Algae ID Please, Can't find anyone else with this

1899 Views 18 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Betowess, Feb 20, 2007

kazooless

Discussion Starter · Feb 15, 2007

4

Hi,

I've looked around a lot but can't find anything similar to this on the thread or elsewhere on the net. I have two things I'm not sure of. One is more important to me. It's hard, doesn't scrape off of the leaves easily, and is kinda black or brown. On the wood, it seems to grow with a bit of a reddish-brown tinge.

Then there's this kinda pretty green sprout. This is new, haven't seen it before. Should I be concerned?

I just made a change to my tank. You can see my post about my filter change and the affect on the CO2 here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/42478-bio-wheel-bad-co2-confirmed.html .

Anyway, here are the pictures:

This is what I'd really like to identify and prevent from growning any more:

And This:

And This:

Here is the other one I'm curious about:

Thanks all,

kazooless

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frozenbarb

· #2 · Feb 16, 2007

wow that looks horrible expect the last one kinda looks kool

what are the specs of the tank ?

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 16, 2007

specs? what are specs?

frozenbarb said:
wow that looks horrible expect the last one kinda looks kool

what are the specs of the tank ?

specs? what are specs?

I only know the typical specs one cares about for fish, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. These pics are of plants that have been living for 4 months with a level of zero for each of the first 3 and a ph of about 7.4.

Now, with the recent change of a filter, the ph is now about 7.0 - 7.2, and I have about 30ppm of CO2 (see my equipment post).

I don't know about anything else. I don't have other test kits. But, I'm guessing you don't know what kind of algae that is either, right?

Thanks,

Kazooless

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frozenbarb

· #4 · Feb 16, 2007

nope but it seems like something that would rub off wanna try a otto?

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 16, 2007

otto's, got 2

frozenbarb said:
nope but it seems like something that would rub off wanna try a otto?

Got two of them (I think, now I'm wondering if they are Chinese Algae Eaters). They don't like it much.

blueguppygirl

· #6 · Feb 16, 2007

It kinda looks like fuzz algae. It occurs when the plants have a defficiency causing them to leak nutrients. It will occur on leaves closest to the light. Have you been using fertilizers? If not then maybe you should. When we ask for specifics we need tank size, lighting, filtration, PH, GH, KH etc. depending on the situation. I hope this helps.
BTW oto's get a little lazy but regardless they still won't touch fuzz algae in my experience.

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 16, 2007

Specs

blueguppygirl said:
It kinda looks like fuzz algae. It occurs when the plants have a defficiency causing them to leak nutrients. It will occur on leaves closest to the light. Have you been using fertilizers? If not then maybe you should. When we ask for specifics we need tank size, lighting, filtration, PH, GH, KH etc. depending on the situation. I hope this helps.
BTW oto's get a little lazy but regardless they still won't touch fuzz algae in my experience.

I put in a 5ml cap full of Flourish each day and do a 50% water change each week. The algae grows on the older leaves, near to the bottom of the plants, and stays away from the top of the plants closer to the light. My hardness is about 13GH and the KH is about 6 degrees. The PH is now about 7 to 7.2.

Thanks for the input.

blueguppygirl

· #8 · Feb 16, 2007

It sound like fuzz algae. When I said "close to the lights" I meant the top of the oldest leaves. The new growth at the top hasn't had time to leak enough to cause the fuzz. I think you should try Macro nutrients, the Flourish only have micros (aka trace).

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 16, 2007

Ohhhh, I see

blueguppygirl said:
It sound like fuzz algae. When I said "close to the lights" I meant the top of the oldest leaves. The new growth at the top hasn't had time to leak enough to cause the fuzz. I think you should try Macro nutrients, the Flourish only have micros (aka trace).

I just tried reading about the EI method at the Barr Report. I didn't fully understand it, nor did I understand how to figure out how much to put in. There's a link to the Greg Watson site where you can buy all of these nutrients, but I don't know where to start. any suggestions?

Thanks

blueguppygirl

· #10 · Feb 16, 2007

If I were making suggestions I'd say start in the water parameters section and read the Dosing regimes. This should give you a good idea of what you need and how much. You could also check out the PT articles about it.
Here's a couple that might help

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Chemical-compound-fertilization-shorthand/25/

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Fertilizers-in-a-Planted-Tank/1/

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Basics-to-starting-a-Planted-Tank/4/

Let me know if you still need help.

kzr750r1

· #11 · Feb 16, 2007

How big is this tank? How many and what kind of fish do you keep in it other than the two ottos?

LS6 Tommy

· #12 · Feb 16, 2007

I have had both types of those algaes. The one on the leaves is what I used to get when I was ruuning my lights too long. The other I still get on parts of my driftwood. It's like steel wool. I haven't found anything that'll eat it. SAE's, Amano shrimp, Ottos, nothing.

Tommy

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 16, 2007

Lights

kzr750r1 said:
How big is this tank? How many and what kind of fish do you keep in it other than the two ottos?

Ahh, that's a definite possibility. I'll take a look over at the lighting section, but how long do most people recommend having their lights on?

Also, I read in a planted aquarium book somewhere that having the lights go off for a couple of hours in the middle of the day kept the algae from growing because it needs long light periods. Any opinions or facts on the matter?

kzr750r1

· #14 · Feb 17, 2007

kazooless said:
Ahh, that's a definite possibility. I'll take a look over at the lighting section, but how long do most people recommend having their lights on?

Also, I read in a planted aquarium book somewhere that having the lights go off for a couple of hours in the middle of the day kept the algae from growing because it needs long light periods. Any opinions or facts on the matter?

K. That is my next question. How are you lighing the tank? Bulb type, wattage, Kelvin and photoperiod would be helpful to understand. Turning them off in the mid day would not help much.

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 17, 2007

Lighting & Fish

kzr750r1 said:
K. That is my next question. How are you lighing the tank? Bulb type, wattage, Kelvin and photoperiod would be helpful to understand. Turning them off in the mid day would not help much.

I have a home depot dual t12 40 watt each shoplight made of metal so it reflects, plus a regular light that comes with the aquarium. t5, 38 watt (single).

about 12 tiger barbs, 16 neon tetras, 3 botias, 2 small black mollies that won't grow any bigger, 2 big silver mollies, one swordtail, 2 algae eaters (think they're ottos), and I think that's it.

I've been keeping the lights on for about 14 hours per day, and just changed that to 13.

Here's a pic of the aquarium. You can see the light fixtures on top to get an idea of the type of metal that reflects the two big bulbs. I am thinking about doing an ODNA on the two in the shoplight fixture. But I don't want to make too many changes at once. I just got the carbon injection actually working, so I'm curious what changes I'll see from that. But I think the lighting and the dosing probably should change now as well.

PIC:

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blueguppygirl

· #16 · Feb 17, 2007

you might want to cut the lights off earlier than that. maybe <10-12 hours. it might help.

Betowess

· #17 · Feb 18, 2007

Its not classic "fuzz" algae at all. Fuzz is green that grows on glass and plants.You need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon without pressurized CO2. So at a bare minimum you need 110 watts of light, but more like 150 watts would help. It is a red algae which, unfortunately is one of the hardest to get rid of. This algae does well in soft water with CO2 as does BBA. And you may have some BBA in there too, which is the more dark grey or black algae on the sword leaves. I still battle red algae in one tank. More light, fert regimen and more CO2 and a lot more plants will help. But start with more light ASAP, IMO. Good luck. bob

kazooless

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 18, 2007

2

More Light, check. Ferts, on their way

Betowess said:
Its not classic "fuzz" algae at all. Fuzz is green that grows on glass and plants.You need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon without pressurized CO2. So at a bare minimum you need 110 watts of light, but more like 150 watts would help. It is a red algae which, unfortunately is one of the hardest to get rid of. This algae does well in soft water with CO2 as does BBA. And you may have some BBA in there too, which is the more dark grey or black algae on the sword leaves. I still battle red algae in one tank. More light, fert regimen and more CO2 and a lot more plants will help. But start with more light ASAP, IMO. Good luck. bob

I went to Home Depot last night and got a 4-bulb ballast and hooked it up to my existing two 40 watts. I also got some white paint to paint inside my black hood. If all the threads here are correct, my lights should now be about 120 for the two t12's plus the 38, so 158 watt equivilent now. Right? Pretty sure.

I do have a little bit of BBA, so you're probably spot on with the red, except that this is San diego water and tests as a GH of 13.

I am ordering the ferts from http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/ (Greg Watson), so I hope to have those next week. Once my plants start growing like they should, I'll start pruning and getting rid of the yuck, and then add some good looking healthy plants.

I'm amazed at the difference in 4 months that my crypt is showing. I looked at a picture when I first setup the tank and then now. The crypts used to be round smooth leaves. Now, they are long and crinkly. But, they've grown the most in the conditions I have given this tank.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Oh, btw, you say more light, but you mean intensity. Do you agree with the eaarlier suggestion to cut it down to 10 - 12 hours per day?

Crypt Before (When New):

Crypt After (4 Months Later, moderate light, no macro ferts, CO2 wasted by bio-wheel):

Really hard to believe it is the same plant, but it is. It grew big, but changed its shape. Weird.

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Betowess

· #19 · Feb 20, 2007

Yeah, Crypts morph bigtime. Some you buy are brown (C balansae) then turn a nice green like they are suppose to. Your first shot might have been emersed growth. The second is more typical, IME. They look healthy. Crypts are easy but don't like to be moved to different tank/water.

RE; light - Yeah, more intensity. The extra light will help alot. Down the road, you may want to invest in some good reflectors, but wait till you have pressurized CO2 at the same time. For now, ~ 10 hours is about right. ~12 helps only if its too little of light. Ferts will definately help, but go real easy with the amount as its a lower light tank. HTH bob

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