Algae on C. Parva

[hockey9999]

I've been battling algae on my c. parva for months and cant win. Is parva just more susceptible to algae then other foreground plants?

Is there a good way of trimming? Or should I be trimming at all?

The only other algae in the tank is on a a small part of the wood.

-Fluval Ebi w/ shrimp stratum
-2 x 13w Fluval CF lights on for about 8 hours a day
-Eheim Ecco 2232
-Pressurized co2, drop checker is light green, almost yellow anywhere I put it in the tank
-Ferts - this is probably where I am lacking. I own the entire Seachem line, but never came up with a good dosing schedule...

Thanks!

Full tank shots







Close up of algae

[TactusMortus]

Mine looked exactly like yours a few weeks ago. Start dosing excel mine was gone within a weeks time. I have decided that I am going to dose excel for good now. I bought the generic stuff from dealmed.com let me know if you want the link and I will look it up for you.

Also as far as dosing goes Tom Barr recommended I start dosing my micros more often. He said it would make the c parva grow more upright. I can't tell you how right he was. It has been less then a week and I have already seen more new leaves then I have ever seen also all of them are growing upright. I use millers microplex myself. I just dry dose it however on a tank as small as yours you would have to mix up a batch.

[jccaclimber]

Originally Posted by TactusMortus

Mine looked exactly like yours a few weeks ago. Start dosing excel mine was gone within a weeks time. I have decided that I am going to dose excel for good now. I bought the generic stuff from dealmed.com let me know if you want the link and I will look it up for you.

Also as far as dosing goes Tom Barr recommended I start dosing my micros more often. He said it would make the c parva grow more upright. I can't tell you how right he was. It has been less then a week and I have already seen more new leaves then I have ever seen also all of them are growing upright. I use millers microplex myself. I just dry dose it however on a tank as small as yours you would have to mix up a batch.

I'm interested in the link for future reference. Also interesting about the micros. I thought I was overdosing mine as it is (more than EI), but I'll try upping it and see how it does.

[tuffgong]

http://www.dealmed.com/Metricide-14-...aign%3DOnefeed

There's the link for Metricide 14 from Dealmed.com. I had some BBA on my c. parva when I transferred it to a higher light tank. I treated it with some Hydrogen Peroxide while doing a WC and it all died and hasn't returned since. I would try to avoid trimming it though.

[flesxruoyxllik]

can u explan how u treated with peroxide

[hockey9999]

Thanks for the suggestions! I dosed some excel this morning, I'll continue to dose every day for a while and see if that helps. I'll also try upping or more frequently dosing flourish comprehensive.

I've tried peroxide as well, algae turns red and dies but always seems to come back.

I definitely don't seem to have issues with the Parva growing though, I started with 1 small pot about 6 months ago and now have about half the tank full of it... I just wish it would be nice and green!

[TactusMortus]

Yeah trust me in a few weeks you will have absolutely zero algae on the parva. I thought I was going to have to overdose or something but started with the regular dose. Which turns out was plenty for my tank. One thing to consider though make sure you have plenty of flow so it gets distributed evenly.

[hockey9999]

Thanks! I will keep up with the Excel for a few weeks and see how it goes. I'll post some new pics in a week or 2. This may be my last attempt with ridding the Parva of algae before I get rid of some of it and try another foreground plant. I've like Staurogyne a lot, but not sure about the size of it for a small tank.

Originally Posted by flesxruoyxllik

can u explan how u treated with peroxide

I am not sure what the correct 'dose' is for peroxide/gallon.. But I just turn the filter off, put some peroxide in a syringe, and shoot it at the areas with algae. I let is sit for about 30 minutes, do a small w/c and turn the filter back on.

[TactusMortus]

Originally Posted by hockey9999

Thanks! I will keep up with the Excel for a few weeks and see how it goes. I'll post some new pics in a week or 2. This may be my last attempt with ridding the Parva of algae before I get rid of some of it and try another foreground plant. I've like Staurogyne a lot, but not sure about the size of it for a small tank.



I am not sure what the correct 'dose' is for peroxide/gallon.. But I just turn the filter off, put some peroxide in a syringe, and shoot it at the areas with algae. I let is sit for about 30 minutes, do a small w/c and turn the filter back on.

Don't give up on parva there is reall no comparison to a nice healthy parva foreground.

[Mr. Appleton]

I had something like that and a lot of other kind of algae in my 40G. Brought in a TON of nerites, amanos, and about a half dozen otos and it was clean within a week or so.

Not sure who ate what.... but no chemicals needed

[TactusMortus]

Originally Posted by Mr. Appleton

I had something like that and a lot of other kind of algae in my 40G. Brought in a TON of nerites, amanos, and about a half dozen otos and it was clean within a week or so.

Not sure who ate what.... but no chemicals needed

Hah, granted that would work however a ton of nerites, amanos, and about a half dozen otos would be a bit much all for a little algae issue. That can be resolved with a few capfulls of excel

[hockey9999]

If I had more room in the tank, I'd considering adding some otos.

I never mentioned what is in the tank as far as livestock, and I think its definitely overstocked, but everyone seems happy and healthy.

2 dwarf puffers
3 bumblebee gobys
4 pygmy corys
and a whole bunch of cherries and MTS.

[Mr. Appleton]

It's the puffers. They're messy eaters. I've a pair of puffers in a small tank and it is always on the verge of getting overrun with algae. I had the most luck with it when I had a pair of otos in it to help clean up. The otos unfortunately died a few weeks back and the algae has returned with a vengeance.

[hockey9999]

I agree, they are messy little guys. They are a lot of fun to watch though.

I think, however, that between the Gobys, Corys and shrimp, most of the food the puffers make a mess of gets cleaned up pretty quickly. I rarely see old food in the tank more then an hour after feeding.

I suspected that overfeeding could have been causing the algae.. So before a week long vacation this summer I cleaned up as much of it as I could from the parva.. Came back a week later, algae was back and the fish hadn't been fed for a full 7 days..

[plantbrain]

I have used just CO2 correctly and then parva does not get algae.
Good ferts helps, ADA AS is good also.

Lots of water changes seem to help(CO2 related likely)