Staghorn and trimming H. pinnatifida: how much is too much?

[BenjP]

Hi all,

I recently had a cheap Wilko plug timer conk out on me, resulting in my Co2 running 24hrs a day for what must have been the best part of a week. I've replaced the faulty timer, but unsurprisingly I'm now facing Co2-related algae issues in the form of a particularly nasty staghorn outbreak.

The stuff is everywhere, but it's especially bad on my pinnatifida. I don't like adding chemicals to the tank, so I'm not keen on the idea of dosing with excel or easy carbo. My question is - as the title of the thread implies - how enthusiastically can I trim the affected leaves (and to be honest, it's most of them) without killing the plants off? If the answer is 'not much' then can anyone suggest an effective way of getting rid of staghorn that doesn't involve chemicals?

Thanks folks.

 

[Sammy Islam]

Hi all,

I recently had a cheap Wilko plug timer conk out on me, resulting in my Co2 running 24hrs a day for what must have been the best part of a week. I've replaced the faulty timer, but unsurprisingly I'm now facing Co2-related algae issues in the form of a particularly nasty staghorn outbreak.

The stuff is everywhere, but it's especially bad on my pinnatifida. I don't like adding chemicals to the tank, so I'm not keen on the idea of dosing with excel or easy carbo. My question is - as the title of the thread implies - how enthusiastically can I trim the affected leaves (and to be honest, it's most of them) without killing the plants off? If the answer is 'not much' then can anyone suggest an effective way of getting rid of staghorn that doesn't involve chemicals?

Thanks folks.

My answer might not be that helpful seeing as i used easy carbo. Staghorn seemed to spread very quickly on the pinnatafida. I had a decent staghorn outbreak that led to minor BBA, what i did was:

1) turn the lighting down by 20% until things are better.
2) make sure co2 is on point and do not fiddle.
3) extra water change(s) a week
4) trim everything with staghorn on it in a main seasion.
5) trim out any remaining staghorn that you missed if you notice some
6) clean inside the filter twice as often.

When all that made things better, any remaining algae i spot dosed with easy carbo. But pinnatafida seems to not like easy carbo so in the end had to treat water column rather than spot dose.

 

[BenjP]

Thanks Sammy, really useful info.

Unfortunately I'm using an ADA light so dimming isn't really an option, and the pre-filter already gets a clean every week. I've dialled the Co2 back in and trimmed a whole lot of pinnatifida to the point where I'm nervous about trimming any more in case I do some lasting damage, but I'll definitely look at increasing the frequency of water changes too.

Really don't want to go down the glutaraldehyde route, but good to know it works if I can't solve the issue any other way!

Cheers.

 

[Sammy Islam]

Also keep your pipes and glassware clean, i find that makes a difference in the long term. I would trim all the bad bits in a big session (like you have) then wait another week or two and trim out more. Do extra water changes and clean the inside of the filter definitely helps too.

 

[sparkyweasel]

Unfortunately I'm using an ADA light so dimming isn't really an option

Salvinia would dim it. 🙂