crescent-shaped green fuzzy bright green carpet over about 75% of the glass. Darker green/ brown patches began forming, and narrow snail trails were visible. The brown began to turn to gray, and the snail trails became larger, clearer, and more numerous, and then morphed into clear patches, transforming the once-solid algae carpet into a broken, rapidly shrinking mosaic. 

There is a faint layer of grey/brown dust on the substrate, driftwood and some of the plants, which is stirred up easily. I assume these are the accumulated corpses of the dead algae. 

There are a couple of things that clearly contributed to the unusually rapid demise of the algae: 

1. Longer Photo Period. 
Because there were no fish to stress out, I left the lights on 16-18 hours/day. For the past 2 days, they have been on 24 hrs. The constant light appears to accelerate algae growth, burning them out more quickly. 

2. Pond Snail Grazing
Despite thorough inspection and rinsing of the Ludwigia, about two-dozen tiny pond snails made it into the tank. These guys are not tiny anymore, and have done a spectacular job of eating the algae, growing much larger in the process. Because they have eaten more algae, in a shorter time, than my Ottos ever did, and have no apparent interest in munching on the plants, my “crush on sight” policy towards them is now suspended, and they will remain as valued members of the tank’s cleanup crew. 

(Interesting note: Pond snails can evidently sense or smell algae, since every one that I can find in the tank is on the front glass. The Malaysian Trumpet snails are ignoring that area altogether.) 

3. Low Light Tank
I have only 55 watts over a 29 gal, so I am spared the 4-week wait for results that people with high-wattage endure. Right now, the only remaining parts bright green areas are right at the waterline, closest to the light bulbs. 

I expect all of the algae to be gone within the next 4 days, making the entire cycle time just 14 days. What I will ultimately scrape off is the transparent grey film that is left behind, in the areas the snails didn't touch. 

Hopefully, that will be the end of it, but we’ll see.


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## loveofthewounded

ok, dumb question, sorry. i want to put up a pic in this thread so you guys can all see what i have and tell me if the "let it grow till it dies" technique is what i should use. how do i put a pic in from my computer? when i click on the insert photo button i just get a promt for a url. forgive my clumsiness with a computer. thanks, all.


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## Hoppy

You need to have your photos "hosted" by one of the free photo hosting services, such as this one http://www.villagephotos.com/. Then you upload your photo from your computer to the host, copy the url for that photo and paste it in the little prompt window where you write your post. It is pretty simple and self guiding.


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## LS6 Tommy

Day 4 and still clear...

Tommy


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## LS6 Tommy

Day 5,:thumbsup: 

Tommy


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## Hoppy

LS6 Tommy said:


> Day 5,:thumbsup:
> 
> Tommy


GDA comes back much sooner than 5 days in my experience. So, I hereby declare you the winner!!!


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## distrbd

If that's the case,I declare myself a winner also  ,it has been over 3 weeks and GDA is not back.Even that thin haze is gone.:thumbsup:


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## LS6 Tommy

Hoppy said:


> GDA comes back much sooner than 5 days in my experience. So, I hereby declare you the winner!!!


Oh, yeah, it comes back really fast. I would clean the glass on a Saturday morning and it would be noticeable by Saturday evening. 

Day 6, all clear, BTW.roud: 

Tommy


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## RoseHawke

Well, still have a nice crop of GDA, and guess what? We now have green water also! _Ba-dah-booom!_

The fun never ends . . .


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## LS6 Tommy

RoseHawke said:


> Well, still have a nice crop of GDA, and guess what? We now have green water also! _Ba-dah-booom!_
> 
> The fun never ends . . .


I had just the exact opposite. I got the Green H2O first, then the GDA alomost immediatelya after the Green H2O was almost gone. During the time I did the "leave-it-alone" treatment for the GDA, I had a very slight re-bloom of Green H2O. It went away the day my U/V arrived. Figures.:icon_roll 

Tommy


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## EricSilver

I am also declaring victory. :thumbsup: 

Today is Day 15, and as of Day 11, the algae was gone. I wanted to wait a few days, do a partial water change, and add some ferts, just in case. 

On Day 11, I sponged away any remaining brown/grey patches. A peppering of green, needle point-sized algae dots remained, and I left them alone to see if they would multiply. On Day 12, there was no change, so I scraped them off, and the glass has remained clear since. 

Over the past few days the snails have shifted their attention to my filter intake tube, which is now remarkably algae & slime-free, and the leaves of the plants, which are cleaner than ever. One thing that weighs in my favor is the current absence of fish in the tank. When I add new Cories and, especially, Tiger Barbs, things will likely change. 

Fish waste may cause a spike in ammonia/nitrates that triggers new algae growth. And the Tiger Barbs will surely irritate the snails to the point where they go into hiding and do only half the cleanup work they are doing now. 





EricSilver said:


> This method definitely works. :thumbsup:
> 
> Two weeks ago my heater failed in the “On” position, raising my water to about 102 degrees. Fortunately, I was at home when it occurred. Unfortunately, my fish were well into their death spirals when I noticed it. Interestingly, with the exception of a Crypt that melted about 90%, the plants were unaffected, nor were the Malaysian Trumpet Snails (who simply dove deeper under the sand to escape the heat).
> 
> After cleaning up the mess and doing a water change, I added a small bunch of Ludwigia and left the tank alone to settle. Two days after the water change, the green dust algae appeared, as always, on the front glass, and I decided to leave it alone.
> 
> It has been 10 days since the algae appeared, and it has already largely disintegrated, with no scraping required. It began as a large, crescent-shaped green fuzzy bright green carpet over about 75% of the glass. Darker green/ brown patches began forming, and narrow snail trails were visible. The brown began to turn to gray, and the snail trails became larger, clearer, and more numerous, and then morphed into clear patches, transforming the once-solid algae carpet into a broken, rapidly shrinking mosaic.
> 
> There is a faint layer of grey/brown dust on the substrate, driftwood and some of the plants, which is stirred up easily. I assume these are the accumulated corpses of the dead algae.
> 
> There are a couple of things that clearly contributed to the unusually rapid demise of the algae:
> 
> 1. Longer Photo Period.
> Because there were no fish to stress out, I left the lights on 16-18 hours/day. For the past 2 days, they have been on 24 hrs. The constant light appears to accelerate algae growth, burning them out more quickly.
> 
> 2. Pond Snail Grazing
> Despite thorough inspection and rinsing of the Ludwigia, about two-dozen tiny pond snails made it into the tank. These guys are not tiny anymore, and have done a spectacular job of eating the algae, growing much larger in the process. Because they have eaten more algae, in a shorter time, than my Ottos ever did, and have no apparent interest in munching on the plants, my “crush on sight” policy towards them is now suspended, and they will remain as valued members of the tank’s cleanup crew.
> 
> (Interesting note: Pond snails can evidently sense or smell algae, since every one that I can find in the tank is on the front glass. The Malaysian Trumpet snails are ignoring that area altogether.)
> 
> 3. Low Light Tank
> I have only 55 watts over a 29 gal, so I am spared the 4-week wait for results that people with high-wattage endure. Right now, the only remaining parts bright green areas are right at the waterline, closest to the light bulbs.
> 
> I expect all of the algae to be gone within the next 4 days, making the entire cycle time just 14 days. What I will ultimately scrape off is the transparent grey film that is left behind, in the areas the snails didn't touch.
> 
> Hopefully, that will be the end of it, but we’ll see.


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## RoseHawke

LS6 Tommy said:


> I had just the exact opposite. I got the Green H2O first, then the GDA alomost immediatelya after the Green H2O was almost gone. During the time I did the "leave-it-alone" treatment for the GDA, I had a very slight re-bloom of Green H2O. It went away the day my U/V arrived. Figures.:icon_roll
> 
> Tommy


Well, I ordered an 18 watt UV Turbotwist today, overkill for a 55 I know, but I keep looking ahead . I would be _ecstatic _if the green water would go away on the day the UV arrives, but I don't see that happening! I can't run the diatom on the tank 'cause I don't want to take a chance stirring things up. I did test for possible ammonia and the test was negative, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a spike in there that I didn't catch. Of course, with the GDA totally obscuring the glass it's very hard to count noses, so it's very possible that someone went "belly up" and I was unawares.

I'm going to plumb the UVS into the system, although I will probably only turn it on when necessary. I'm a klutz with these things. I'm hoping that if it's semi-permanently attached maybe I won't break it!


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## EricSilver

Day 22: 11 days free of algae -- of any kind. Not even minor traces of growth on glass, despite extended photo periods. Water clarity is crystal clear. 

I am wondering if the dust algae, upon death, releases a "do not grow" enzyme or chemical that inhibits subsequent algae growth? By now I should have seen more than the few spots of diatoms I rubbed off two annubias leaves (before the snails could get them). 

Then again, I still have no fish in the tank, and that could have something to do with it. 





EricSilver said:


> I am also declaring victory. :thumbsup:
> 
> Today is Day 15, and as of Day 11, the algae was gone. I wanted to wait a few days, do a partial water change, and add some ferts, just in case.
> 
> On Day 11, I sponged away any remaining brown/grey patches. A peppering of green, needle point-sized algae dots remained, and I left them alone to see if they would multiply. On Day 12, there was no change, so I scraped them off, and the glass has remained clear since.
> 
> Over the past few days the snails have shifted their attention to my filter intake tube, which is now remarkably algae & slime-free, and the leaves of the plants, which are cleaner than ever. One thing that weighs in my favor is the current absence of fish in the tank. When I add new Cories and, especially, Tiger Barbs, things will likely change.
> 
> Fish waste may cause a spike in ammonia/nitrates that triggers new algae growth. And the Tiger Barbs will surely irritate the snails to the point where they go into hiding and do only half the cleanup work they are doing now.


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## turbowagon

I waited out my GDA for exactly 3 weeks before doing a full cleanup (today). Here are some before and after pics. I hope it doesn't come back!


Before:



















and After:


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## jojo4rmdabronx

wow, turbowagon, i have the same problem but my GDA isnt as thick as urs. ima try and do what u did, wait for 3 weeks and then scrape it off.


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## turbowagon

I was worried about one thing before I went through with the cleanup.... if you look at the first picture I posted, you can see that where the algae is thick, it is dying and coming off of the glass. However, near the outside edges of the massive blob, there appears to be GDA in it's "early" form.

Has anyone else who has done the 3-week wait also have GDA in various development stages while scraping, or has the entire crop "turned" ? I guess I'll know in a few days if I was too hasty.


Ah.... who cares! I can finally see into my tank again!


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## RoseHawke

Umm, I did . And sure enough, it came back . . . within hours! 

The second time I never touched it _at all._ I never even cleaned the glass, it fell off and/or the snails and otos ate it. It just _looked_ like I'd cleaned the glass . It actually "went away" a bit faster the second time around, was definitely on the way out at three weeks, and totally gone by four.


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## danepatrick

so i can seem to figure out which i should do. let the algae fall off and never touch the glass even after 3 weeks, or let it turn brown, wipe it off, and siphon out all the dead algae. i'm 4 days into it now and all i have touched is the very top of the glass when i did my wc on monday. that should be fine right? i mean, 3 days and it hasn't come back _yet_. ::knocks on wood::


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## Hoppy

I found that knocking any of the algae off the glass with a water change just resets the clock for the 2-3 week cycle. So, when I succeeded I didn't even change any water for three weeks, just added makeup water.


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## danepatrick

Hoppy said:


> I found that knocking any of the algae off the glass with a water change just resets the clock for the 2-3 week cycle. So, when I succeeded I didn't even change any water for three weeks, just added makeup water.


well i didn't knock it off into the water (or so i think). i just wiped it off with a paper towel and then filled it back up. ok, so if i reset, what about nitrates building up? should i keep dosing like normal, or maybe cut them in half and cut my light in half as well as someone else did?


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## Hoppy

I don't think the EI dosage of nitrates we use will build up the tank water nitrate high enough to bother any fish in three weeks. Remember, the plants and the algae will be consuming the nitrate during that time too. But, reducing the light period or intensity will slow down the algae growth. My gut feeling is that I want the GDA to grow fast and get it over with. I'm in the midst of a GDA cycle right now on my 45 gallon tank, and I am dosing and using light with no changes. However, I use a continuous water change system, so I won't get a buildup anyway.


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## BSS

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! (So, what really does that phrase mean? And, does it make me related to Hoppy  ?)

So, I've been viciously pruning algae filled leaves for, what seems like a year, always thinking it was GSA or some form of BBA (which I've also always seem to have a mild case of), and this whole time, it coulda been this PITA algae  ? As to GDA on my glass, I'll have a slight dusting for one-two weeks, then nothing really noticeable for a month or so. But, just tonight I started wondering if GDA could also form of leaves. And, low and behold, this thread seems to cover it all!

So, time to go top off my tank...keep it topped off...and sit back for a few weeks.

Man, I'd love to stop having to hack up all those leaves, and if this treatment cleans up the leaves already affected, that would be a bonus!

Oh, and perhaps just a coincidence, but as I'm walking away from my tube about 20 minutes ago, putting my daughter down to sleep, I noticed that the GDA on the side of my tank is pearling. I can't get my da*(&)^ riccia to pearl, and this GDA is just laughing at me :icon_evil :icon_evil :icon_evil . Oooooooo, I'm gonna enjoy watching it suffer these next 3...or 4...or 5 weeks  .

So, should we change the title of this thread to 'Treating GDA' (or similar) and see if we can make it a sticky?


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## Ryzilla

BSS said:


> Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! (So, what really does that phrase mean? And, does it make me related to Hoppy  ?)
> 
> So, I've been viciously pruning algae filled leaves for, what seems like a year, always thinking it was GSA or some form of BBA (which I've also always seem to have a mild case of), and this whole time, it coulda been this PITA algae  ? As to GDA on my glass, I'll have a slight dusting for one-two weeks, then nothing really noticeable for a month or so. But, just tonight I started wondering if GDA could also form of leaves. And, low and behold, this thread seems to cover it all!
> 
> So, time to go top off my tank...keep it topped off...and sit back for a few weeks.
> 
> Man, I'd love to stop having to hack up all those leaves, and if this treatment cleans up the leaves already affected, that would be a bonus!
> 
> Oh, and perhaps just a coincidence, but as I'm walking away from my tube about 20 minutes ago, putting my daughter down to sleep, I noticed that the GDA on the side of my tank is pearling. I can't get my da*(&)^ riccia to pearl, and this GDA is just laughing at me :icon_evil :icon_evil :icon_evil . Oooooooo, I'm gonna enjoy watching it suffer these next 3...or 4...or 5 weeks  .
> 
> So, should we change the title of this thread to 'Treating GDA' (or similar) and see if we can make it a sticky?


Is green "death" algae the same as fuzz algae that gets on the glass?


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## Hoppy

I have asked that question about GDA possibly being the green fuzz on plants, but haven't had anyone daring enough to say yes. I am running another controlled experiment on it - intentional, of course, just in the interest of science, of course - in my 45 gallon tank. Just as it was in my old 29 gallon tank with GDA, every plant in there except the blyxa is green fuzzed up. It's been just less than 2 weeks now, and the glass algae is getting more brown every day, but the plants aren't looking any different.

The last time I went thru this I had a tank full of snails that gorged themselves on the GDA, but now I have three Yoyo Loaches, and not a snail in sight.


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## epicfish

Wow, just browsed the forum to look for a solution for algae building up on my glass...guess it's a 3 week wait time now. =/

I have crazy high lighting, but have DIY CO2 and dose fertilizers with the EI method and still got this algae. I'll try to wait it out and then scrape it off at 3 or 4 weeks and see how it reacts.


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## fishsmash

during the grow-out period is it alright to at least clean your filter? the flows getting pretty weak.


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## hokuryu

Old thread, timeless problem, it seems. 

My issue is that I have one very rapacious BN pleco, and his underlings, 3 very happy otos, going to town. I even saw a behemoth amano finally decide to grace us with his or her august presence, don't know if it's at all the salad smell coming from the front pane. 

What to do to allow this to get through its cycle, in the presence of a crew of too-efficient little ones? Feed them more wafers, etc.?


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## alym

I have the same problem - I can not rid myself of this horrible stuff...I want to see my fish!!

If possible, I'm really looking for help as to how to rid my tank of this algae. There are some spots, due to planting, that I can't get at with an algae scraper. Are there any fish/shrimp that actually can make a dent into this stuff? Maybe some japonica shrimp?


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