# Has anyone successfully got rid of staghorn?



## Kezzab (19 Jun 2016)

I ask because in my (limited) experience, once it's arrived in your tank it stays and gets worse, irrespective of what you do - until the point you remove all your livestock and apply nuclear levels of glutaraldehyde.

I've read all the staghorn threads so I doubt there's anything new anyone can actually add, but i thought i'd ask.

For info the tank is low tech, no Co2 at all, ferts maybe 1/4 ish of standard EI. Lights are beamswork green element LEDs running at about 70% power for 8 hrs, substrate is mix of old JBL proscape mixed with pond mud and capped with sand. Filltration is a simple internal plus spray bar. Water change was about 25% one a week ish, occassionally 50% See journal here 

The tanks been running about 12 weeks with no issues, plant growth fairly good, cherry shrimp breeding, now staghorn has appeared.

I'm not going to add Co2, that's just cost and complication (and given i had staghorn in my hi tech tank i can't see the link). I can't spot does 30 different leaves without adding loads of glute.

So i'm going to do 50% water changes every couple of days and trim off the worst affected leaves.

What else could I do? Would adding Purigen do anything useful?

Thoughts please.


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## Iain Sutherland (19 Jun 2016)

Hey Kezzab,  generally staghorn is a fairly fickle algae.  It seems to arrive when there is excess organic matter in the tank and can usually be eradicated by having a really good clean up several times a week including cleaning filter pipes, floss, sponges, substrate vacuuming, really waft around plants, rub large leaf plants, be a bit rough to disturb all the detritus without damaging plants as well as reducing feeding and continue liquid carbon dosing.  Within a week you should see a big reduction.


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## rebel (20 Jun 2016)

I found that Amano shrimp equivalent can eat it after you have weakened it with a one-two punch treatment. Annoy it daily. Do lots of water changes.

I got rid of it in my CO2 injected tank but never had it elsewhere.


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## ian_m (20 Jun 2016)

Far too much light for far too long !!!!

Try a 3-4 day complete blackout. Turn lights off, cover tank in blankets for 3-4 days, no peeking, no fish feeding. That will generally kill most green algea. After 3-4 days clean up as much dead algae as you can, mechanically cleaning and/or removing algae covered leaves.

Then restart the light much dimmer and much shorter time, until the plants "settle in".

Algae can be very successfully killed with liquid carbon (or hydrogen peroxide or bleach) on hardscape and pipes etc. You can also use liquid carbon (say @ 50% solution) to kill algae on leaves (have to take plant out and dip them of course), however some plants don't like liquid carbon and if too strong or left on too long will kill the leaves as well.


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## Eduard18 (20 Jun 2016)

Hi everyone! I had staghorn and I defeated 

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## Eduard18 (20 Jun 2016)

And I have defeated it but it wasn't easy; it appeared when I had too much light in my RIO 300- everything went well when I stupidly  decided to put reflectors on my T5  tubes, too soon after starting the tank and before the plants having started to really grow; it's always a matter of unbalance, but I don't think it's about excessive organic waste ; so , I removed the reflectors, I reduced the photoperiod to 6 hours and covered the tank when lights were out to be sure that no beam of light reached the tank, cut off all the damaged leaves, or removed entire plants if needed AND used liquid carbon; Amano and red cherry shrimps don't eat it; you choose not to put CO2, fine, but assume the consequences! DON'T PUT TOO MUCH LIGHT! You can't expect to not use CO2 and make your aquarium shine! 

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## Kezzab (22 Jun 2016)

Thanks for your feedback.

I'm not 100% convinced that excess light is the cause. I've run the lights at the same intensity and duration since day one, yet problem has only emerged after 12 weeks when all plants are well established and growing well. That said if excess light is damaging the leaves (in ways i can't see) then that might be why the staghorn is attacking.

The more obvious culprit was going on holiday for a week, leaving a 'holiday pellet' in for feeding and having a big snail die in the tank at some point during that week. But I've cleaned the filter twice and done 4x50% WC in the 2 weeks since...

So, as ever, it could be one thing, it could be another.

I'll reduce light intensity and duration and keep up the WC routine and see what happens. I'm still going to steer clear of liquid Co2.

Cheers!


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## dw1305 (23 Jun 2016)

Hi all,





Kezzab said:


> The more obvious culprit was going on holiday for a week, leaving a 'holiday pellet' in for feeding and having a big snail die in the tank at some point during that week. But I've cleaned the filter twice and done 4x50% WC in the 2 weeks since...


 That would be my guess.

I think that after filter cleaning the individual tufts of staghorn that have grown will persist, but you won't get any new ones grow.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (23 Jun 2016)

In my experience staghorn and any other kind of bba feels very good in high light areas.. And dimming the light definitely helps to get it under controll.. Once it is gone and tank is very well established then it might stay away with upping the light intensity. In my high tech tank it took me over 8 months to get rid of it, i tried a lot and finaly dimming the lights was the answer.. To kill off the last of the mohicans i did as Ian says, a 3 day blackout.. Works a treat.. 

If excess light is the cause, i guess not the cuase is introduction and if conditions are right, with enough light it will make it a hell of a party in your tank. 

Most of the algae are thriving in well lit invironments..  Got i little tank close to a covered window it never had any algae other than diatoms, i opend the curtains for a few weeks and the party started.. This time it was Hair algae, cleaned most out and closed the curtain again and hair algae goes away with it.


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