Staghorn Algae I will kill thee!!

[SmoothSailor]

Please help!! I have a Crinum calamistratum that is covered in staghorn algae. It's all over my tank, but it is really enjoying my Crinum calamistratum and my vals. I can't pull my vals out of my tank easily, but I can pull my Crinum out. I was thinking about pulling this plant out, putting it in a bucket, and dosing the crap out of it with Excel. I can't dose it in the tank because I have shrimp. The last time I did high doses of Excel it killed some of my shrimp. I have decreased the light time. I have increased my ferts and I have tried to scrap the staghorn off the plant by hand. (DID NOT WORK!!) So....what do you guys and girls think? Will I kill my $16 Crinum calamistratum if I high dose it with Excel???

[Darkblade48]

While you probably cannot overdose Excel without risk to your shrimp and/or Vallisneria, you can probably try spot dosing the Crinum with normal doses of Excel instead. Turn off your filter and let things settle for about 10 minutes, and then spot treat the Excel onto the Crinum using a syringe. Let it work for about 10 minutes, and then turn your filter back on.

[tuvix72]

What did you try to raise as far as ferts go? What's your NO3 level?

I ask because as I'm sure you have read elsewhere, raising NO3 often makes easy task of ridding a tank of staghorn (the thick, clearish looking stuff). Shame it's not looking as easy in your case... New tank?

As far as Excel goes, I've had pretty good results ridding algae using the standard dose, it just takes longer... might be an option, specially if the tank is small, wouldn't cost much to dose Excel for a month or so... Not sure how effective it is on staghorn though, I have been lucky to date just raising NO3 to eliminate staghorn.

Hope you solve it!
Giancarlo Podio

[xmas_one]

You might want to give Hydrogen Peroxide a shot. It zapped my staghorn pretty well.

http://www.socalaquascapers.com/foru...highlight=h2o2

[tuvix72]

I was thinking of suggesting H2O2 myself but I haven't tried it with your particular plants or any shrimp in the tank so I hesitated... Might be worth a try if 15-20ppm of nitrates don't help, perhaps remove the shrimp if possible during treatment, H2O2 has a very short life in the tank so it wouldn't be a long isolation. Most rooted plants do well with H2O2, the ones that I killed with higher doses all grew back as the root structure was protected from the H2O2. Floating plants on the other hand pretty much got wiped out at high levels...

Cheers,
Giancarlo Podio

[xmas_one]

Originally Posted by tuvix72

I was thinking of suggesting H2O2 myself but I haven't tried it with your particular plants or any shrimp in the tank so I hesitated... Might be worth a try if 15-20ppm of nitrates don't help, perhaps remove the shrimp if possible during treatment, H2O2 has a very short life in the tank so it wouldn't be a long isolation. Most rooted plants do well with H2O2, the ones that I killed with higher doses all grew back as the root structure was protected from the H2O2. Floating plants on the other hand pretty much got wiped out at high levels...

Cheers,
Giancarlo Podio

I dosed mine with shrimp and nerites in the tank with no problems/losses.

[gpodio]

Originally Posted by xmas_one

I dosed mine with shrimp and nerites in the tank with no problems/losses.

May I ask what concentration you used?

These are my tests from a while back:
http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp

Cheers,
Giancarlo Podio

[gpodio]

Am I getting my accounts mixed up? Sorry guys! ...at least I found my old account :-)

[xmas_one]

Originally Posted by gpodio

May I ask what concentration you used?

These are my tests from a while back:
http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp

Cheers,
Giancarlo Podio

it's in the thread I posted.

I was doing a very conservative 1ml per gallon spot treat with a dental irrigator (it's like a little syringe).

[gpodio]

Originally Posted by xmas_one

it's in the thread I posted.

I was doing a very conservative 1ml per gallon spot treat with a dental irrigator (it's like a little syringe).

Thanks, spot treatment is indeed very effective.

Giancarlo

[alohamonte]

can you dose h202 directly into the water column as an effective staghorn algae treatment?

[Mr. Leg]

i have the same on my crinum. they are mostly on the ends of the leaves,which are very long. i think I will just take those parts out and do a peroxide dip.
whats been working for you.
Mike