# Algae that grows overnight? Cladophora? What is it?



## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

So just got rid of teh filamentous diatoms and now I have this to look forward too (yay!). Not only are some of my plants having a hard time growing, but have this stuff that seems to grow overnight. I remove all the strands a couple hrs before bed and in the AM, its back. Grows very long. Hell it even pearls in my face, lil bastids... 

What can grow this fast and with little light? H2O2 and Excel seem to have little effect on it and Im not sure what to try next. Im thinking my ferts (EI dosing) have completely crashed or somethng is going on with my water and need to go RO. Tank is a 45 gal cube w/2x 24" planted + and 2x Ray IIs. 

any suggestions? Comments?


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## jmhk (May 3, 2013)

Looks like spirogyra. Remove by hand and try splitting up your photoperiod with a few hours lights out in the middle.


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Hmm, kk. first day on the split period was not as fruitful as I would have liked. But I did another H2O2 and excel treatment and it actually responded well this time, which is odd as it hasnt before. But ill keep it up for another week and see. Just didnt seem like spyro to me...


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## jmhk (May 3, 2013)

Always kinda hard to tell just by pictures - spiro has that slippery silky feel -quite different from clado. Anyway, if the combo of H2O2, excel and the split photoperiod helps - woohoo. I know the addition of the split photoperiod is the only thing that finally tipped the balance for my spiro problem. I never had clado other than as a well behaved marimo ball, so I don't know about how that responds.


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

jmhk said:


> Always kinda hard to tell just by pictures - spiro has that slippery silky feel -quite different from clado. Anyway, if the combo of H2O2, excel and the split photoperiod helps - woohoo. I know the addition of the split photoperiod is the only thing that finally tipped the balance for my spiro problem. I never had clado other than as a well behaved marimo ball, so I don't know about how that responds.


Yes it is rather soft and slippery. Here are some other pics, but I think one of hte pics still has some left over filamentous diatoms on it. Strange that it seems to grow at night too. Did yours ever do that? It could be just the strings lengthening or im just not being attentive enough, but I really seems that way. Ive been seriously itching to get RO water as its been months and still dont have this tank under control


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## limz_777 (Jun 29, 2005)

looks like brown diatoms


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## jo.jacques (Dec 2, 2013)

I have the exact same thing in my tank.
Planted with HC, DHG and Java moss, the worst is on the Moss!

H2O2 + Excel (One-Two Punch) worked well, but everything comes back a week later. Grrrr. Really trying to figure out how to get rid of this!


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

What are the dimentions of the 45 cube ?
Not knowing how tall it is but only a guess, I'd say you have over 200 PAR in there.
Injected CO2 cn compensate for a lot of overkill on light but ther is a time when it
just isn't enough to work without an almost perfect balance of current/w it also.
And it actually doesn't look like there is that much in there, but hard to tell.
Check those lights against this link. The Planted + don't have that much but the Ray II does. The Planted+ are better than because those red bulbs are better for the plants,
but almost equal PAR to the Fugaray. So two of them just put you into the low end of the med level but when you added one of the Ray II's you went into the high range.
Can't imagine where you are/w two Ray II's.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184368


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Raymond S. said:


> What are the dimentions of the 45 cube ?
> Not knowing how tall it is but only a guess, I'd say you have over 200 PAR in there.
> Injected CO2 cn compensate for a lot of overkill on light but ther is a time when it
> just isn't enough to work without an almost perfect balance of current/w it also.
> ...


Its 18" tall, 24" wide. The Ray II gives about 39 PAR @ 18"s directly under the light. Since its 24" wide I have them spaced about 8"s apart. So 4" from each light (in the middle of the tank) gives about 60 total PAR @ 18" and 90 @12", but the front dwarf baby tears only gets 30 PAR. 

Problem I have is some plants arent growing very well. My S. repens si melting in spots and my scarlet temple doesnt grow to well or my dwarf baby tears or baby tears. Its what prompted me to get the planted+'s. Look at my puffer next to my temple leaves, really just seems they dont get enough light, but they certainly get enough algae. Then my repens dont grow well at all. I currently am only running the Ray IIs, going to see how they do this week (no so well so far). Next I will try just the planted+. Then I am going to make a fixture to hang all the lights 6"s or so above the tank. Also have my new RO unit coming today


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

How are your CO2 levels?

I'd run just one light fixture and keep manually removing as much as possible till you get it under control.


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

is this the same type of algae in my tank?


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

lauraleellbp said:


> How are your CO2 levels?
> 
> I'd run just one light fixture and keep manually removing as much as possible till you get it under control.


pH (with a kit) is always right around 6.2 - 6.4 (dK 4), Ive tried any where from 2-12bps to an inline diffuser. Ive cranked it til my fish start to gasp with little effect. I have a drop checker coming as those API kits dont have too much resolution so I can more easily check it. May get a pH probe too. 

But I will try that and see if I can get this under controll


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

flowerfishs said:


> is this the same type of algae in my tank?


Looks more like filamentous diatoms, I have some left over diatoms in my tank that are disappearing slowly as the tank ages. My pic does show some diatoms, but I am more concerned with the stringy stuff thats in the pics as that is what is really taking over...


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

You might want to look at the LED chart on the link I gave you. It totals those four
lights at about 170 PAR where they all cross beams.
Can you show a picture of the whole tank ?


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Raymond S. said:


> You might want to look at the LED chart on the link I gave you. It totals those four
> lights at about 170 PAR where they all cross beams.
> Can you show a picture of the whole tank ?


Right, but as i mentioned earlier I am only running 2 lights atm. Planted +'s are off. Will switch them after this weeks test with the Ray IIs off


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Oh and here is a shot of the whole tank per request. Again only two lights running and I have added another powerhead up front:


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Fluctuating CO2 levels can create conditions that favor algae over plants.

I'd get a drop checker with a calibrated 4 dkh solution to get a better handle on your CO2 levels. There are too many other variables that can affect pH levels besides just CO2.

When you list out all the things you've tried- how long did you try them all? It can very easily take weeks to months to get algae outbreaks under control. You need to take things slowly, change only one thing at a time, and thereby eliminate possibilities one by one.


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

lauraleellbp said:


> Fluctuating CO2 levels can create conditions that favor algae over plants.
> 
> I'd get a drop checker with a calibrated 4 dkh solution to get a better handle on your CO2 levels. There are too many other variables that can affect pH levels besides just CO2.
> 
> When you list out all the things you've tried- how long did you try them all? It can very easily take weeks to months to get algae outbreaks under control. You need to take things slowly, change only one thing at a time, and thereby eliminate possibilities one by one.


TY for the info. I try to give it close to a week, not to complete remove the algae, but just to see if its still exploding. I know I would need much more time to stabilize, but its my impression that I shouldnt see excessive growth during that week. Pretty convinced its Spyro (yes the pics do show some left over diatoms, but thats not my major issue). And i shut off the Ray IIs, now just on the planted+ for 7hrs. also upped my CO2 last night.

Will also get a drop checker


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