Green Algae

[yarra2]

I've run into as problem that I haven't had before. I did a major clean to my big South American tank 10 days ago - a major clean.... all the water out and and took the undergravel filter out and washed the gravel. I could only keep about 1/3 of the old water but have done this before without a problem. Oh, I also have a 202 Fluval filter which I didn't touch (I cleaned that about a month ago).

Since then in the 10 days there has been an explosion of green hairy algae on the stand pipes and rocks and even the gravel and I'm at a loss to explain it. I've done something wrong somewhere along the line - I suspect that I've upset the cycle somewhere - can you advise on a solution please?

Cheers,

Mike

[wombat1100]

G'day Mike, sorry but I'm not sure I understand why you would do such an extensive clean and risk the whole cycle? was it to clean under the under gravel filter? If so do you think that it was necessary? i have had tanks for years and never cleaned out a tank like that, I just remove the uplift pipes from the under grave filter and use a gravel siphon to suck the crap out from under it.
I have seen pics of your tanks so I'm sure you have a very good reason! :)
hmmmm your re landscaping again aren't you!

[yarra2]

The gravel was so full of crap that I couldn't siphon it all out. I have been trying to induce my Heckeli to breed over a period and I was keeping the water a little over 30C and giving them as much frozen bloodworm and pellets as they could eat. I think it was these conditions that finally caught up with the water.

As an aside, I've been happy with the results of this pattern as the 3 males have been scrapping with each other and one of them has his vent out so he's ready to `go'. The female is still playing `hard to get' and I have been hoping that as soon as they paired off I could remove the other males.

So yes, it was a bit risky to do a clean like I did but I figured the mature Fluval canister filter could handle the bio cycle okay like it did last time. I also added some Bio Booster with the water conditioner when I did the re-fill and everything looked fine for a few days. The fish started moving the gravel around - a sort of simulated nesting - and I figured all would be okay.

So, to the problem I'm having with the algae. I'm keen to clean as much of it as I can but at the same time I don't want to be adding much new water. I've dropped the temperature a bit and changed them over to a diet of brine shrimp instead of bloodworm but it hasn't changed the conditions much. Is there a chemical I can use that will kill off the algae? To better describe the algae it's like a sort of gossamer fuzz that is sticking to everything. As I said in my original post, it's something I've never run into before.

Cheers,

Mike

[yarra2]

Further to my question about the algae bloom - here are some photos that illustrate my last post. The fish of course are Threadfin Acaras Heckelii.

Mike

[joz]

Not sure what you've done wrong but it seems like a bummer anyhow.

From what i know (very little) if the algea is like the long green strands that seem to cover most surfaces,try Excel Flourish at a double dose.
It worked for me.

But if the algae is like a sheet of green carpet that coats everything and when wiped off with your hands comes off in thick sheets.That is more likely a bacterial problem.
Which is trickier to treat.There used to be a anti bacterial capsule available years back (the name escapes me today) that cleared it up.
But today I'm not sure what fixes that issue.
Sorry.

[yarra2]

Thanks Joz, it's more like the first description but it's a light wispy fuzz rather than in long strands... certainly not a sheet, not connected in any way. I'll let you know how I go.

Cheers,

Mike

[yarra2]

Joz,

Spent a few unpleasant hours yesterday cleaning up the algae from my tank. One finds it hard to believe how it achieved such a firm hold in just 10 days. The sludge had just about completely blocked the Fluval canister filter and the inlet and outlet hoses. Cleaning it was real task as I didn’t want to lose the bio cycle by using too much fresh water. Overall I think I got away with only changing 25% of the total water.

I moved the fish to another tank while doing the cleaning and that helped not worrying about their welfare while I siphoned the water out, let the algae settle in the bottom of buckets and then reintroduced the clear water and then repeating the process. I couldn’t get the Excel Flourish that you suggested but ended up with Aqua Master’s Algae Cure (3g/L Simazine). The tank looks 100% now.

What was of interest that my LFS reported that many people are having the same problem. After the long dry period and then the torrential rain there is an unusual amount of algae spoors in our tap water down here. So I’m not fooling myself that the problem is over because there must be a huge amount of spoors still there but I’ll keep a close eye on it and not let it get out of hand again. I’ll keep dosing it with the Algae Cure and if it does re-appear I’ll put a couple of phosphate pads in the filter to try and eradicate it completely.

I hope that others will find this of interest and at least be aware that there is a potential problem lurking away in their tanks in the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

Cheers,

Mike

[yarra2]

I said I would let you know how I went with the algae problem I had. I can really recommend this product Algae Cure - it has worked so well - I have now put it in all my tanks. The best part is that it's Australian made.

The Heckelii tank is now virtually free of it and the water looks great.

In my Malawi tank there is another type of Algae - a sort of hard black crust that is almost impossible to remove. It's on the filter pipes, the rocks and the backdrop. It's not too unsightly but I doubt if the Algae Cure will fix that. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Mike

[joz]

Not sure what to suggest Mike, but glad to her that you got the other algae issue under control with an Aussie product.