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spirogyra? Driving me crazy.

Nick potts

Member
Joined
25 Sep 2014
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Location
Torbay
Hi all.

I have been fighting what I think is spirogyra in one of my tanks for months now, it never takes over but is constantly present and a pain to remove. Some tank details.

Tank - 60cm 39ltr gross volume
Lighting - 30w LED at 40cm above tank running at 100%
Filtration - Eden 522 external 1000 LPH plus 200 LPH powerhead
CO2 - Pressurised, injected into 2 diffusers, running very high CO2 with light orangey colour drop checker.
Fertilisation - Full EI
Water change - 60-70% every week

There are 100's of cherry shrimp, 10 amano shrimp and 6 ottos in the tank, I do feed them very well though.

I have always dosed this tank daily with 2ml of excel but it seems to have no effect on this algae, even when spot dosed

Has anyone dealt with this type of algae and can offer any recommendations and causes? I see blackouts often mentioned but would only really want that as a last resort.


20220112_180401.jpg


Excuse the red look, the wall behind the tank is red :)

20220112_180551.jpg
 
Lighting - 30w LED at 40cm above tank running at 100%
CO2 - Pressurised, injected into 2 diffusers, running very high CO2 with light orangey colour drop checker.
Fertilisation - Full EI
Hi @Nick potts

I would certainly be expecting algae problems of some description with the above combination of light and nutrients. And, what about your livestock? The CO2 concentration may well be in excess of 30 ppm.

JPC
 
I would certainly be expecting algae problems of some description with the above combination of light and nutrients. And, what about your livestock? The CO2 concentration may well be in excess of 30 ppm.

JPC

Hi JPC.

While the light may seem a lot, it is 40cm above the tank, so hopefully should be fine, the tank is stocked with lots of light loving plants. ( I really need a par meter )

CO2 I am hoping is over the 30ppm mark based on my drop checker and PH, but all livestock seem happy and acting normal
 
Yes I have battled it a lot.

Your problem is the light, it should be lowered to 40% until the algae is gone and then slowly increased. I got rid of it by doing 2x blackouts for 3 days each, a week apart, cleaning the filters at the end of each blackout and lowering my light to 40%. Also before and after each blackout I thoroughly cleaned as much off as I saw with a tooth brush. I also added lots of floating plants. Why are you afraid of blackouts? They're harmless to all animals, and just stretch out the stems of some plants temporarily.
 
Why are you afraid of blackouts? They're harmless to all animals, and just stretch out the stems of some plants temporarily.
Thanks, shangman

Not afraid of them, more I would just like to figure out what is causing it, info on it is not as readily available as other algae.

That's 2 votes for lowering light intensity so maybe that should be the first step :) i had hoped having the higher would help.
 
I would just like to figure out what is causing it, info on it is not as readily available as other algae.
Hi @Nick potts

I tried to attach some water parameter details in which Spirogyra naturally grow but I was unable to upload it from my PC. Not sure why.

It seems that the Spirogyra family naturally grow in polluted waters, if I remember rightly. This would seem appropriate if your tank water is high in nutrients.

JPC
 
Last edited:
Hi
Reduce your lighting reduce the fertilizers to about 1/4 dosing....for 4 weeks!
I've had good results with the Easy Life product below in conjuction with the above measures.

1642018090325.png
 
Thanks, shangman

Not afraid of them, more I would just like to figure out what is causing it, info on it is not as readily available as other algae.

That's 2 votes for lowering light intensity so maybe that should be the first step :) i had hoped having the higher would help.
The thing with a blackout is that it does genuinely work and is a good treatment, it's one of those appears where just getting rid of as much as possible is important. The algae senses the lack of light and detaches from the plant it's attached to to search for a better home, gets caught up in the filter where you can collect it, often almost all the adult algae. If when you stop the blackout the light is still low, it will stop any new spores from taking hold.

I did the blackouts, and kept the light at 40% for a few months, it seems completely gone. My light is now 75% and I've seen nothing, I think I could make it higher but it's personal preference.
 
Hi
Reduce your lighting reduce the fertilizers to about 1/4 dosing....for 4 weeks!
I've had good results with the Easy Life product below in conjuction with the above measures.

I'll take a look at that, thanks
Hi @Nick potts

If at first, you don't succeed, try a different approach. So, hopefully, my second attempt has worked! Here it is:


Please let me know if you can now access this document.

JPC

Thanks all.

I have dropped the lights down to 50% and I will drop my fert dosage right down also. I will monitor over the coming weeks and try a blackout if necessary.

The document works fine mate thank you, I will give it a read, the second link however doesn't it just loads a popup
 
Hi
Reduce your lighting reduce the fertilizers to about 1/4 dosing....for 4 weeks!
I've had good results with the Easy Life product below in conjuction with the above measures.

View attachment 179836
Spirogyra outbreak is associated with high light, a common problem in outdoor ponds. API Algaefix is effective in eliminating Spiro, and is widely used by pond keepers. I wonder if algaefix has the same ingredients as AlgExit. I have Spiro in my window sill shrimp bowls that receives direct sunlight. I tried excel and peroxide with no success. I can’t use algaefix because it will kill invertebrates, so I placed a sun screen behind the bowl to reduce the growth rate. It’s not elimination as I have to physically remove the spyro with a tweezer every few weeks, not so bad though as spyro doesn't attach strongly to plants and comes off loose in whole strand.
 
Spirogyra outbreak is associated with high light, a common problem in outdoor ponds. API Algaefix is effective in eliminating Spiro, and is widely used by pond keepers. I wonder if algaefix has the same ingredients as AlgExit. I have Spiro in my window sill shrimp bowls that receives direct sunlight. I tried excel and peroxide with no success. I can’t use algaefix because it will kill invertebrates, so I placed a sun screen behind the bowl to reduce the growth rate. It’s not elimination as I have to physically remove the spyro with a tweezer every few weeks, not so bad though as spyro doesn't attach strongly to plants and comes off loose in whole strand.
I hope not as I have just ordered the algexit as it says safe for shrimp :)

From what I can find the API stuff is dimethylimino ethylene dichloride based and the algexit is salicylic acid

Curious - roots located in soil? If you sprinkle buce in different areas of flow/distribution and light intensities, do you notice a difference?
Buce are all attached to rock/wood and I have them in pretty much all positions in the tank, most have had some on them to some degree.
 
Spyro is the bane of my existence. I've only ever gotten rid of it through a series of blackouts and dimming the light by a lot. And even then it took ages. Horrible stuff.
 
Spyro is the bane of my existence. I've only ever gotten rid of it through a series of blackouts and dimming the light by a lot. And even then it took ages. Horrible stuff.
I am hoping that the light reduction and the algexit will help.

The algae never seems to spread fast or take over so I can manage it pretty well atm, but if I missed a WC and therefore manual removal etc I think it would become a bigger problem.
 
Buce are all attached to rock/wood and I have them in pretty much all positions in the tank, most have had some on them to some degree.
Curious to know if under same conditions, if you ensured that some had access to soil, if the spiro wouldn’t be on those ones.

Light reduction + some kind of algal dip will work. But root issue manifested under your current conditions (and I take it you like your current conditions so would be keen to know if you fix it).
 
Curious to know if under same conditions, if you ensured that some had access to soil, if the spiro wouldn’t be on those ones.

Some have access to soil, insofar as any roots could reach it if they wanted. Curious as to why you think this may help?

Having another think: what’s your GH? @Nick potts
GH is around 5 and KH 1 using RO water remineralised with MgSO4, KHCO3 and CaSO4.
 
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