Iron Algae Growth

[jimired]

You were right about algae, I now have lots of algae. I have stopped with the Iron. The light for the red plant will have to wait.

Should I continue with the flourish excel?

What about light time?

How to get rid of the algae growth? I wil begin scrubbing and cutting this seekend. Oe should I, Will anything eat this stuff? mmmm green hairy algea.

see attchments

thanks in advance

[byte]

I now have lots of algae.

First place I would start is to identify the type of algae. Here are some links

Aquarium Algae ID

Plant Geek

James Planted Tank

I have stopped with the Iron. The light for the red plant will have to wait.

This about balance of fertilizers, light, and CO2.

Algae Control!

How to get rid of the algae growth?

Here is a chart with ways to help get rid of the aglae.

Algae Treatment & Prevention Chart

I have been battling algae for the last month as well and have found that increasing my CO2, increasing fertilizers (I use all of the Seachem line--iron, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, trace, and flourish) based on the recommended dosing plus 10 percent. I have also started adding Seachem Excel at the recommended rate which has helped as well.

[jimired]

What ???!! Read an Article!!

Ok OK ill read, guess Ill grab a test kit to.

is there a lfs on Calgary west side?

thanks again

[jimired]

Overdosing wioth flourish seems to be a common recommendation? Comments?

[werner]

Don't panic- it doesn't look too bad. ODing the Excel should work if it's everywhere. If there are just a few bits, you can also squirt it onto them as a spot treatment.

[darkangel]

American flag fish are an algae eating killie that do very well in a community tank. I have the same algae in a few spots in my tank so I added 6 of these guys about 2 weeks ago. The algae spots seem to be getting smaller.

[jvision]

Saimese Algae Eater will also do the trick... 'til it gets around the 4" mark. Then it'll only want fish food.

[firestorm]

We are having the exact same problem as you are with the hair or bearded algae. We have read that by over dosing or double dosing with the flourish excel does help with getting rid of it, like werner suggested, as well you can also try taking a dropper full of the excel and eject it right on the algae, apparently this is supposed to kill the algae. You might have a problem with excess phosphates so also getting something to remove them would be useful. We found the seachem Phosguard which removes phosphates and silicates, which we are currently using and you can also get a product I believe called phos-X which is a little pad to put in your filter. Also there is a product called algae fix, which unfortunately you can only order from stores in the US because the product has not been approved by the FDA. We are trying all these methods out right now, and I think I will be trimming alot of my plants where the algae is the worst. As for decorations, just try scrubbing them really good to remove it from there. Hope this helps

Edit: We have 5 ottos, and 2 siamese algae eaters (we only picked up yesterday), and there is also a fish called ameca splendens or something along those lines which are supposed to be very good for eating hair algae. But they are very hard to find, if you end up seeing any anywhere, I would love to pick some up for myself.

Edited April 7, 2008 by firestorm