# Is this a type of algae?



## Martin cape (9 Mar 2013)

As the above says. If it is or isn't, what is it? Just a light fuzz over the wood under the lights. Gives off oxygen bubbles mind. It stays this long and has next to know colour!


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## Ady34 (9 Mar 2013)

looks like bba (black brush/beard algae) 
caused by low, fluctuating or changing co2 levels.
Improved circulation and c02 rids it. Crossochelius Siamensis are known to eat the start of it, but once established not much eats it. Liquid carbon spot dosing helps kill it, but better c02 and or distribution is the long term prevention.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Martin cape (9 Mar 2013)

Got 2 Koralia Nano's in there with the 1400lph spray bar. Drop checker is like green bordering yellow. Nothing else I can do to improve flow really. 

I dose liquid carbon, double dose on water change days.


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## Ady34 (9 Mar 2013)

you have tough algae 

looks like it could be in an area hiding amongst your sword plants which maybe obstructing flow to this particular spot....if not and if it only grows on your hardscape, and you dont mind the look of it then leave it......otherwise you could try spot dosing the effected areas, maybe drain the tank to below the effected hardscape area and brush some lc on direct, wait for 5 mins before refilling.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Martin cape (9 Mar 2013)

Yea there's none on leaves anywhere. I might try that next week when I do a water change


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## ceg4048 (10 Mar 2013)

I think this is a kind of red algae, related to BBA. There is little you can do if it's on the hardscape other than severely restricting the lighting levels (which most Klingons refuse to do). Scrub and clean weekly with the standard liquids (peroxide, LC) and toothbrush as Ady mentions.

Cheers,


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## Martin cape (10 Mar 2013)

Thanks Clive. Is does have a red tinge to it. Noticed that the other day. It's spread to a couple Anubias leaves that are attached to the same bit of bogwood. Ill cut them off. 

Yea it's slightly different to the BBA I had when I was having reg co2 problems. That turned orange with excel. This seems unaffected as yet. Light is only on for 6 hours a day anyway.


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## Martin cape (13 Mar 2013)

Hi Clive,

It is a bit of BBA. It's on most of the bogwood. I've removed 2 of the swords to increase flow around the wood. What else can be done to prevent it? CO2 is bordering on yellow and plants are pearling, so I know it's a good level. I can't do anything about the flow really. Spray bar from JBL e1501 and 2 Koralia Nano's either side should be enough water flow. Aside from that I'm out of ideas pal.

I can get rid with spot dosing excel during a water change. But it may come back. Rather prevent than cure.


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## Martin cape (13 Mar 2013)

Took reflectors off my 2 45w T5's. lights are on for 6 hours a day. So maybe light is too intense. 

In total the 2 tubes I'm using have been used for a total of 11 months now. Will they still be ok? I know Juwel recommend to replace every 12 months but is that a marketing ploy to make more money or a genuine statement.


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## Iain Sutherland (13 Mar 2013)

marketing ploy martin, t5 tubes are fine until they pop, however you may wish to replace before that if the light visually dims which will be ages anyway.


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## ceg4048 (14 Mar 2013)

Hi Martin,
			 Members of the red algae family never go away just because you improved the conditions. They have to be forcibly evicted so continue to harass them with excel+toothbrush. They love CO2 and nutrients too and they will colonize hardscape and other non-growing surfaces if there is enough light. What's more important is that it does not return on the anubias leaves. Since these plants grow very slowly they are susceptible to attack and it takes a while to determine if you've fixed the conditions properly. Again, lighting is at the very heart of almost all problems. Since you have no way of dimming the lights or to disable a single bulb then your options are limited. Hopefully, improving flow and injection as you did will do the trick.

Light intensity control is the main reason I've moved away from old school fluorescent lighting in favor of LED, which almost always come with dimming controllers. In the short term you'd have to find a way to obscure the lights, such as with floating plants or with obfuscation of the tubes to cut the intensity reaching the water. Something as simple as cheese cloth or more elegant as darkened acrylic plate can work.

Cheers,


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## Martin cape (14 Mar 2013)

Thanks again Clive. 

I've lowered the intensity of the lights by removing the reflectors. However, plants are not pearling now. The water surface isn't covered in oxygen bubbles from the plants. Is this a bad thing?


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## ceg4048 (15 Mar 2013)

Well, I mean, you really need to forget about pearling. Think about the fact that you had pearling and yet you still had the beginnings of a serious CO2 problem. So when people chase pearling with a single minded tunnel vision they become blind to other obvious problems.

Here's a quiz:
Which is better, a tank full of algae that pearls, or an algae-free tank in which there is no pearling?

Cheers,


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## Martin cape (15 Mar 2013)

Point well made. Only reason I asked was that pearling suggests photosynthesis, growing. It's just harder to tell instantly and visually if they have all they need now. I suppose they always did and the only difference is light intensity. The same light is there for the same amount of time. I'm rambling now lol.


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## ceg4048 (15 Mar 2013)

Well, this pattern of thinking is a fundamental error that many beginners make. This probably happens when they read posts on Klingon websites and it programs them into this pattern where pearling becomes the overriding feature of a tank. When you become a more advanced plant grower, I promise that you will actually consider pearling to be a total nuisance. At this point, for you, it's a novelty, so I completely understand that it's a bit of a disappointment if the pearling disappears.

As it turns out, the phenomenon of pearling is actually the result of several parameters involving CO2, light, nutrients, water temperature, ambient barometric pressure, as well as the solubility constant of the gas. So it's possible to observe pearling under a wide variety of conditions.

During the photoperiod, photosynthesis occurs regardless of whether the oxygen bubbles are present or not. At lower photosynthetic rates of production, and depending on the water conditions, the Oxygen simply dissolves into the water and that's why you cannot observe a bubble formation. At high production rates, the solubility of the gas competes with the gas buildup rate. Oxygen is not very soluble in water, so the ejected gas does not have time to dissolve completely and the excess gas escapes immediately into atmosphere.

Therefore it is never an ON or OFF issue. It is only a matter of degree and the effect of the present environmental parameters. In you case, all the other parameters have been held constant but the light energy has been reduced, so the rate at which Oxygen is being produced is also reduced. This allows the gas to more easily dissolve into the water, so there is no bubble formation.

Oxygen is produced as a waste product by a protein called (unsurprisingly) The Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC). This system of proteins remove the Hydrogen from H2O. You may remember this being called "hydrolysis" in high school lab. The positively charged Hydrogen ions are sent to a holding area. It is the Hydrogen ions (H+) that are needed because they are used in a very important energy producing process. The Oxygen atoms then combine to form "O2" and is released at the underside of the leaf.

So whether you see them or not is irrelevant. The most important visual indicator is the health of the plant and the absence or presence of algae. The bubbles are simply a matter of degree, not an all-or-nothing indicator.

Cheers,


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## Martin cape (15 Mar 2013)

Thank you again Clive much appreciated. 

Hopefully this lower intensity light will help the algae issue. 

Ill get there in time


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## Andrew Dale (4 Apr 2013)

This very strong green algae which cannot be removed easily. The regularly water change is very necessary to avoid such algae.


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## Pinkmummy79 (12 Apr 2013)

Hi Martin, this is the beast which i've been dealing with for the past 2 months, I know my cause is flow and circulation and am taking steps to correct this as fast as I can grow my money tree, but i've been taking advice from the Master and been doing at least 2 x 130 l water changes per week (50%) and spot dosing my bogwood with a shringe each day. Mine goes a sort of purple colour once spot dosed, not orange like your previous algae did, come water change days currently Sat evening and Weds evening I go at it methodically with a toothbrush (I use Fin's as he's 10 and doesn't use it enough anyway), i've got quite a knack now, holding both the brush and syphon in the same hand so as to suck up any spores, dirt off the wood and occaisional small tuft immediately after it has been dislodged, it's lessened over the past couple of weeks but not gone, hopefully once I eventually get both my new filters, spray bars and inline co2 atomizer sorted I will have eventually knocked it on the head.
It's interestting to hear from Clive about the lighting though as I too am only running a 6 hr period (wish my wife did that lol) however i've not reduced my lighting intensity apart from reducing the time, i'll remove my reflectors this weekend as a further aid, i'm running 2 x 39watt T5 tubes instead of your 45's I don't know if that would make much of a difference though, my anubias on the bogwood are also affected like yours. My wood is big though (no pun intended) it's 2 foot long by 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide, hollow like a cave and the damn green tufts get everywhere.

I found that if you can remove your bogwood or like previously mentioned drop the water level sufficiently to expose it then mix some liqud c02 with water and spray it on and leave for 10 mins before topping up again,I can't do this with this large piece and can't ideally remove it but had success with a smaller piece by doing this, just be careful of your plants though mate as I killed some flame moss without knowing, I learnt the hard way.

Good luck and don't let it grind you down, I enjoy my algae brushing sessions it gets quite theraputic when you look after another day and see it has actually started to look slightly better. Maybe I need 3 x sessions a week not 2... i'll fetch my coat, taxi!


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## Martin cape (12 Apr 2013)

Hahaha. 

Loving some of your comments there . 

Well, the leaves that get affected by it, like the Anubias, are all in direct contact with the bogwood. So it seems to me, that it starts on the wood that's directly under the lights and spreads from there. Any wood in shade or leaves in shade, it doesn't grow. 

Strange. 

But tomorra morning, big rescape time. Taking all wood and plants out, cleaning glass then big 75% water change. Gonna scrub the wood, but only putting a couple bits back in. I have 6 bits. Then, hopefully, I will be on top of it all, flow will increase and I will have won lol. 

It'll work in theory


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## Pinkmummy79 (13 Apr 2013)

I totally agree with your comment about the growth spreading from the wood and only under the light. I've been contemplating some floating plants to help cut down on the intensity but I'll need a bucket full for my tank, my water is sparkling with the amount of changes and general husbandry I've got myself doing and since my meltdown say nearly a month ago now I seem to be as one with the plants too. No doubt my denial of testing has helped as I'm trying to curtail any water issues rather than looking for what has happened. If I can just keep the new growth coming and the algae from exceeding its current state on a daily basis then when my new filters etc are all sorted I'll feel some sence of achievement.
good luck with the re scape, hopefully it can only do good things dude.


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