# Can Cladophora algae be removed from moss?



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I never buy moss at the local pet stores. Except last night. This was just an spectular moss - .99 for a softball size! However, when I got it home, there is blanket weed, aka cladophora algae throughout it. I wonder why the price was to good to be true... :icon_conf

Anyway, is there a way to eradicate the algae? I am trying to pick it out, but this is going painfully slow and it just keeps breaking off. This was going in a low tech, sunlit tank for breeding only. No co2 or ferts, just go old fashion fish waste and food.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

find the clean stuff (if there is any), and trash the rest.

Clado=Herpes.


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

If your tank is currently algae-free, Id trash the entire 99 cent algae ball. 99 cents is NOT a bargain if its going to cause months of headaches.

If your goal is to kill the clado in the ball, I suspect that any methods of killing clado (excel, h202, darkness, etc) will kill moss as well.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Lol! It is an algae free tank thus far, since it is empty. What about emmersed growth? Could this fix the issue? I am too stubborn to give up just yet.


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## quasi-starfish (Nov 17, 2008)

Well, I don't know if this will be useful or not, but.... My 29 gallon had an infestation of clado. When I tore down the tank, I bleached the plants, including a piece of driftwood that had an Anubias and Christmas moss growing on it. The bleach worked - no more clado in that tank. I thought for sure that the moss was a goner, but it came back and is fine now. I guess, though, it was embedded in the wood, and that part survived the bleaching, maybe?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Cool idea. I'll try that as a last resort. At least if it kills the moss too, the clado won't get in the waterways.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Clado will grow emersed if the humidity is high enough. I had some in my 10 gallon that I had emersed for a few months. It is much easier to pick out when it isn't below water, but it will still come back once you fill the tank. I'd probably toss it if you don't already have clado.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Crud.... I guess I can quarantine it and see if ever goes away.


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

I Struggled fot months to get rid of Cladophora algae, nothing seemed to work, until I got some Amano shrimp, (Caridina japonica/multidentata) all algae was gone within 2 weeks.


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## niko (Mar 8, 2006)

Yes Amano shrimp will take care of the Cladophora, but must be in numbers corresponding to the algae infestation.

Some time ago we had about 200 Amanos in a 25 gallon tank. The Cladophora had taken over the tank. It completely suffocated the moss. By the time the Amanos were put in the tank the Clado had grown to be a mat about 2 inches thick! Covering the entire bottom.

200 Amanos made it *completely* disappear in about 5 days. Only the water turned green from the Clado juices I guess. In a few days the green coloration started to disappear.

So the lesson from that is - Amanos will take care of Cladophora but they must be in corresponding numbers. 200 Amanos in a 25 gallon tank are certainly an overkill. Generally speaking - 10 amanos will not do any harm to any established, visible algae. But the same 10 amanos will certainly keep algae from showing up by eating them before you even see them.

You have moss so if you decide to add large numbers of Amanos in the tank you must take out the shrimp as the Clado diminishes. If you don't after they're done with the Clado they will turn to eating your moss.

One thing about Amanos (and other shrimp of course) is that they hide really well. For example 100 Amanos in a 55 gallon tank will not look like an ugly infestation. If you didn't know you had 100 in there you will think you have 10-20 at most. That's a good thing because I personally hate the overcrowded crazy look of too many animals in a tank, even if they do well in it.

--Nikolay


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

10 Amano's took care of the algae my 15G tank, in about 2 weeks. But I did remove all removable algae by hand and left the difficult spots for the shrimp, with success.
I didn't need large numbers, and 2 weeks was quick enough for me


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Looks like Amanos may very well be in my future. Thanks, you two.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

try making a peroxide solution and dipping the moss in it for a few minutes. H2o2 will kill it.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That I can do. I tried potassium permagrante (I'm spelling this wrong) and nothing is happening.


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

I've had this stuff for months. It started out on my xmas moss so I got rid of the moss in hopes that it would eliminate my problems. Now it's on the fissidens I replaced the xmas moss with and it's starting to get BIG. I've tried all the gimic tricks like hydrogen peroxide, excel, etc. Nothing works on this stuff like some people claim. I'm not saying that they're wrong, it's just that it didn't work for me. I haven't tried the amanos though (Costly little guys). Perhaps it would be worth your time to buy a few of these critters and turn them loose. Hydrogen peroxide may not be a good choice because it _could_ potentially harm the moss that you're trying to save and use. My infestation seems to be centered around the piece of driftwood that I'm using for my moss. I'm betting that the algae has a nice hold on that wood and isn't going to give up. The best way to combat this stuff may be to just let it be eaten before it's a visible problem... 

Good luck. I'm going to watch this thread to see if any more good tips come up.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

just for fun, I put clado in a 1/2 gallon of water and 20ml of H2O2 overnight. it's still nice and green. I'm going to dump in 100+ml and see it if anything will kill this thing. 

I don't think H2O2 will do anything.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> just for fun, I put clado in a 1/2 gallon of water and 20ml of H2O2 overnight. it's still nice and green. I'm going to dump in 100+ml and see it if anything will kill this thing.
> 
> I don't think H2O2 will do anything.


Wow. I dosed my tank with 15ml per gallon of H2o2 and it all melted within an hour or two. Although I'm sure what I had was Spirogyra. This will also kill BBA.


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## deicide (Feb 23, 2008)

I also know that 23ml per gal *WILL* kill 99% of plants and all algae types in that time frame so are you sure you were dosing H2O2? Maybe you got the bottles mixed up and dosed water, ferts or some other mystery liquid? Maybe someone purchased, used the H2O2, refilled the bottle with water and returned it to the store which you unfortunately bought


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

H2O2 did nothing for me, even after applying it directly on the algae.
Applying Excel / EasyCarbo directly on the algae burned the stuff, but sadly did the same thing with the moss, as could be expected.
Protalon 707 difd nothing just like some other anti-algae formulas,are Amano's are a plant/fish save sollution, sadly (over time) I've lost the shrimp and gained back the algae.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

PRESTON4479 said:


> Wow. I dosed my tank with 15ml per gallon of H2o2 and it all melted within an hour or two. Although I'm sure what I had was Spirogyra. This will also kill BBA.


we're talking about clado http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2009/04/cladophora-algae.html

super algae.


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## Rob in Puyallup (Jul 2, 2009)

Have a small bit of hair algae myself. So far it's staying with the Java Moss in my tank, no where else. I gently pull it off the moss every chance I get...

It's the brown algae on my sword that's driving me crazy...


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

On my lunch break and what am I doing? Checking to see if mistergreen did the experiment. Well?


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> we're talking about clado http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2009/04/cladophora-algae.html
> 
> super algae.


gotcha. luckily I haven't experienced that one.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

PRESTON4479 said:


> gotcha. luckily I haven't experienced that one.


Very lucky. It's evil! Even co2 isn't helping me at this point. :icon_twis


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

sewingalot said:


> On my lunch break and what am I doing? Checking to see if mistergreen did the experiment. Well?


Oh! good news. the clado is starting to turn brownish. Did I mention no lights either? I added another 20ml just for kicks. So, that's a total of 40ml and 2 days of no lights. I'm afraid plants won't survive this either  Although the duckweed is half alive.


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## PRESTON4479 (Mar 22, 2007)

sewingalot said:


> Very lucky. It's evil! Even co2 isn't helping me at this point. :icon_twis


I can imagine. Spirogyra made me take out all my plants and throw them away. Looks very similar to clado.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I also have news to share. The clado I dipped in pp and put in a 3 gallon with co2 is also turning brown. Perhaps it is a 1-2 punch?

Spiro really sucks, I had it once when I started and it took a while to get rid of it.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

mistergreen said:


> Oh! good news. the clado is starting to turn brownish. Did I mention no lights either? I added another 20ml just for kicks. So, that's a total of 40ml and 2 days of no lights. I'm afraid plants won't survive this either  Although the duckweed is half alive.


lol


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Hey sara,
I tore down my 10G that was covered in clado... I did a 1:19 bleach on the plants for a few minutes and 1:10 bleach on the rock and equipments for 20 minutes.

I tell you what, it was a beautiful sight to see clado turn transparent on the rocks.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That is great news! The PP solution seemed to do the job as well. The moss has no more signs of clado.


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## Lance Uppercut (Aug 22, 2009)

Bumping this up to see if anyone has any new tricks. I have used the 5% bleach solution for 2 min to treat some clado on some x-mas moss, but it was pretty rough on the moss. I have some fissidens this is just starting on and want to nip it in the bud. Any tips?


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

I'm interested in any updates too. I'm not 100% sure what I have on my xmas moss is clado, but it resembles it and is immune to H2O2 spot treatment.


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

I killed clado in my moss by taking it all out, putting it into a plastic bag and then into a dark closet for 2 weeks. The moss survived just fine and the clado died. It only works if the clado is just in your moss. It always comes back if you have some floating around.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

It is actually growing in a patch on my manzanita right now. I got rid of it from the moss by adding 'algae fix.' I was desperate and decided to give it a shot. Great product for a quick bandaid cure. However I would try it on a small portion separated from your main tank to be sure no ill effects happen.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

sewingalot said:


> It is actually growing in a patch on my manzanita right now. I got rid of it from the moss by adding 'algae fix.' I was desperate and decided to give it a shot. Great product for a quick bandaid cure. However I would try it on a small portion separated from your main tank to be sure no ill effects happen.


Good idea! It never occured to me to "quarantine" a plant for treatment with that. I've used it once before to treat a greenwater bloom that persisted for nearly half a year, despite ever other attempt to eliminate it. A single dose permanently eliminated the greenwater, and didn't harm the plants; but it did harm some fish.

I'll float a plastic container in my tank, add a sample of xmas moss and Algaefix, and report what happens.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

sewingalot said:


> It is actually growing in a patch on my manzanita right now. I got rid of it from the moss by adding 'algae fix.' I was desperate and decided to give it a shot. Great product for a quick bandaid cure. However I would try it on a small portion separated from your main tank to be sure no ill effects happen.





DarkCobra said:


> Good idea! It never occured to me to "quarantine" a plant for treatment with that. I've used it once before to treat a greenwater bloom that persisted for nearly half a year, despite ever other attempt to eliminate it. A single dose permanently eliminated the greenwater, and didn't harm the plants; but it did harm some fish.
> 
> I'll float a plastic container in my tank, add a sample of xmas moss and Algaefix, and report what happens.


AlgaeFix will kill invertebrates including snails and shrimp.

There's lots of anecdotal evidence out there that AlgaeFix also kills fish, even when dosed according to the bottle.

I would just add amano shrimp to the tank. They made quick work of my cladophora algae problem.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

epicfish said:


> AlgaeFix will kill invertebrates including snails and shrimp.


Had no effect on my pond and ramshorn snails, which I wouldn't have missed. Doesn't it always seem like medications only kill snails when you _don't_ want them to? 



epicfish said:


> There's lots of anecdotal evidence out there that AlgaeFix also kills fish, even when dosed according to the bottle.


Yep, almost all fish were visibly suffering within an hour. Ended up doing a large water change shortly after the single treatment. A few didn't make it.



epicfish said:


> I would just add amano shrimp to the tank. They made quick work of my cladophora algae problem.


Would love them, but no local sources. Shipping is either expensive or risky in this ridiculous heat. :angryfire


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Algae fix is a little strong, but I only used it as a last resort. Otherwise, I would have pitched the moss. I quarantine all plants now and treat them before adding them in the display tank. Saved me lots of headaches like hair algae or parasites.


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## Lance Uppercut (Aug 22, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Algae fix is a little strong, but I only used it as a last resort. Otherwise, I would have pitched the moss. I quarantine all plants now and treat them before adding them in the display tank. Saved me lots of headaches like hair algae or parasites.


What are you treating your qt'd plants with? PP? Bleach?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Depends on the problem. I use alum for snail eggs, parasite clear for worms, PP for a general cleaning of algae, fingers for stray adult snails I don't want and a good rinse of water. Then I leave them in a tank without fish for at least two weeks before adding them to my display tanks.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

I performed the experiment.

A sample of xmas moss with clado was placed in a small plastic container with 2 cups of water, and a normal dosage of Algaefix (in this case, 1/80th of a ml). It was floated in one of my tanks so the moss could still receive normal light, thus eliminating that variable and giving a better idea of the Algaefix's effect; and secured with two magnets through the container/aquarium wall to avoid tipping. Soak time was three days.

At the end of the three days, the xmas moss appeared unaffected, and the clado was intact but had turned pure white. Hopefully it's completely dead. I rinsed the moss thoroughly and placed it back into its original tank, in a separate location so I can keep an eye on it.

The clado appears to be slowly disintegrating, and there is new growth on the moss. So I'm optimistic. I'll make a follow-up post if there is any change to this positive trend.

BTW, my idea of floating a plastic container for this was not quite as clever as I'd hoped. A guppy jumped into the container, and by the time I found it (less than a day) it was dead. For any future treatments I won't bother with this, and will just put the container in a dark place for combined Algaefix/blackout treatment.


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## Lance Uppercut (Aug 22, 2009)

DarkCobra said:


> I performed the experiment.
> 
> A sample of xmas moss with clado was placed in a small plastic container with 2 cups of water, and a normal dosage of Algaefix (in this case, 1/80th of a ml). It was floated in one of my tanks so the moss could still receive normal light, thus eliminating that variable and giving a better idea of the Algaefix's effect; and secured with two magnets through the container/aquarium wall to avoid tipping. Soak time was three days.
> 
> ...


Nice! Thanks for the report roud:


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

LOL, I just thought of an interesting question.

What if you have the invasive type of clado _growing in a Marimo ball_? :eek5:

Algaefix is obviously out of the question here.

Cardinal Tetra's suggested two-week blackout should remove the bad clado, but will the Marimo ball survive this without too much harm?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Marimo balls are pretty forgiving when kept in the dark. I forgot I had one in a cup of water to clean and left it under my tank for almost a month. Only the bottom was browning and it just lost a little of its roundness.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Thanks, good to know. Another thread made me consider that the invasive form of clado could easily hide in a Marimo ball. At least it theory it sounds easily treatable.


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