Blue-green algae?

[Borat]

Hi all,
I'm looking for any successful methods you may have found to clear up algae problems. Specifically, that slimy fast growing bluey green carpet sheets which I'm sure is a Cyanobacteria!?

My tank stats:
I have a 6x2x2.5 tank which has been running for about the last 5 months. I have very few fish (7 in fact), java ferns and anubias plants, an under tank sump and a Fluval FX5 for filtration and two 4' fluorescent tube lighting on 10 hrs per day.
Volume 1000L
pH 8.1 (Africans)
Ammonia 0mgL
Nitrite 0mgL
Temp 25c
Phosphate (it should be 0mgL, however the test failed)

Things I have tried for varying lengths of time that have failed:
Reduce temp to 23c
Reduce light to 5 hrs
Remove all sheets of algae possible and 50% water every 2 weeks
Lower the pH to 7.5

Solutions/suggestions i have so far:
Turn off light for a month
Hit it with erythromycin (if I can some how get some)

[JT]

Would a UV sterilizer work ?

[ancalimon]

[quote:fea0df9607="Borat"]Hi all,
I'm looking for any successful methods you may have found to clear up algae problems. Specifically, that slimy fast growing bluey green carpet sheets which I'm sure is a Cyanobacteria!?

My tank stats:
I have a 6x2x2.5 tank which has been running for about the last 5 months. I have very few fish (7 in fact), java ferns and anubias plants, an under tank sump and a Fluval FX5 for filtration and two 4' fluorescent tube lighting on 10 hrs per day.
Volume 1000L
pH 8.1 (Africans)
Ammonia 0mgL
Nitrite 0mgL
Temp 25c
Phosphate (it should be 0mgL, however the test failed)

Solutions/suggestions i have so far:
Turn off light for a month
Hit it with erythromycin (if I can some how get some)[/quote:fea0df9607]

If you have something in your water which the algae is feeding off, hitting with an antibiotic will only kill it temporarily.  I suggest you get some ergeria (elodia) or some hornwort or some other plant (spiral val) which gobbles up easily accessible nutrients.

Out of interest, the two plants (java fern and anubius...presumably A.nana) that you describe probably don't need 2x4' floros on 10hrs per day.  Sure they will enjoy the extra light but the algae does as well.

Personally (without really looking at your water) I have only encounted the matts of blue-green algae when my water is high in total dissolved solids (especially phophorous but also high in metals such as zinc and iron).  Note that this is not always _why_ the bloom occured, but it _may_ be the trigger combined with everything else.  As such it might pay to have your water checked as you only have a few fish (although what size, they could be oscars, or danios??) so the load produced by them would be low...

caio
Graeme

[DeagonTheo]

What wrong with adult Bristlenose?
Theo

[Borat]

Thanks for your replies.

JT: I did have an inline UV steriliser hooked up when the algae appeared. I only recently disconnected it.

Ancalimon: I agree, unless I can find the source, the tank will likely get infected again. Unless it is an over abundance of Phosphate (which I'll try to get tested this weekend) all other nutrients are nill. On your suggestion I have dropped the light down to 4hrs.
My water source is rainwater collected in a fibreglass tank, so there should be no minerals, in fact I should add some salts.
The occupants are two full-grown Bristles (they don't touch the algae) Two small leluipi, and 3 medium Clown loaches. So the load is minimal.

DeagonTheo: I have two but they don't touch it.

[braddo]

Blue green algae is infact toxic to many fish species this is why normal algae eating fish won't touch it. The only way I could get rid of it was with eurythomiacine tablets. 200mg Same as the one a doctor subcscribes for stomach bacteria or problems.I habve found it does not ussually affect filter bacteria because it targets a specific variety of bacteria(anaerobic) which ever it is it is opposite to filter bacteria and this happens to be bluegreen algae.
The other thing this algae does is spread especcialy in areas of low water movement so if you can increase the water movement in these areas it well help. It is usually these areas where the polutants build up.
Hope this helps

[DeagonTheo]

Its funny the Adult Bristlenose dont touch it, I've had tanks outside with Slimey BlueGreen Black Algae that thick you couldnt see into the tank and they've cleaned it up in a few days. Admittedly the Bristlies were about 12 to 15cm.
Theo

[ancalimon]

[quote:5f0c41e87c="Borat"]Thanks for your replies.

JT: I did have an inline UV steriliser hooked up when the algae appeared. I only recently disconnected it.

Ancalimon: I agree, unless I can find the source, the tank will likely get infected again. Unless it is an over abundance of Phosphate (which I'll try to get tested this weekend) all other nutrients are nill. On your suggestion I have dropped the light down to 4hrs.
My water source is rainwater collected in a fibreglass tank, so there should be no minerals, in fact I should add some salts.
The occupants are two full-grown Bristles (they don't touch the algae) Two small leluipi, and 3 medium Clown loaches. So the load is minimal.

DeagonTheo: I have two but they don't touch it.[/quote:5f0c41e87c]

I was lucky when I had a large outbreak as my wife worked for a soil and water testing lab, so she was able to do some tests (large amounts of zinc and iron...hence why I made that point).  However all I did was add spiral val in large quantities and didn't touch the lighting (which was 10hr per day).  Maybe the zinc is high.  I would suspect phoshorous though.  And not just phosphate.

As for bristlenose, I have found that yes, occassionally they eat the black/brown/green stuff on the sides of aquariums but not the matting type stuff which grows over plants.  I suspect that the black/brown/green stuff doesn't have the high levels of toxins that the matting type does (only based on the performance of my own bristlenose).  Perhaps when they get larger they are more able to digest cyanobacteria???  After all, they digest lignin :-)

[Borat]

An update on my algae situation:

Changing the light duration down to 4 hours as suggested by Ancalimon seems to have done the trick. It has almost cleared up over the last 4 weeks.

Thanks again for all your input.

[ancalimon]

[quote:a34a709a4d="Borat"]An update on my algae situation:

Changing the light duration down to 4 hours as suggested by Ancalimon seems to have done the trick. It has almost cleared up over the last 4 weeks.

Thanks again for all your input.[/quote:a34a709a4d]

Good to hear.
How are the plants handling it?

caio
Graeme

[Borat]

The plants seem to be fine with the change. Maybe, if anything they are a little lighter green in colour.

I think I will leave the light at 4 hours for another month or so, then I might try upping the duration by an hour per month to about 8 or 9 hours if the algae doesn't reappear.

Cheers.