# What algae is this?



## Grindhouse (12 Jul 2019)

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum, but a long time lurker.

I recently got bitten by the aquarium bug and have been so happy starting out with this hobby.
Throughout my 3-4 months in the hobby I've encountered a few problems on the way, but nothing too serious.

Currently, I have a small algae outbreak. Its not much, but I like to stay on top of things and ensure it does not get out of hand.

My setup is as follows:
Juwel 125 aquarium
Eheim Pro 4+ 350 filter (1050 l/h)
Standard MultiLux lighting (3200 lumen) soon to be upgraded to the HeliaLux Spectrum.
I do not run pressured CO2, but I dose 4ml of EasyCarbo each day. Also considered pressurized CO2.
I run Tropica root tabs and I am also tweaking the Tropica specialized and premium fertilizer dosing right now (1 pump each every 2 days).

Water Parameters:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate ~20 ppm

I recently added quite a few fast growing stem plants in an attempt to fight algae, as I want to avoid any chemicals I can, beside EasyCarbo until I get pressurized CO2 and better light. Everything seems to be growing well, except Cardamine Lyrata, but I suspect it is because it stands directly in the highest flow area of the tank, and I am considering swapping it out for something hardier, maybe Echinodorus 'Bleherae'. All plants in the tank are from Tropica.

I have attached a few images showcasing the algae growing on my Crinum Calamistratum, as I cannot figure out whether it is a fuzz algae or a sort of red algae? 

Any and all help is greatly appreciated, thank you!


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## dw1305 (12 Jul 2019)

Hi all,





Grindhouse said:


> as I cannot figure out whether it is a fuzz algae or a sort of red algae?


It is a Red Algae.

cheers Darrel


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## Grindhouse (12 Jul 2019)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,It is a Red Algae.
> 
> cheers Darrel


BBA? Any tips to combat this?


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## dw1305 (12 Jul 2019)

Hi all, 





Grindhouse said:


> BBA?


Most likely, it isn't always possible to tell from a photo when its young. You could tell by feel, Stagshorn is a lot tougher than BBA. 





Grindhouse said:


> Any tips to combat this?


The only useful thing I can suggest, from personal experience, are Ramshorn Snails, they don't eat the mature tufts but they graze the biofilm, removing very young plants.

We have a few threads on <"BBA">, none of which really come up <"with a definitive answer">.

cheers Darrel


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## Zeus. (12 Jul 2019)

Grindhouse said:


> Eheim Pro 4+ 350 filter (1050 l/h)



What Filter media have you got in those filters and how often do you clean them, as if its stuffed with fine media it soon clogs and output soon drops, I only use course and medium sponges and a few ceramic media as I have plenty of plants to do the biological filtration and few fish. I clean my filter weekly. A small powerhead may help OFC and CO2 implemented well OFC


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## Grindhouse (12 Jul 2019)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Most likely, it isn't always possible to tell from a photo when its young. You could tell by feel, Stagshorn is a lot tougher than BBA. The only useful thing I can suggest, from personal experience, are Ramshorn Snails, they don't eat the mature tufts but they graze the biofilm, removing very young plants.
> 
> We have a few threads on <"BBA">, none of which really come up <"with a definitive answer">.
> 
> cheers Darrel



I had a few staghorn tuffs here and there a month or so back, but I managed to spot treat them away (I think) with EasyCarbo. Perhaps I didnt and it kept growing, not sure. It halfway looks like fuzz, halfway looks like BBA, hence my uncertainty and also, I am new to the hobby, so this whole algae thing makes things a bit more complicated. 

Snails are not an option, since I am about to get a spotted congo puffer in there, and I am sure they will get eaten or killed as soon as noticed. 
I will check out the threads, thanks for the info Darrel.



Zeus. said:


> What Filter media have you got in those filters and how often do you clean them, as if its stuffed with fine media it soon clogs and output soon drops, I only use course and medium sponges and a few ceramic media as I have plenty of plants to do the biological filtration and few fish. I clean my filter weekly. A small powerhead may help OFC and CO2 implemented well OFC




The filter is about a week old, and I am running it as follows (bottom to top).
Bottom: Coarse sponge, Medium sponge, Filter floss
Medium: Eheim Substrat Pro
Top: Biohome Ultimate

I have not cleaned it yet, as I think it needs a bit more time to clog up. The output is great and the flow is rather strong. 

I am not sure what OFC is, but I am considering adding pressurized CO2 for better plant growth and less algae issues.


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## Zeus. (12 Jul 2019)

Grindhouse said:


> The output is great and the flow is rather strong.



 Do the plants gently sway about in the current all over the tank

Filter floss is a great filter clogger and Biohome Ultimate reduces output quite a bit.



Grindhouse said:


> I am considering adding pressurized CO2



Dont forget the price in a means to test the pH either good pH test papers or a decent pH Probe/Pen


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## Grindhouse (12 Jul 2019)

Zeus. said:


> Do the plants gently sway about in the current all over the tank
> 
> Filter floss is a great filter clogger and Biohome Ultimate reduces output quite a bit.
> 
> Dont forget the price in a means to test the pH either good pH test papers or a decent pH Probe/Pen



Yes, the plants sway gently in most areas and quite a lot in one other area. Will be planting an amazon sword or something similar that can handle a strong current. 
Also, how important is it that all plants sway? Does it really matter? As long as the plants are healthy and growing well? 
It is, if its setup wrong. With the correct setup it can last for quite a while. 

Yeah, I will be getting a pH pen as well.


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## Zeus. (12 Jul 2019)

Grindhouse said:


> Also, how important is it that all plants sway?



Its just an indication of the flow in the tank. In a high tech tank Flow is King esp regarding getting the CO2 to the plants, CO2 travels 10,000 slower in water than air and similar for other nutrients so when we are force growing plants with High light good/great flow is needed.


Grindhouse said:


> Does it really matter? As long as the plants are healthy and growing well?



Nope if the plants are growing well theres no need OFC but if flow is lacking then problems like pinholes in leaves inter leaf/stem elongation lower leaves falling off and algae can result.



Grindhouse said:


> if its setup wrong. With the correct setup it can last for quite a while.



depends on how long its been wrong OFC but some plants eg stems you can pull up trim off the lower parts and replant sorted, others are not so easy as they grow from the base of the plant eg Cyperus helferi


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## Grindhouse (12 Jul 2019)

Zeus. said:


> Its just an indication of the flow in the tank. In a high tech tank Flow is King esp regarding getting the CO2 to the plants, CO2 travels 10,000 slower in water than air and similar for other nutrients so when we are force growing plants with High light good/great flow is needed.
> 
> Nope if the plants are growing well theres no need OFC but if flow is lacking then problems like pinholes in leaves inter leaf/stem elongation lower leaves falling off and algae can result.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I understand. Thanks. I try to ensure a good flow either way so that the oxygen can travel throughout the tank easily and also to ensure waste does not build up. 

Cant there be pinholes in leaves from lack of nutrients? Or is it because of bad flow? What would be a good flow for a 125 liter tank?


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## Zeus. (12 Jul 2019)

Grindhouse said:


> Cant there be pinholes in leaves from lack of nutrients? Or is it because of bad flow? What would be a good flow for a 125 liter tank?



The pinholes are due usually because of too much light and not enough nutrient CO2 and it's the good flow that delivers the CO2 to the plant 

How much flow is needed varies OFC but as a rule of thumb having X10 the tank size to filter output is advised, so for 125l tank filter/powerhead output of 1250lph. But then the right output makes a big difference too, plus output placement. Lily pipes are nice and tend to work well as do spraybars along the back of the tank. Which will work the best depends on the Scape design also.


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## Grindhouse (13 Jul 2019)

Zeus. said:


> The pinholes are due usually because of too much light and not enough nutrient CO2 and it's the good flow that delivers the CO2 to the plant
> 
> How much flow is needed varies OFC but as a rule of thumb having X10 the tank size to filter output is advised, so for 125l tank filter/powerhead output of 1250lph. But then the right output makes a big difference too, plus output placement. Lily pipes are nice and tend to work well as do spraybars along the back of the tank. Which will work the best depends on the Scape design also.



So essentially all the issues I have right now stem from lack of pressurized CO2? 

I can always add a powerhead for extra flow, but as it stands now I do not think it is needed. It seems and feels that the flow is strong enough to push everything around the tank. I have a spraybar positioned at the side of the tank. Since the tank lengh is 80cm it seems to be doing well, although it pushes the water a bit crooked, which is quite annoying to be honest. Since its a closed tank with a lid, adding a lily pipe does not seem to be favorable and I am not keen on having to drill holes in the lid. Unless I can add the pipe in a corner and have the flow be pushed from one corner to another? I wonder if that is a good idea.

I also noticed some of my new plants, namely Bacopa Caroliniana is starting to get some browning on the leaves, starting from edges and moving / creeping towards the center of the leaf. I wonder what that is. I will take a picture tomorrow.


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## Grindhouse (15 Jul 2019)

Today I took some pictures of some of my plants that seem to have some sort of browning on them. I am not sure what it is, but my assumption is that it might be either Diatoms or Cyanobacteria. Does anyone have any idea, or perhaps any remedies for this? Thanks!


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## dw1305 (15 Jul 2019)

Hi all,





Grindhouse said:


> Diatoms


Looks like them. 





Grindhouse said:


> or perhaps any remedies for this?


Snails again.

cheers Darrel


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## Grindhouse (15 Jul 2019)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,Looks like them. Snails again.
> 
> cheers Darrel



Thank you. I will see what I can do about that.

Like previously stated, I cant really have snails. If I could, I would.


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## dw1305 (15 Jul 2019)

Hi all, 





Grindhouse said:


> Like previously stated, I cant really have snails. If I could, I would.


_Otocinclus_ are good at clearing Diatoms, but I'm not sure they would survive the Puffer either. I always have snails and <"various Crustaceans">, but I've never kept Puffers.

The good news is that the Diatoms should decline of their own accord as the tank establishes.

cheers Darrel


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## Grindhouse (16 Jul 2019)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, _Otocinclus_ are good at clearing Diatoms, but I'm not sure they would survive the Puffer either. I always have snails and <"various Crustaceans">, but I've never kept Puffers.
> 
> The good news is that the Diatoms should decline of their own accord as the tank establishes.
> 
> cheers Darrel



The puffer wont harm any fish, but it will kill and eat any crustaceans, be it shrimp or snails. 

How long does it usually take for diatoms to decline after setup? The tank is approximately 3 months old, but had a filter change and added extra biological media about 2 weeks ago.


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