API Algae fix and moss

[h4n]

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I can't wait to see the results!


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[chad320]

First off, let me start this portion of the thread by saying I DO NOT advocate the use of this stuff. I have been keeping planted tanks for two decades and have never owned a bottle of this stuff. For multiple good reasons with the biggest being good tanks dont need it. At all. Period. But the porpose of using it is this. I was hit by a truck this Summer on my bicycle. that left me unable to get down the stairs to maintain my moss collection. There are 22 kinds of moss, tied to 3 foot dowel rods. Its alot of moss. My reservior tub ran dry, burned up my $130 pump, and my moss collection got hair algae so bad you almost couldnt tell what moss was what. Some of them I only salvaged a small golfball of. This product is my final attemp at recouping some of my losses. I didnt need this stuff before, and I wont need it after, but this is just too much algae to pick by hand or Amano. That being said, heres what were looking at...
The main ingredient in this stuff is Poly[oxyethylene(dimethylimino)ethelyne(dimeethylimino) ethylene dichloride]
Go ahead and say it twice to make sure you got it, ok?
It say to use 1ml per 10g. Thats a pretty small amout and it sure seems like one drop could OD the whole thing but whatever the directions say is what I did. I used established tank water in a new 10g to mix it. I then added it to seperate specimen containers to see what, if any, moss/liverworts its going to melt. It say to repet the dose every three days until the algae is under control. Here are the test specimens...

Riccia



GDA/GSA



Pellia



Fissidens



Mini Rose moss with bad hair algae



Willow



Notocyphus



BBA



Xmas



Spirogyra algae



Blue Green algae



Blanket Clado



Mini Pellia



Rosemoss



Subwassertang



Queen moss



Taiwan



Who has all of these algaes hanging around the house??? I do! I will be sending samples to Sewingalot for proper IDs through a microscope, but im pretty sure of the IDs for now. I will correct anything that might be wrong if she proves me wrong(as usual) So this is day one. I will repeat the treatment every three days until i want my kitchen table back

[AoxomoxoA]

lmao Chad. That is a really nice collection of algae you have there too

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[chad320]

Lol, I warned you at the top of the post that things went South this Summer. OH, MY EYES!!! Theyre BURNING from the algae!!!

[iscerus]

Good luck chad, thanks for the help with that moss! I just set up my hex splitter on a 20# tank so 6 more tanks should end up in my siggy within a few months.

[chad320]

Thanks and no problem! 6 tanks? Wow! Nice work! I cant wait to see them get set up. LOTS of pictures

Theres a little progress this morning already. The Spiro is all curled up and the BGA looks melted pretty bad. Ill get some more pics up tonight.

[jester56]

I've been using the API stuff since I saw this thread, Chad. it hasn't hurt any fish or plants. I've actually seen a little improvement. I use the instructed dose in my 50 along with Flourish Excel as directed. It has eliminated the hair, turned the majority of the BBA red and much more palatable to the snails and the tough matted green algae brought its stool and mike on stage to tell jokes about how it was "Bubba" to API in their fight... Didn't touch it. I ended up pulling plants and hand picking the stuff off.

This thread has been extremely informative and interesting... Thanks for sharing it all. Looking forward to more!

[Tom Barr]

Chad, I've already tested it on those moss/liverworts without issues.

A couple I do not have, but the others, I do, some are pest species which I have not removed in some tanks, while others I actively keep.

If it killed things like "Pellia", Riccia, and some moss, I'd actually be very pleased.

Or snails.........

I also tested a single 1x time dose and it had no impact on Fire shrimp.
I spot treated some moss and then refilled the tank during a water change. Killed the algae and did no harm to anything else.

This treatment works if you catch the earliest stages of the hair algae growth.

[chad320]

Well so far, as you guys said, the mosses seem to be taking it well. The Spiro, BBA, GDA/GSA, and hair algae seem to be taking it rough already. I really didnt expect this stuff to kill Blanket Clado. I am going to wait the recommended 3 days, then im going to nuke the crap out of the mosses and Clado and see what it takes to kill them. Any suggestions on a starting overdose amount? Tom says he spot treated, then refilled the tank and the moss didnt die so im guessing it will take alot. 5X the recommended amout to start?

[HD Blazingwolf]

Well, i just needed to clear some hair outta my rotala... api is a 4.6 % concentration.
i used tetra's brand. its 5.4 % and it says same dosage

i have around 36 gallons with my sump total volume. i put 4 ML in and fish/ plants are fine 3 days in. ammonia has't spiked.. so 1.5-2 x the reccommended amount would be a SAFE place to start i would think

[m00se]

Never had any luck with it working on BBA. I either have a super strain of it or.... It works well on GSA and hair, but BBA? Not in my experience. I called API and talked to a rep there and he told me it wasn't effective on it. YMMV

I've even overdosed it once by going past the recommended 3 day regimen. Don't do that. I nuked several of my crawling plants of which none survived. Had that not happened I could say confidently that everything in the tank lived through even the OD and looked healthy.

[chad320]

Hmmm....I cant say for sure yet Moose, but the BBA is grey instead of Black like it was yesterday. If it turns Red we will know for sure. what kind of crawling plants are you referring to?

HD, I will start with the double dose then Dang. I wanted to nuke some stuff right away

[m00se]

Dwarf clover (marsilea minuta): http://goo.gl/UBD9j

and River Buttercup (ranunculus inundatus): http://goo.gl/d8ucO

Two of my favorite cool looking plants, too. It wasn't overnight. I had large areas of my tank floor covered with both, as they were well established. Over 1-2 months they both died back to nothing. I had some of the clover in another tank so I could restart it but the buttercup...oh, my buttercup how I miss you so

[chad320]

Well good to know on the Marsilea. I have a whole carpet of that. I would hate to lose it.

[ua hua]

Very interesting thread indeed. Although I would be seriously surprised if it killed BBA. I have some of this that I have never used but bought it just so I have it. I try my hardest not to put too many chemicals in my tank and try to figure out the problem that the algae are there in the first place but there are times that you just need to go chemical warfare on some algae. I will be interested to see your results.