# ALGAE PROBLEM IN 75 GAL PLANTED TANK (PICTURES)



## keychild486 (May 9, 2006)

I HAD THESE PLANTS FOR A MONTH NOW AND THEY STARTED TO TURN BROWN THEN THE ALGAE STARTED GETTING OUT OF CONTROL SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE WHAT TO DO TO GET MY PLANTS BACK TO NORM AND ALGAE TO STOP. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i12/keychild486/DSC01703.jpg










































ALSO I ADDED THIS IN THE BEGINNING WHEN PLANTS WHERE TURNING BROWN THEN I GOT THE ALGAE PROBLEM


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

so turning brown means your plants are dieing? or do you mean that the brown alge is growing on them? i got the same problem with my grass iam growing,, i just take it out and take a cloth and rub the gently that should take care for it for a wile,, iam kinda intersted in what peepz say bout this i am havin the same bitch ass problem


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

are you sure the plants aren't dieing?


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

what are the water parameters? (nitrates, phosphates, nitrites, ammonia, ph)
how much light do you have? how many hours a day?
did you follow the dosage of the fertilizer or did you dose more?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Appears to be diatoms. I think just about everyone who has had a planted aquarium has problems with them at on time or another...usually early on. Diatoms feed off of silicates and phosphates primarily. Your plants need the phosphates, and eventually will outcompete the lower brown algae, although you will still see it from time to time on your decorations, glass, gravel, etc... Post your water parameters. You need to get your macronutrients (mianly phosphate and nitrate) and your CO2 all in balance to enable your plants to win the battle. Diatoms wipe off pretty easily, especially from swords...grasses can be a pain. Just keep scrubbing your tank walls, rub the leaves with your fingers, and that should help for now. If your tapwater is high in silicates, you might need to get a silicate removing pad or resin...or use R/O-DI water. Good luck and don't get discouraged!!! I'm having problems with one of my 75's right now...don't overfertilize!!!. My problem originated from some feeder convicts digging up my substrate and kicking up my fert tabs/bunch plants and a bunch of mulm...nutrient overload!!!


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## keychild486 (May 9, 2006)

boontje said:


> what are the water parameters? (nitrates, phosphates, nitrites, ammonia, ph)
> how much light do you have? how many hours a day?
> did you follow the dosage of the fertilizer or did you dose more?


MY WATER PARAMETERS ARE

NITRATES 0PPM

NITRITES 0PPM

AMMONIA 0PPM

PH LEVEL IS AT 7.0


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

Well they are not Diatoms nor they are brown algae.

Apart from the green algae on back glass all the algae in pics is BBA (Black Brush Algae), which belongs to the Red Algae (Rhodophyta) group. The name of the species is Audouinella.

This is a tough algae to get rid of. Almost all hobbyists have this at some point. You just need to get your nutrient level into a proper balance. Without knowing the water parameters one cannot say exactly what is wrong.

Harry


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

harrykaa said:


> Well they are not Diatoms nor they are brown algae.
> 
> Apart from the green algae on back glass all the algae in pics is BBA (Black Brush Algae), which belongs to the Red Algae (Rhodophyta) group. The name of the species is Audouinella.
> 
> ...


Harry,

We can't be looking at the same pictures (that's twice now







). I see no evidence of BBA...if so those are the shortest "hairs" I've ever seen. I also have never seen BBA with a brown tinge...reddish, yes, but more reddish grey or reddish black.

Do you have any links w/pictures that could help me out? I am seriously confused!!!

Audouinella is a genus, so I'm not sure which species you're referring to. All the pics I found look nothing like what is shown above.

Help a p-fury brother out!


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## havoc1995 (Jun 3, 2006)

BioTeach said:


> Well they are not Diatoms nor they are brown algae.
> 
> Apart from the green algae on back glass all the algae in pics is BBA (Black Brush Algae), which belongs to the Red Algae (Rhodophyta) group. The name of the species is Audouinella.
> 
> ...


Harry,

We can't be looking at the same pictures (that's twice now







). I see no evidence of BBA...if so those are the shortest "hairs" I've ever seen. I also have never seen BBA with a brown tinge...reddish, yes, but more reddish grey or reddish black.

Do you have any links w/pictures that could help me out? I am seriously confused!!!

Audouinella is a genus, so I'm not sure which species you're referring to. All the pics I found look nothing like what is shown above.

Help a p-fury brother out!








[/quote]
Rhodophyta = Phylum
Audouinella = Genus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_algae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audouinella


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Thanks havoc, but still need the possible species in question...Phylum is way more broad than genus.(Kingdom,Phylum,Class,Order,Family,Genus,Species)

I still see mostly diatoms and maybe a few isolated tufts of BBA after blowing the pics up (I know Harry knows his stuff, so I knew there had to be some BBA in there somewhere). I'd say maybe 85% to 15% max though depending on the picture.

It's been my experience with BBA that it is mostly on leave edges, in tufty clumps, and does not turn leaves brown. If the leaves are brown it is because they are covered with diatoms (well, unless they are dead which is not the case here). The diatoms wipe off and the tufts remain, although they can be carefully pulled off. Sometimes some of the leaf comes with the tuft, sometimes not...it all depends on the plant.

Where am I going wrong? The only thing I can figure is that there is a species (or more) that I'm not familiar with. Hence the request for pics and species!


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## keychild486 (May 9, 2006)

is there anything i could add to stop the algae from growing back? and also what do i get to check the parameters and then after that what do i do?


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## havoc1995 (Jun 3, 2006)

> Thanks havoc, but still need the possible species in question...Phylum is way more broad than genus.(Kingdom,Phylum,Class,Order,Family,Genus,Species)


You're welcome... tried to help clear up confusion with harry. I'm a bio major so I know my taxonomy.








...looked for a species for "Black Brush Algae," but couldn't come up with one.








BTW, if you go to the links I provided, there are a couple pictures. They aren't the greatest, though. The pic on the Audouinella link does show some BBA on the edge of a leaf...


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## havoc1995 (Jun 3, 2006)

Well this was bothering me, as I felt ashamed that I couldn't come up with the species, and thus couldn't sleep... I'm a loser, I know this.







So I think I found it for ya... Audouinella hermanni. There's a pic toward the end of this presenation (slide 20):
http://www.ebc.uu.se/norr.malma/research_s...Red%20Algae.pdf


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## keychild486 (May 9, 2006)

so how do stop i this problem do can i buy algae eaters to clean up the work or is it just something that i could wait out and let the tank set itself? need suggestions please!!!


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## havoc1995 (Jun 3, 2006)

keychild486 said:


> so how do stop i this problem do can i buy algae eaters to clean up the work or is it just something that i could wait out and let the tank set itself? need suggestions please!!!


What BioTeach said sounded good to me... scrub off the (we'll go with diatoms) and do water changes. 
If there is BBA, info I've read says most fish won't eat it (see link I provided earlier) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audouinella so buying algae eaters wouldn't help.


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## keychild486 (May 9, 2006)

havoc1995 said:


> so how do stop i this problem do can i buy algae eaters to clean up the work or is it just something that i could wait out and let the tank set itself? need suggestions please!!!


What BioTeach said sounded good to me... scrub off the (we'll go with diatoms) and do water changes. 
If there is BBA, info I've read says most fish won't eat it (see link I provided earlier) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audouinella so buying algae eaters wouldn't help.
[/quote]

ok thanx!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

> MY WATER PARAMETERS ARE
> 
> NITRATES 0PPM
> 
> ...


The alarming factor here is 0 nitrates.. That is for sure most of your problem!! Keep them @ 15-25ppm.

How much light do you have?? what are your phosphate levels?? You would do yourself a good thing by keeping phosphates @ .5-2ppm!

Also, get yourself some Flourish comprehensive, and iron, and scrap the Nutrafin.. Well, go ahead and use it till its gone, but I personally do not recommend that stuff.

Here is a great place to get a very cheap, and large quantity of phosphates and nitrates.. (among other helpful stuff







)


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

havoc1995 said:


> so how do stop i this problem do can i buy algae eaters to clean up the work or is it just something that i could wait out and let the tank set itself? need suggestions please!!!


What BioTeach said sounded good to me... scrub off the (we'll go with diatoms) and do water changes. 
If there is BBA, info I've read says most fish won't eat it (see link I provided earlier) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audouinella so buying algae eaters wouldn't help.
[/quote]
SAE's eat BBA, as long as you don't feed them much other food other than the natural algea in the tank.
Some algea eating shrimp such as cherry, and cardnalis japonica (amano shrimp) eat it too


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