# Dark green "sheet" algae ?



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Like I knew this was coming but...
Have had much more success keeping various daphnia before I started dosing Ferts Excel etc.
Have 2 T8 bulbs, one Power Glo and one Aqueon Full Spectrum on this ten gallon.
Stopped the Excel and the ferts to go-back-to being able to keep daphnia for my Banded Pigmy sunfish.
Now the green sheet algae is starting to cover everything and is still going. Even got a few of the floating
Giant Duckweed.
Other algae is welcomed but not that trash. The one which has bubbles under it and smothers the light
from your plants till they die.
Depleting the chems is "in-progress" so should I just wait it out ? Depleting by water changes.
I'm not suggesting remedies so that you can without my cramping your style...
Any and all will be considered.

"There is a principle which is a bar to all information, and cannot help from keeping one in everlasting darkness.
That principle is contempt prior to investigation."


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

If depleting chems by water changes means removing ferts and not dosing any more then I would cut lighting cycle or remove 1 bulb.Balance is achieved by giving or taking to/from both sides in each case.To remove something from one side and not the other is compromise.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

There is Eco-Complete over API first layer "Pure Laterite" for substrate. But so far what has been holding me back on reducing the light
is that before the high tech substrate I had those two bulbs(also before I started liquid ferts) and did not have an algae issue.
It was not the exact same two bulbs though. It was a Zoo Med ultra Sun and Flora Sun and the second one is only rated at 5400K.
Right now the Power Glo is rated 18000K and the Aqueon Full Spectrum is 8000K and even as I type this I am beginning to see
a problem. One 5400 and one 6500 don't match the other two at all. The Power Glo by it's self is more than both the others.
I guess it will take a week to tell but I just switched them out for one Flora Grow(5400K) and one Reef(Zoo Med) which is 6500K
plus actinic. All that is available at the moment except for an "All Glass" which is the old Aqueon trade name. New unused bulb though.
So...we'll see...
If this don't stop that stuff I'll force myself to remove one bulb.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

My one tank with flourite(seachem)I think has grown more crap than any tank I have ever owned.Even the identical tank sharing the same single 4' led doesn't grow half the algae.I use both for breeding tanks so the algae is no big deal but I do think the substrate is making a HUGE difference between the two tanks(they even get exactly the same water).


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

coralbandit said:


> My one tank with flourite(seachem)I think has grown more crap than any tank I have ever owned.Even the identical tank sharing the same single 4' led doesn't grow half the algae.I use both for breeding tanks so the algae is no big deal but I do think the substrate is making a HUGE difference between the two tanks(they even get exactly the same water).


As far as water these get(in a ten) a 2 G plus 32oz of R/O each week. But you may be saving me a headache.
Which Laterite are we talking. API or Sea Chem ? Reason for the question is that I just got a bag of the Sea Chem Original.
But already have a box 50oz of API first layer "Pure Laterite" Was going to mix them and put them in the tank/w high ferts and T5's and Excel. Should be the right sub for that tank. It now has common fine gravel. That likely should have been in the tank where the slime algae is now. Oh well it was my first venture into high tech when I got the Eco-Complete and 
put down two 20oz boxes of the API Laterite first/w the Eco on top.
I'm going to leave it for at least a week to see how lower light and making water changes without adding ferts works out.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

best to pull out what you can then add tetracycling per dosage to size of tank, will kill the slime algae.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

susankat said:


> best to pull out what you can then add tetracycling per dosage to size of tank, will kill the slime algae.


This is an up-date on this issue: I've tried everything available as per recommendation here with no luck. The only rec. I've not tried
is the "Tetracyling" mentioned above so a couple of questions about it are in order.
But first I'll say that I reduced the light to one bulb for about a month now and at 9 hrs because of the limited amount of bulbs.
Less than that and I wouldn't get much plant growth at all. But with the algae there is none anyway. Haven't used ferts or Excel
during this time at all. But the algae is still spreading.
Now this Tetracyling stuff, is it a common med found at pet stores ? This also is very important...what did you mean by "best pull
out what you can" ? This tank has hide spots all over it as per design and has 4 Banded Pigmy Sunfish only in it. I might get
lucky and get one or two of them at night while they are sleeping, but not even that if they are wedged in between things where
I can't get to/w the net. So is this med harmful to the fish at all ? And just out of curiosity what is it normally used for ?
I may be superimposing thoughts here but I think I've heard that med in conjunction/w EYE medicine like Murine EYE drops ?
I've cut the lights off before to reduce algae in one of my tanks and it seldom does anything at all unless you cover the tank to
keep out indirect light also and let it like that for 5-7 days AT LEAST.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

By pull out what you can Susan means to manually remove as much algae as possible.The TC is a common antibiotic available at most lfs(petsmart....),but is most effective if you remove as much as possible to help it work effeciently.Also when the TC starts to kill it it may cause lower O2 levels and decomposing crap,so the more you get out the less of the side effects you will incur.
Lightsout(blackout ) on tanks sometimes can ONLY work if the tank is BLACKED OUT(garbage bag cover not to be removed for even feeding).Then the reason for issue MUST be addressed(lighting,excessive nutrients ) or it will just re establish.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Glad you let me know about the issue/w the dead algae and to remove as much before as I can to avoid this.
I can't get plants to grow in there because that algae covers them and is slowly killing them so they won't grow any more
since the algae got so bad. I'm sure that after I get rid of the algae and the plants can grow that they will absorb most
if not all of the nutrients. I am still not fertilizing or adding Excel so it's just what comes from the Eco-Complete substrate.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Scrub/rub off all you can to include leaves of plants. Do a massive water change and suck out all that you can...75-80%. Try the blackout for 5-6 days...no peeking, no light in, nothing. If that doesn't work, try the antibiotics.

How much were you lighting this tank before you went down to one bulb? You should have reduced to 4-5 hours of lighting, regardless of using only one bulb. How much natural light does it get? 

BGA is actually a very easy thing to control but you have to recognize it and act. If what you did doesn't help then you have to do more. You cannot sit and let it go or it will take over if it gets bad enough.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

When the tank had the 2 T8 bulbs on it I had it on at least 10 hrs a day and there was no BGA algae.
The fish get frozen bloodworms and there are a few daphnia in there they can eat but very few so I'll feed them before I put
the bag over the tank till next Tue. 
There are three windows in the room. One has the window air conditioner in it and the rest but for 2" has aluminium foil on it.
The middle one has a cloth curtain but the one closest to the tank has venetian blinds on it. Some direct light does come through 
it but it faces the east so it's only a quick half hr. Plus that tank has gravel siliconed to the walls of it so any light has to come
through that side wall which faces the window and it has the gravel on it. Very little gets through the gravel and silicone.
You mentioned it should be cut to 4-5 hrs a day. Is that enough for the plants to grow on a normal basis ? I'm referring to what
I should do with the lights after this blackout.
It may be even less than 1/2 hr that it gets direct light(through a gravel wall) because the lighted spot on the wall starts just
after the sun comes up and works it's way down the wall(of the room) to the floor in about 2 hrs. So more like 15-20 minuits.
I can cut that off entirely, but I just thought it wasn't enough time on it to matter especially through the gravel from the back
of the side with the gravel on it. Just for laughs I'll cut it off entirely and reduce the lights to 6 hrs a day for one week before
I do anything else to this tank to see what happens.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The 4-5 hours should be enough, but really it just comes down to the plants. This is just something you do to curb growth and keep it from getting worse. A blackout is a drastic last measure that will likely wipeout many plants unless you transplant them to another tank. Just keep in mind that a blackout does not always work for BGA. BGA isn't actually algae. It is hit and miss.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Well today is day 6 after 5 days of the tank being "bagged" to cut off the light as per suggestions given here.
No plants seem to have died, but a few have random yellow leaves. On the Rotala indica they are mostly on the lower
portions of the plants. The Dwarf Subs. have from none to a couple on each plant. I just vacuumed the larger portions 
of the decayed algae from the bottom as it's exceptionally hard to reach some of it. I still don't know how to increase
the amount of plant growth in there without introducing unwanted types of plants. There appears to be 21 stems of
the Rotala and if they would get started growing now that they can get some light they might do it. Dwarf Subulata grow
slowly so I can't count on them to help much in this effort. Perhaps it's just a matter of going back to old school plants
like Floating Hortworth. Never much cared for the way it shades the bottom and therefor keeps you from having much
of anything else in there. A larger tank wouldn't have this issue but I won't waste more time than that on wishing "what
if". I'll let the plants which are in there right now work for a while before changing anything.
I've tried this before but must have not left it without light long enough. I do have one more possible plant that does grow 
fast but has small diameter stems and small leaves so it doesn't consume lots of nutrients even though it grows fast.
It has yet to be identified but will grow under a variety of conditions and placements in the tank so it may be next if
those Rotala don't do as hoped for.
For now all's well so I appreciate the help from those who gave suggestions on this.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Dwarf Sub grows slow? I wish mine did.

I'm not sure what type of growth you're expecting? If your light levels are a certain level the light can actually start to hurt the plants, without having CO2 that is. Plants need only need two things to grow...light and CO2. If they get too much light and don't get enough CO2 the plant is hurt.

How plants grow in your tank and how they grow in mine will be much different. The difference is what I do to get them to grow vs what you do. Your plants will only grow as fast as your setup will allow. And this is not just a comparison between my tanks and yours...this could be anyone's. You may believe that the light you have is plenty of light for your plants to grow fairly quickly, and maybe it is, but it will only do this to a certain point without supplementing with CO2. This will more than likely be your limiting factor for your setup. Excel is great to use, but will not take the place of anything your plants require for CO2.

Is the BGA gone or not?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> Dwarf Sub grows slow? I wish mine did.
> 
> I'm not sure what type of growth you're expecting? If your light levels are a certain level the light can actually start to hurt the plants, without having CO2 that is. Plants need only need two things to grow...light and CO2. If they get too much light and don't get enough CO2 the plant is hurt.
> 
> ...


"Grows slow" ...with low lights and low tech. One new leaf per month
is slow to me. But that is what I "expect" from low lights. BTW I did increase the light after I bagged the tank. Like I said...we'll see...LOL..


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Up-date:
First the BGA is 97% gone. Was but a very small amount came back. Now to remember to change water EACH week instead
of letting it go for two weeks(the Aqvisor say I have 58% stocking and 11% water change per week) cause I usually do
a 20%+ at the two week mark.
I'm being very picky about which plants I allow in there. I have removed the Rotala indica and replaced it/w a subspecies
of Dwarf Baby Tears by the name of Baby Tears Pearl weed...micranthemum micranthemoides a small delicate stemmed 
plant that does great in my other tank. And just for the record I remember someone saying that the plants take a while
after a shock(the blackout) to start growing again so the Dwarf Sags may have been just on the verg. But I went back to
a two bulb system and I toned it down on which kind. I'll regulate it from now on by the hrs the plants get, but the Dwarf Sags
are now growing well and one even has a new runner on it. In fact here is a picture of it today.

I know this is not focused well but it shows a closer look at that plant and has one of my Banded Pigmy sunfish in it.

Oops silly me, these pictures are from our gallery so just click to re-size larger.


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