Fun with algae

[grumpystiltskin]

Ive been having a problem with black beard algae on one of my Anubias,
So i thought id try a double dose of Flourish Excel, and see what happens.
I double dosed the first day, then a normal amount the following day, then back to a double dose, and so on for about 7 days, the result is amazing, the algae has turned red, which means it dying off, and ive had no problems with dying fish, ive yet to see any effects on the sensitive plants, but that might come.
Here are a few before and after shots.

A badly affected Anubias
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/grumpystiltskin/algae008.jpg


Six days later you can see a big difference
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/grumpystiltskin/algae022.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/grumpystiltskin/algae027.jpg

And a day later its getting redder and the fish are starting to nibble on it a lot
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/grumpystiltskin/algae041.jpg

So far it seems like im winning the battle. Im just hoping it doesnt return.

[Katalyst]

Awesome pictures! Its starting to look like shag carpet! :rofl:

[grumpystiltskin]

Its starting to look like shag carpet! :rofl:

LOL yes it is, i hope it actually comes off the leaves, its really ugly stuff, and doesnt smell to good either:Eeewww:

[CACAdmin]

Boy, it really got going on that Anubias! The bad smell... is that before or after it started to die off (or both?)

[grumpystiltskin]

The bad smell... is that before or after it started to die off (or both?)

I know the smell was there when it was black, because i tried to pull some off the leaves, but it didnt budge, i got some off but not much at all, and it smells quite bad,
i havnt smelt it since its been black, but i will give it a sniff:eek: when i next try to remove some, This time im hoping it comes off easily .

[CACAdmin]

Well, careful when you decide to sniff it... you might get more of a whif of it than you bargained for. I sure hope it comes off now that it is dying off... it would take some time for fish and snails or shrimp to munch down that much.

[Melody]

Watch for spikes with all of that dying matter. Thanks for posting the pic's, we'll be following it closely!

[grumpystiltskin]

Watch for spikes with all of that dying matter

Thats something i didnt think of , good one Melody.
Im hoping the fish will eat quite a bit of it, maybe i should fast them for a while so they have to eat it.

[Melody]

Fasting them will at least help the system balance, so it couldn't hurt for a couple of days. Once you get the extra ferts out of there, add the snails & they should clean it up.

I think someone else came up with the dying matter thing, I just remembered it. Its Monday after work, how brilliant could I be on my own? :twitcy:

[grumpystiltskin]

LOL well im glad you pointed it out to me, the snails dont do too well in c02, ? the ph drops to around 6.8. in the other tank and the tank they are in now is around 7.5
would that be too much of a change for them??

[Melody]

Yup, if you were going to try it, I'd acclimate them slowly, but 6.8 will probably damage the shells. I forgot about the Co2 in that tank.

[ENZO]

That looks kind of cool if you ask me.

[Melody]

LOL The red does indeed look kinda cool. Unfortunately it gets out of hand pretty quick and suddenly everything in the tank looks not-so-cool. It also competes with the plants for nutrients.

[KnaveTO]

What sort of actual doses did you use for this. I too am having a problem with hair algae and have startred back up with the Flourish Excel. I am currently puting in 2mL per 40L of water and seeing if that will work. That is double the daily dose but 1/2 of the weekly water change dose. What did you use?

[ChrissyFishy]

Why does flurish work?

[PPulcher]

Why does flurish work?

In terms of an algecide?

The carbon source in Flourish Excel is polycycloglutaracetal , which is related to glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde is a biocide, and is used for sanitizing medical instruments and the like as it has good anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It's even used in embalming fluid mixtures... :err: (makes you think about it, huh?)

I understand that because of labeling rules, Excel can't be called an 'algaecide.'

I guess the biocidal properties is why it is important to NOT overdose the stuff.

[Bcanoe]

I can't answer that question on snails, but I recently did the excel algae treatment. I dosed the initial recommended amount, then about 1.5x to 1.75x the recommended smaller dose for about 5 days.
Algae is dying/dead, fish no problem (not even the ottos) all plants doing fine.
Most of my small snails though are dead, empty shells on the flourite couldn't see a live one. I'm not sure what they were, looked like the usual pond snails. they never touched the plants and I considered them part of my clean up crew. Also lost one of three Zebra Nerites I had in that tank.
I'm not sure what exactly happened, but if you have snails you can't easily replace like the Nerites (excellent algae eaters by the way). you may want to consider removing them before you do the Excel overdose treatment.
Bill

LOL well im glad you pointed it out to me, the snails dont do too well in c02, ? the ph drops to around 6.8. in the other tank and the tank they are in now is around 7.5
would that be too much of a change for them??

[grumpystiltskin]

What sort of actual doses did you use for this.

I have the 2lt bottle, and for my 240g i use 5caps, on the directions it says to use 1 cap per 100g, so i just doubled that. Its working out really well.


In terms of an algecide?

The carbon source in Flourish Excel is polycycloglutaracetal , which is related to glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde is a biocide, and is used for sanitizing medical instruments and the like as it has good anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It's even used in embalming fluid mixtures... :err: (makes you think about it, huh?)
Ive read that on another site, it is quite scary, but reading through all of their posts, only a few people had trouble with fish dying.Having said that i havnt been downstairs to look in the tank since i got home from work:wideeyed: .

[grumpystiltskin]

can't answer that question on snails, but I recently did the excel algae treatment. I dosed the initial recommended amount, then about 1.5x to 1.75x the recommended smaller dose for about 5 days.
Algae is dying/dead, fish no problem (not even the ottos) all plants doing fine.
Most of my small snails though are dead, empty shells on the flourite couldn't see a live one. I'm not sure what they were, looked like the usual pond snails. they never touched the plants and I considered them part of my clean up crew. Also lost one of three Zebra Nerites I had in that tank.
I'm not sure what exactly happened, but if you have snails you can't easily replace like the Nerites (excellent algae eaters by the way). you may want to consider removing them before you do the Excel overdose treatment.
Bill


Thanks Bill, i just got some snails from Melody, but they arent in this tank, they are in a 55g, it doenst have c02 ,nice and safe for snails:smile:
Mick

[Melody]

Fantastic information here, thanks for sharing your smarts & experiences!