Hair/brush algae back again! Any new ideas?

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

Hair/brush algae back again! Any new ideas?

by Peterkarig3210

My 100 gallon planted gar tank that had an infestation of brush algae has it coming back exponentially since I removed 90% of the leaves and bleached the filter intakes and such a few months ago. It didn't seem to be coming back till a few weeks ago and now it seems to be doubling it's growth weekly. I can't have any small algae eating fish because my gars will eat them. I do have a common pleco, but it doesn't eat this stuff. I'm thinking of removing the fish (what a pain in the ass) and dumping tons of copper sulfate in to kill it. I have a nice amount of Java moss growing on my wood stumps and quite a few other plants I'm attached to and I'd like to save them. This algae doesn't respond to algaecide and can't be physically removed without removing the leaves of the plants.
I know I posted on this before, I'm just wishing I has other options besides the drastic removal of fish and treatment with copper. I used copper a month ago and it didn't do anything. I think maybe I need to add a lot more, but much more is sure to kill my fish so I'll need to remove them.


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

by Poetic_Irony2267

peter here is a suggestion, i know your gars are your prized fish, and removing them temporarily will be a huge p, i, t, a, LOL what i think you should do is go buy about six gold algae eaters and move the gars for two nights, after two days the plants should be cleaned and the algae should be gone, then put the gars back in, i know they will eat the algae eaters but these little guys will clean every last bit of the algae out of your tank, and they aren't expensive fish but in the rate of feeders it may be an expensive snack for your gars, however it's the most effective way to clean it out naturally, as i am not a fan of using lots of chems in my tanks less chems means safer water for fish, you should be able to get the gold algae eaters cheap enough so that when they become snacks for the gars you wont be out of pocket too much. hope this helps.
Brandon


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

The gold algae eaters are better than the SAE's(flying foxes)? I thought about this and wouldn't they just nibble it down leaving microscopic amounts which would grow back?
This is a good idea and worth trying. I was going to get Siamese or Cyanensis algae eaters for another smaller fish community tank because they are supposed to be nicer to other fish than the gold algae eaters. What do you think Brandon?


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

Peter, have you figured out why the algae keeps returning? I feel like the algae eaters, which definitely sounds like the best plan, will also just be a short term solution, especially knowing they will be eaten in a few days. I can only imagine your frustration right now, sorry dude.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I never completely got rid of it and I remember I added some fertiliser to the tank a couple weeks ago and it had it's biggest effect on the algae. Maybe I need to do a thorough gravel cleaning again as I had the 14 inch arowana who made a lot of poop, and I could get rid of the 2 tilapia I have cause they're gluttons too. I could clean the gravel, get rid of the tilapia, and see if with less nutrients the algae stops growing. It's just that now I'm going to have to remove even more leaves from already previously denuded plants unless I can get something that likes to eat this crap. I'm going to try either SAE's or gold algae eaters in my other smaller fish tank to see how they do with the brush algae in there. If they do a really good job I'll put them into the bigger tank and put the gars in another tank I have.


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

by Poetic_Irony2267

peter, i have three of the gold algae eaters, even though they can be "mean" to other fish i am finding that i don't have an issue with that, the problem i had with algae when i first started the planted tank is that the lighting wasn't what i needed for the plants and this lead to a huge black algae. string algae, and several other algae issues, not good with names of all algae, however i added three, to my tank and the next day my anubias (nana, and bartieri) were spotless, and when i say spotless i mean spotless, my angels shortly there after started laying eggs on my nana leaves, and were successful at hatching more than 70% of the eggs without issue. just to back up a bit, my nana and bartieri, along with java fern had a massively thick layer of black algae along with string algea growing on all of the leaves. these little workers keep my tank free of any type of algae growth to this day and they stay busy enough to where they don't bother my other fish. also the mystery snails keep the tank glass clean along with cleaning my driftwood of any sorts of algae growth. these are just two things to consider. if the talapia are doing fine i would leave them, it's not the amount of waste that's causing the algae growth i think it's basically another issue entirely, i believe you may have had some algae hitchhike in on some of your plants and it spread through water movement and what not, reletively the same way the trumpet snails hitchhike in on plant roots and stalks. try not to add to many chems as this could harm your fish. try natural first if that doesn't work then revert back to the chems. i hope this helps ya out am sorry that, oh one last thing sae's are just a diff variety of gae's.
Brandon


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

Well I'm going to have a lot of not sures here..but I want to throw out some ideas that probably aren't feasible or practical but might spark something.
I'll start by saying that I'm not even sure what brush algae is and am thereby sure I've never dealt with it before. I know what I'm about to say next is like beating a dead horse but...so many have told me...Amano Shrimp. They are the kings of hair algae. I'm guessing your gars would probably eat these like popping a christmas chocolate in their mouths but... I was thinking what about quarantining some of your wood/rock pieces to another tank and either blacking it out (with additional chemical treatment) or using Amanos/SAE's to eliminate most of it, then blacking it out and using chemical treatment. I DO NOT know if Amano's would completely eliminate hair algae, but I know a constant presence of them in a tank will keep it on the ''DL", as in 3 days I've almost forgotten I had a hair algae problem after adding 6 to my tank. Also possibly blacking out your gar tank itself for a couple days after you remove the greater majority of algae from surfaces..etc. Again..just ideas.
I always hate the idea of using chemicals in fishtanks but since your problem is reocurring, well...I'm not sure fish/shrimp and even blackout alone will do the trick. O.o


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Thanks for all the great input guys. I think I will get some Gold algae eaters. I saw some at Petco the other day.

I'll stick the GAE's into my new tank that also has the algae first and see how they do in there, and for a couple days I'll hand feed the gars in my 100 gal and NOT let my tilapia get any krill because I think the tilapia will eat this algae if they're hungry enough. If the GAE's do a good job in the new tank and the tiapia don't I'll remove the gars and put the GAE's in the big tank.

I just removed a small wood stump from my new tank because it was getting overgrown with brush algae and put it in with a lone tilapia and some other fish and the tilapia in one day ate the algae down to bare wood. That's why I'm gona try starving the 2 tilapia in my 100 gallon to see if they'll eat it as I don't want to stress the gars if I can avoid it. Tilapia are extremely tough fish and can go without food for long periods, and they'll eat most anything if they're hungry enough.

Either way I'm going to get some gold algae eaters so I'll use them if the tilapia can't be coerced to eat this algae.

When whomever is done eating the algae down I will try manage this stuff with nutrient starvation/regulation, I'll do another major gravel cleaning, and water change. The GAE's can end up living permanently in my new planted tank where they won't be bait and can keep this tank clean. I will probably be adding fertiliser to this tank as I've noticed that the plants have a growth spurt when I add it to the roots.

I hope my gars which are so tame right now don't freak too much. Nobody likes to be caught in a net! Too bad my 6 inch pleco doesn't seem to eat this stuff. I'll post how it goes guys.

I just got a small check in the mail so I'll be able to buy a couple at least.

I have amano shrimp (or another kind of algae eating shrimp) in my new tank and they won't touch this algae. It takes a real strong set of teeth to tear at this brush algae, so I think it's either GAE's or tilapia, probably it'll end up being the GAE's that do the job.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Just acquired 2 Gold Algae Eaters from Petco for $2.50 each. I bought all they had and it seems algae eaters are hard to find anywhere these days. I put them into my new tank that has some of the same algae in it but no big fish, so I'll see what magic they can do.


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

by Poetic_Irony2267

let me know how they do, i know i have hyped these little guys up a bit but i know that they worked for me.
Brandon

Hair/brush algae back again! Any new ideas?

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