# Rooibos tea as an algae inhibitor?



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Why would you add that tea instead of Pepsi Cola, for example? Why would you expect it to be an algaecide?


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

Hoppy said:


> Why would you add that tea instead of Pepsi Cola, for example? Why would you expect it to be an algaecide?


In doing some research online I found that it provides algae relief as well as having similar effects to almond leaves such as antimicrobial effects.

Not so much scientific more so anecdotal reports such as this 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/29nigp/completely_natural_way_to_get_rid_of_hair_algae/ 

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=71248

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/426403-rooibos-tea-and-indian-almond-leaves/

I found some others as well and figured i'd give it a try. The tea has been in since I posted the thread and thus far the notable changes are that my water is now tea colored (shocking, i know) and my shrimp seem to be more active and out and about. Not in a bad way, but they are grazing in the foreground and attacking the algae wafer i put in more than I'd usually see


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## DayOlder (Jul 12, 2014)

I can only state what has worked for me and that is Flourish Excel. Don't take my word for it do a Google on it and algae. I got rid of BBA in three days by putting 20 ml in my 26 gal tank each day. I then, and probably will for evermore, put in 5 ml each day. Not only did my BBA go away after three days my plants took off like crazy and neither my fish or invertebrates seemed bothered. 

I should add I also removed the initial cause which I believe was overfeeding and inconsistent CO2.


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

Thanks for the input DayOlder, I myself dose Excel (metricide 14 technically which has the same active ingredient but is a bit cheaper) and agree that a good regimen of that by itself or in addition to H2O2 is great at treating BBA, however when I tried it on my hair algae problem it seems to have stopped the extreme bloom I was experiencing but hasn't really killed it off. I only keep shrimp in my tank so feedings are rare if at all but I think my issue was the co2 like you mentioned. I am treating with the tea to try to eradicate all that I can and get a "fresh start" if you will without tearing the tank down.


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## DayOlder (Jul 12, 2014)

How long are you running your lights for and/or are you close to a window?


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

11:30-6:30 and not close enough that it would have an impact as light only comes in indirectly for about an hour


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## DayOlder (Jul 12, 2014)

Lighting was the other thing I changed, from 10 to 8 hours/day.


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## Kdog (Apr 13, 2014)

DayOlder said:


> I can only state what has worked for me and that is Flourish Excel. Don't take my word for it do a Google on it and algae. I got rid of BBA in three days by putting 20 ml in my 26 gal tank each day. I then, and probably will for evermore, put in 5 ml each day. Not only did my BBA go away after three days my plants took off like crazy and neither my fish or invertebrates seemed bothered.
> 
> I should add I also removed the initial cause which I believe was overfeeding and inconsistent CO2.


That's almost 1 ml a gallon of excel! I can't believe it did not irritate/kill any of your live specimens.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Kdog said:


> That's almost 1 ml a gallon of excel! I can't believe it did not irritate/kill any of your live specimens.


But, doesn't Seachem recommend that high a dosage as an initial dosage? I don't see the reason for doing that, but I do see good reason to increase the daily dose to double what Seachem recommends - I found it worked much better if I did that. And, I believe it makes good sense to dose daily instead of every other day, since Excel is said to last only one day in the tank.


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

Hoppy said:


> But, doesn't Seachem recommend that high a dosage as an initial dosage?


The initial dose recommended by seachem is 5ml per 10 gallons not the near 1:1 that you did, but if everything came out healthy and alive it could also be due to other organics in your tank that made use of the glutaraldehyde in excel before it was able to harm your organisms


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