# Staghorn algae? Help, anyone?



## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

A few days this week, I have seen one or two small patches of beige-colored stuff on either my piece of driftwood or the glass at th eback of the tank near the substrate. In every case, it has appeared to be a branching growth that spreads from a central point like an antler with lots of branches. I assume this is staghorn algae?

Usually, if I notice it in the afternoon, when I turn the lights on the next morning, it is gone. I have otos, ghost shrimp, and swordtails in the tank, all of which will eat some algae (plus zebra danios, which I don't think ever touch the stuff!). Any thoughts on who might be cleaning it up for me? Or does it just die back at night for some other reason?

Is there anything I should be aware of with this stuff long-term? Should I panic because I see a little patch of it (maybe 1 long and 1-1 1/2" wide at the top of the branching part) every so often? 

The only thing I've changed lately is that I started dosing Flourish Excel weakly every couple of days. (I only have the lights that came with my tank -- 15 w in a 29 gallon -- so I'm waiting to upgrade before adding CO2 and more plants, but I wanted to add the Excel to help the plants I do have continue to hang in there until I upgrade.)

Any insights would be welcome!


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

It sounds like Staghorn.

Funny though, I don't know of a fish that found Staghorn algae appetizing. 

I don't know how the algae is disappearing and reappearing! Have a picture of your "Houdini Algae"?

Mike


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

Thanks for your reply. I don't see any in the tank right now, but if I see it tomorrow, I'll try to get a picture of it to post. There was a small patch at the back corner of the tank earlier today, but it has again disappeared!

I haven't found any sources that suggest that any fish, shrimp or snails will eat the stuff, which is why I posted the question here. (I should have mentioned that I also have some hitch-hiker snails in the tank as well -- maybe they're turning out to be useful?) 

When I get a pic, maybe someone out there in Planted Tank land can confirm that it really is staghorn (maybe it's something else?) and help me figure out why it seems to come and go so quickly!


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## hl0107 (Oct 20, 2004)

Hello guys.

I actually saw my Sailfin mollies pulling strands of staghorn algae on my aquarium specially the fry.


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

I do have swordtail fry in the tank -- maybe they're my little helpers?


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

Here's the best I could do photo-wise -- this morning, the algae is growing on a piece of driftwood that is at a sharp angle to the plane of the tank glass, so it was tough to get a shot in focus. Once again, the patch I saw at the back of the tank yesterday evening is now gone, and this patch has shown up on the driftwood, several inches away. Does this photo give anyone enough visual information to make a positive ID?










I'll keep an eye on the driftwood today to see if I notice anyone in particular paying attention to this patch. Thanks for any insights!


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

Here's another photo of the algae I am getting periodically. It now seems to be concentrated in one back corner of the tank, where it has covered the gravel and started growing up the back tank walls. Is this staghorn algae? Any suggestions for getting rid of it?

My 29 g tank is lightly planted and only has the 15w bulb that came with the tank. I dose Flourish weekly and Excel every 2-3 days. Plants include 3 crypts, a sword, 2 dwarf lily bulbs, a big java fern and some cabomba and wisteria that are not doing well under this light (bought them before I knew better). Tank includes 3 adult swordtails, about 18 swordtail fry, 5 otos, 2 clown loaches, 6 zebra danios, and ghost shrimp.

PH = ~ 7.8
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = ~ 20 yesterday afternoon

I plan to upgrade to 65 w of light with DIY Co2 in the next month or so which, I hope, will allow for heavier planting and fewer algae issues.

Thanks for any suggestions.


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

The stuff proceeded to climb up the back wall throughout the day, reaching about 6" high, then seemed to disintegrate from the bottom up - I occasionally saw a swordtail fry, a ghost shrimp, or an oto in that back corner, but never saw one specifically working on the algae. Right now, there's just a couple shreds of it left on the glass, but it appears to have started to grow on my rainbow rock and is covering much of the gravel at the back corner of the tank. 

Interestingly, the spot near the dirftwood where I saw it when I first started this thread has been free of the stuff ever since.

Any thoughts on what this is, how to get rid of it, or whether or not I should worry too much about it?!?


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

I did a big (50% or better) water change, scraped down the walls of the tank that had the maybe-staghorn-algae, and vacuumed the gravel thoroughly in the area where the stuff was growing. I also got rid of the rocks that seemed to have a lot of it growing on them. I washed them in a weak bleach solution, rinsed them well, and they are now dry, but not in the tank. So far, no noticeable recurrence, but we shall see...

Should this take care of the problem if it was staghorn, or should I remain vigilant for the inevitable second outbreak?


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

This stuff just keeps coming back. The Can anyone give me a positive ID? (See attached photo.)

I tend to see it on the glass and gravel in one area of the tank, and then it will slowly (usually from the bottom up) disappear, but reappear elsewhere. I've seen swordtail fry pick at it from time to time, but it seems that it's dying back of its own accord rather than being eaten. 

My tank only has 15w of light over it at the moment. I'm sure that adding more light, CO2 and lots of plants will help outcompete this stuff, but any suggestions in the interim?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Here's the best shot of it I've been able to get:


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

Whatever this stuff is, it keeps on coming back. It doesn't appear to grow on any plant leaves, but lays flat on my driftwood and substrate, and then growus up the glass -- usually there's a short single strand at the gravel line, then it brancches out as in the photo above. It seems to disappear in one place and reappear somewhere else -- for a good while, it was just a spot here, a spot there but now it's getting worse.

Is it staghorn? Something else?

Any ideas for what I can do to get rid of it? Will Excel work? Reducing the photoperiod? Other ideas?

Tank stats:

29 gallon, 15 w fluorescent light (working on upgrading to 65), lights on about 12 hours/day, Penguin 330 filter, no CO2 (will add DIY soon, when I upgrade lights), ammonia & nitrites 0, nitrate is usually around 10-20, but creeps up closer to 40 by water-change-time, PH is usually about 7.8 with very hard well water

Plants -- 3 cryps, java fern, dwarf lilies, swordplant, and a couple of weak stems of cabomba and wisteria

Fish -- 3 adult swordtails, about 18 swordtail fry that are about ready to go to the LFS in trade (could their added bioload be helping the algae?), 5 otos, 6 zebra danios, 2 clown loaches, about 10 ghost shrimp

Thanks for any ideas for how to get rid of this stuff.


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

I'm not sure what that is. It's a very interesting mystery for sure. If you want to give it a shot, try using Excell at a 3xdaily dosage. If it is a red algae it will die off after a week of treatment.


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

Thanks -- I'll try the Excel treatment and see if it makes a difference. I did another big water change yesterday and dosed Excel heavily as the bottle indicates for post-big-water change. I'll triple the daily "maintenance" dose every day for a couple of weeks and see if that starts to get rid of this mystery algae, whatever it may be!


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## hOAGART (May 13, 2004)

sure does look like staghorn, just not acting like it


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

*Update*

I've been doing the daily Excel treatment (3x the recommended daily dose on the bottle) since Friday. My mystery algae had gotten pretty bad by Friday, but seems to be a little bit better today. 

This stuff is still behaving weirdly. It is a light green/gray and it seems to cover sections of gravel and driftwood more than anything else. It then will start to climb up the tank wall from the bottom up, putting out one or two long runner-like threads and then branching as in the photo above. A portion of it will continue to climb the glass, spreading outward and upward, for a period of a day or so, and then it will start to disintegrate from the bottom up until it is gone. It still isn't growing on plants in any significant way -- occasionally a small spot of it will show up on a crypt leaf or stem, but then it seems to just disappear quite rapidly. When disturbed, it just sort of melts into the water column -- it 's not stringy or hard or solid, really. More mushy.

It's still very significant on the substrate -- some sections are just covered in the stuff, and it is popping up here and there on the glass, though less than it was. I scraped the glass this morning and it hasn't seemed to come back on the scraped surfaces yet, so maybe that's a good sign.

I got a pair of dwarf gouramis this week and they seem to pick at it a little bit, but they aren't making much of a difference. I'll keep going with the Excel for the full two weeks and report back. In the meantime, if anyone else has ideas about what this is or other things to try, I'd love to hear them!


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## uncskainch (Feb 22, 2005)

*Another Update*

Well, it's been a week dosing the Excel at 3x the normal dose every day, and the algae is still there. I did a big water change and scraped the tank walls, vacuumed gravel, etc. on Wednesday and this morning, there are still big areas of it on the tank glass and gravel. It's doing the same thing -- climbs up the tank wall and then slowly disintegrates from the bottom up over a period of 24 hours, only to reappear in another area.

Would starting up some DIY CO2 help here? I'm thinking about doing that and have posted a series of ?s in the DIY area (help there, anyone?) and I'll keep up with the Excel for another week since I've heard that 2 weeks is the usual recommended period -- but any other suggestions? Should I hit PetSmart for some cheap stem plants to try to outcompete it? I only have my 15w light that came with the tank, but more plants might limp along for a while long enough to beat this stuff back a little? 

Thanks for any advice or ideas you might have!


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