Cladophora algae struggles

[Katharine]

Great to see the forum back up! 🎉

I am here again seeking advice for my low tech tank (full details here - My first adventure into aquascaping - Aquael 125L Walstad).

About 6 months ago I added a marimo moss ball I was given by someone online which unfortunately I now believe introduced Cladophora algae into my tank.

There's a video about Cladophora here which does not fill me with confidence!

I've tried reducing the light (for a while just using one of the two lights on the tank, and currently the lights are on approx 8 hours/day).

I don't add nutrients to the tank and have plenty of other plants, including lots of floating plants, who should be soaking up the excess nutrients.

I bought some API algae fix which seems like my only remaining option. I plan to run an experiment with using different concentrations in glasses of water outside of the tank to gauge if it's likely to help.

Anyone else have experience with Cladophora algae or API algae fix? What worked for you?

1. Size of tank in litres. 125L
2. Age of the set - up. 1 year
3. Filtration + Media/Sponges. Aquael pat mini
4. Lighting and duration. 8 hours, 2 x 1270 lumen LED tubes
5. Substrate. 4 parts aquatic compost and one part Melcourt farmyard topped with dennerle crystal quartz gravel
6. Co2 dosing or Non-dosing. None
7. Fertilizers used & Ratios. None
8. Water change regime and type. Infrequent ~10% water changes; dGH 8.
9. Plant list + When planted. Lots - crypts, vallisneria, anubias, ferns, floaters. Planted varying times.
10. Drop Checker. None
11. Inhabitants. 4 honey gourami, ~11 otocinclus, ~8 pygmy cories, ~18 CPDs, 5 black panther snails + babies, Ramshorn snails
12. Full tank image & Surface image.

 

[bazz]

Hi,
For me it would have generally been, manual removal, clean, water change and repeat but obviously using the Walstad method prohibits this, but then again adding algaesides probably goes against the grain too.

I bought some API algae fix which seems like my only remaining option. I plan to run an experiment with using different concentrations in glasses of water outside of the tank to gauge if it's likely to help.

This seems like a good idea but beware on the front page of the website for this product is a warning 'CAUTION: Do not use with freshwater crustaceans including shrimp, crabs, and lobsters' so I imagine your snails would not be too happy either.
James's Planted Tank suggests that
quote: "Can be very stubborn and difficult to eradicate. Make sure your dosing is good and keep your CO2 levels high. Manually pull out every bit you can see until it stops growing. May take a while but should work eventually. Make sure water circulation is good. Overdosing Flourish Excel, EasyCarbo or TNC Carbon may clear it. Amano shrimp sometimes eat it."
This is obviously aimed at high tech tanks but it looks like frequent manual removal is your best option.
I'm no algae ID expert either but if it's not growing too quickly it could just be green hair algae which is definitely easier to control, but again manual removal is the best tool.
Cheers!

 

[Katharine]

Hi,
For me it would have generally been, manual removal, clean, water change and repeat but obviously using the Walstad method prohibits this, but then again adding algaesides probably goes against the grain too.

This seems like a good idea but beware on the front page of the website for this product is a warning 'CAUTION: Do not use with freshwater crustaceans including shrimp, crabs, and lobsters' so I imagine your snails would not be too happy either.
James's Planted Tank suggests that
quote: "Can be very stubborn and difficult to eradicate. Make sure your dosing is good and keep your CO2 levels high. Manually pull out every bit you can see until it stops growing. May take a while but should work eventually. Make sure water circulation is good. Overdosing Flourish Excel, EasyCarbo or TNC Carbon may clear it. Amano shrimp sometimes eat it."
This is obviously aimed at high tech tanks but it looks like frequent manual removal is your best option.
I'm no algae ID expert either but if it's not growing too quickly it could just be green hair algae which is definitely easier to control, but again manual removal is the best tool.
Cheers!

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Using an algaecide is very much a last resort for me. I have tried reducing the light and have been removing it manually with no luck. The algae adheres very strongly to the wood in particular so it's not possible to remove it all.

I'm sure there's still an argument that I can control it if not eliminate it with regular manual removal but it's everywhere - we're talking regularly removing plants from the tank to clean the algae off and then replanting them, which isn't realistic for me.

I've setup a small experiment with a few glasses of water on a windowsill with some plants, algae and Ramshorn snails to test whether the algaecide works before adding it to the tank (with a control, 1/3 dose & full dose). The snails are fine so far, so that's one thing I don't need to worry about.

 

[louis_last]

I think Cladophora responds pretty well to blackouts. If I were you I'd try a 48 hour blackout. I've been pretty lucky and not had major algae issues for a few years but when I did have some problems a very strict blackout worked well. It helps to have some big amano shrimp to hoover up the dying algae though and they will also eat living cladophora. It would be worth adding a few anyway but they would take a while to clear a tank that size.
Just fyi it's also a total myth that marimo balls can or do introduce invasive clado algae to a tank. And even when the growth form of actual moss balls transitions to an attached form on hardscape it doesn't look much like problematic clado at all. I've seen a lot of people make this connection but I promise you it's just an unfortunate coincidence.
I like your tank though! and I don't think the clado we can see in these pictures actually detracts from it much at all.