# My treatment for spirogyra algae



## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Here are some photos of the algae (you might have to turn up the brightness on your screen to see it):


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Disclaimer: This is merely my attempted treatment once spirogyra has established itself, not a fix for the root cause of the outbreak. For that, you must to more research, as I cannot explain it all here.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Algaefix would have done the job with virtually no labor.

But as you state, the root cause is not addressed.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

plantbrain said:


> Algaefix would have done the job with virtually no labor.
> 
> But as you state, the root cause is not addressed.


Would Algaefix not kill the plants or harm the fish and shrimp?


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Okay, I've done a little bit of reading on Algaefix. I am intrigued. Now, could you feed my curiosity and maybe direct to a link that explains how it works to kill algae without harming plants and aquatic animals?


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

I found this thread on The Barr Report: Algaefix toxicity test on Red Cherry shrimp

Would that have a similar effect on Amano shrimp as well? I also notice that it took longer treatment for spirogyra, about a week, which according to your experiment, would have proved fatal for the shrimp. Was that a week of daily dosing only or was there more to it?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I removed the shrimp.

I left a few in there to see what they would do, and often times, you miss a few shrimp etc.......hard to get every last one, they acted drunk and slow....so they were much easier to catch and remove after 1-2 days of treatment.

This algae is a tough one to kill.
I have done a similar method you suggested, PITA, took about 1-2 months to get rid of it. Lots of work.

I spend time tweaking CO2, cleaning the tank, trimming better, cleaning filters etc instead now.

So it did not kill many of the shrimp(cherry or Amano's), maybe 5-30% losses for me........it did kill a few. Fish and every plant and moss were not affected.
I do large water changes and cleaning before and after also.

Generally, it's too much light, not enough CO2, current also may play some role for this alga.

It can also be transferred in an active virulent form from say out side in ponds, vats etc, into your aquarium if you do not wash your arms and are picking or cleaning in your pond or tubs. I must have done this 3-4 times this year.:icon_roll

PITA.........but this product does not kill too much else other than green hair algae.

Still, I welcome it because of the labor is among the worst to get rid of it. BBA is not bad with Excel and a few other things.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

The problem with spirogyra is that you can have a prolific amount of it, but the root cause was temporary and simply a trigger regardless of how balanced your tank is currently. I had an outbreak I fought for a long time that started from am ammonia spike related to adding a handful of Amazonia to a relatively established tank, and with Tom's recommendation tried AlgaeFix. It worked beautifully and has not come back since.

I did remove my inverts, however, but saw no ill effects on my fish or plants after following the directions.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

TexasCichlid said:


> The problem with spirogyra is that you can have a prolific amount of it, but the root cause was temporary and simply a trigger regardless of how balanced your tank is currently. I had an outbreak I fought for a long time that started from am ammonia spike related to adding a handful of Amazonia to a relatively established tank, and with Tom's recommendation tried AlgaeFix. It worked beautifully and has not come back since.
> 
> I did remove my inverts, however, but saw no ill effects on my fish or plants after following the directions.


Thanks for sharing your experience. I guess in the future I could try to remove my inverts. Finding and catching them all seems like it would be a huge PITA, but I guess maybe not as big a pain as doing what I did.

Tom, thanks again for your response. I don't exactly know what my trigger might have been, but I'm sure overly dense plant growth leading to inadequate circulation, intense lighting, etc. played a role in exacerbating the problem. I'm fertilizing using EI method. While cleaning the tank, I did find 2 dead assassin snails. Idk if that would be enough of an ammonia spike to trigger the outbreak.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Good luck. Spiro was the toughest algae I have faced by far. I am happy to hear you were able to knock it back.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I have been looking into this pretty hard as well...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=197452


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

I will have to remember this thread so I am subscribing. I haven't had a problem with algae yet but it is highly likely that I will at some point. Hopefully it won't be this stuff since it's a tough one!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

chad320 said:


> I have been looking into this pretty hard as well...
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=197452


Excellent thread! I love the scientific method approach  You apparently think much like I do. Definitely will have to keep that thread for future reference. Thank you very much for sharing that.

Amanda, I'm sure you will  I just hope you don't get it as bad as it hit my tank.


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## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

Rosy barbs.


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## jonathan (Nov 29, 2012)

I had this problem in a ten gallon aquarium with java moss, and I used Algaefix. Algae turned pink, then eventually white. It was dead and never actually went away. None of my fish would eat it. I ended up throwing everything it touched away.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

If you hit it with the proper dose of AlgaeFix, you won't have to trim or disposes of plants in my experience with it. Hate spiro.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

I haven't updated this thread in a while. The H2O2 treatment appeared to work for about a week and a half but I started seeing little green threads appearing again. This time I set up a quarantine tank and caught all my shrimp and quarantined them in the quarantine tank for the duration of the AlgaeFix treatment which did work. I used 3 treatments as per the directions on the bottle, 3 days apart, just to make sure I got rid of it before I left for Christmas break. This looks to have worked so far but I will know for sure when I get back to my apartment on Friday. I've had someone caring for the aquarium while I've been gone.

Lesson learned: try Algaefix first. Much less labor intensive and I saw improvement withing the first 3 days and throughout the whole treatement there was do noticeable damage to any of the plants or the moss.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Will Algaefix kill off mosses/liverworts?


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

meowschwitz said:


> Will Algaefix kill off mosses/liverworts?


Can't say about liverworts, but it doesn't seem to harm mosses. Read this thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=197452


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for sharing, I am going to subscribe because I am facing the same problem... still not sure if it is fixed :S


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

parrottbay said:


> Thanks for sharing, I am going to subscribe because I am facing the same problem... still not sure if it is fixed :S


Spiro is definitely a pain in the butt. I will try to update this thread when I get back to my aquarium on Friday. Hopefully there's no spirogyra left growing in it.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

H2O2 never eradicated it, I tried a few times.
Algaefix does kill it all. 

Root issue needs solved 1st, mostly CO2 issues.
Current etc.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

plantbrain said:


> H2O2 never eradicated it, I tried a few times.
> Algaefix does kill it all.
> 
> Root issue needs solved 1st, mostly CO2 issues.
> Current etc.


I understand that. Before I left, I increased CO2 as well as cleaned my diffuser, decreased photo-period, added a 1.5hr break in photo-period midday, thinned out what needed thinning, trimmed everything pretty heavily, I might also try raising my light a couple inches higher in the canopy to help reduce BBA growth as well. putting in my glass top has definitely had an effect on light intensity and BBA growth has slowed, but I still have 2 or 3 inches more that I can possibly raise the light to decrease or halt its growth. While I've been gone I've had someone coming to fertilize the tank each day and do water changes according to my normal maintenance schedule. I wish I had found your advice about AlgaeFix before I went through all that trouble with the H2O2. It worked remarkably well, apparent after the 2nd dose (6 days, dosed on day 1 and 4). I just did a 3rd dose to be safe. I was actually able to catch all of my shrimp and place them all in quarantine so I had no casualties.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Update: While I was gone for Christmas break, my CO2 ran low, so I had an algae bloom. When I returned, the plants were completely overrun with hair algae, whether it be spirogyra or other types, as well as BBA. It appears that I didn't re-acclimate my shrimp adequately when I added them back to the tank right before I left and I guess they all died  Since I got back last week, I've treated with AlgaeFix for 2 doses, one dose on the first day and one dose on the 4th day. It has nearly eliminated the hair algae. I will dose maybe once or twice more to try to get rid of it all, but the AlgaeFix worked wonders on the hair algae. Now I just have to figure out how to kill the BBA. Now that I have my CO2 back in order, I should be able to prevent further growth, but killing what is already there in my next task to conquer.


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## seachaz (Jan 20, 2012)

I'd been silently monitoring this thread as I too had an outbreak after uprooting some larger stem plants - I think the stirred up aquasoil was likely the cause. Anyway after trimming impacted plants plants, more frequent water changes, manually removing it and spot treatments with hydrogen peroxide (these all just kept it in check but didn't eliminate it) I finally succumbed to doing a blackout on the tank while I was out of town. 

Before leaving did a very large water change, cleaned all the interior glass, filter intake and any large portions on the plants. Then blacked out the entire room for ~2.5 days except for 1/2 hour each day when I had some LEDs come to provide indirect light for the fish during their feeding. Tank appears clean of the stuff, now have to see if it stays that way when I go back to a normal light schedule. Fish and CRS survived, plants look pale but alive, dwarf hairgrass took the worst of it but should recover with time.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

meowschwitz said:


> Will Algaefix kill off mosses/liverworts?


No, they are very tolerant of it.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

AUvet14 said:


> I understand that. Before I left, I increased CO2 as well as cleaned my diffuser, decreased photo-period, added a 1.5hr break in photo-period midday, thinned out what needed thinning, trimmed everything pretty heavily, I might also try raising my light a couple inches higher in the canopy to help reduce BBA growth as well. putting in my glass top has definitely had an effect on light intensity and BBA growth has slowed, but I still have 2 or 3 inches more that I can possibly raise the light to decrease or halt its growth. While I've been gone I've had someone coming to fertilize the tank each day and do water changes according to my normal maintenance schedule. I wish I had found your advice about AlgaeFix before I went through all that trouble with the H2O2. It worked remarkably well, apparent after the 2nd dose (6 days, dosed on day 1 and 4). I just did a 3rd dose to be safe. I was actually able to catch all of my shrimp and place them all in quarantine so I had no casualties.


I suffered for years with it, beating it back was never easy. Possible, but took a lot of work. I often removed the infested plants which worked well also.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Still subscribed and did you ever combat the BBA? I now have that issue also... hahah


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

I have spirogyra and BBA in my tank too. Really want to kill them all. nasty look in my tank. trying to figure out the root issue, but also want to get rip of them as soo as possible, so I bought 3 platy from petsmart and put them in the tank to see if they really eat spirogyra. (A lot of people report that platy eat spirogyra ) It's already 2 days. I see one of them eating the spirogyra this morning. That's a good sign. I don't feed them anything. Hop they eAT ALL the spirogyra.


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Dug up this thread from google. It seems spirogyra algae and BBA have happened in combo for a couple of contributors.

I am having this same issue. Anyone know if the cause of this combo was ever determined?


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