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Post by babygeige on Sept 5, 2012 21:48:47 GMT -5
The appearance of my 30 gallon has been frustrating me so much lately! The plants in it look terrible and I'm considering going back to a regular old 36 inch fixture instead of the 2 bulb T5 fixture I've got right now, putting low light plants in. That's what I've got in my other tanks and they look so much better. I get lots of new growth on the plants in my 30, but then the leaves will turn black and ugly. I've tried DIY yeast CO2, gravel root supplements, Flourish excel, and right now I'm trying some API liquid fertilizer. On top of that, the 5 female bettas I've got in there look like crap. I think I'm going to split them up before they kill each other. All my other tanks look so nice, and then I go in the den and look at this tank and become sad. I mean, there's no sickness or anything, which I'm grateful for, but it just looks so ...meh in there!
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Post by parker002 on Sept 6, 2012 6:35:26 GMT -5
Can you post some pics? Try to get some close-ups of the "black" plants if you can.
Don't give up though!
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Post by Carl on Sept 6, 2012 10:48:15 GMT -5
Can you post some pics? Try to get some close-ups of the "black" plants if you can. Don't give up though! I agree and would also ask what type (Kelvin, etc) of T5 lights you are running versus the type of light your old one was. Carl
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Post by babygeige on Sept 8, 2012 9:46:36 GMT -5
Please don't judge me! I know the tank in general looks like crap. My other tanks are much nicer! The light has one Aqueon 6700K daylight bulb and an AquaticLife Roseate T5HO. The box for that bulb doesn't have a Kelvin rating. It does say 650nm though... I didn't take a shot of the swordplant on the left. It's not quite as bad looking as the others, but it's also relatively new. I think I put that one in a few months ago.
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Post by Carl on Sept 8, 2012 16:16:28 GMT -5
Stephanie; I certainly cannot judge you as who has not struggled with this algae on their plants before if they have kept planted aquariums long enough; I know I have This appears to be BBA (Black Beard Algae). To be blunt, I do not believe there is a clear consensus on the cause or best removal, including my experience and tests. I will also point out that the main lighting culprit is too much blue and maybe too much of the 650nm of your more "red" light; stay with only 6000-8000K But there is much more to this, including the fact Amazon Swords seem to really be susceptible as this algae thrives where it can outgrow the plants & Amazon Swords grow slow. Also lack or too much nutrients does not seem to be a factor, as these algae prefer conditions favorable to most plants. I have found cleaning the BBA off the plants into water that is then disposed can help, so can dips in Flourish ExcelAnother suggestion that I have not personally found conclusive, but is worth trying is having a 2 hour off period for your lights in the middle of the day. Here is my Aquarium Answers Algae Article with the BBA section: Aquarium Algae; BBACarl
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Post by babygeige on Sept 9, 2012 21:14:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions, Carl. I might try altering the light schedule. If that doesn't help, I'll have to consider whether i want to try different bulbs, or just go back to low tech lighting with the appropriate plants.
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Post by parker002 on Sept 10, 2012 8:37:47 GMT -5
I've had issues with this kind of plaque algae as well. It's definitely better since getting my LEDs but even then, I still have it on some of the slowest-growing plants.
I hate to be a downer but I have just learned to live with it. Getting rid of it isn't possible in my experience.
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Post by babygeige on Sept 16, 2012 11:41:36 GMT -5
It drives me nuts and. If it were only on some of the plants, or not as bad, it'd be a different story. I'm going to tweak the light schedule and if it doesn't help, I'm going to trade in the light for a lower tech one.
Do you think it would help if I swapped out the rose bulb for one of the old daylight bulbs? It's one of the ones that I replaced and haven't bothered to take to the recycling center yet. I don't want to spend money on different bulbs for this light if I'm just going to get rid of it, but it might give an idea of if the change would make a difference.
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Post by parker002 on Sept 17, 2012 11:03:08 GMT -5
It looks like the problem is worse on the right side of your tank. I'd concentrate there - maybe you have a spot on the glass that's filtering the light or something?
I have GroBeam LEDs now and I still have problems with this black algae on my Anubias. I don't think changing your lighting is going to be a quick, magical fix. Sorry.
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Post by Carl on Sept 17, 2012 13:50:42 GMT -5
It looks like the problem is worse on the right side of your tank. I'd concentrate there - maybe you have a spot on the glass that's filtering the light or something? This is an interesting point that I missed. If this is the side you have the rose bulb on, maybe this will make a difference. Otherwise, as Parker stated, often it is simply a matter of control. Maybe try increasing or using Flourish Excel, as this has helped sometimes for me (not always though) Carl
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Post by mistiking on Sept 19, 2012 15:26:20 GMT -5
I will point out that I too, had this problem. Everything had BBA, wood, filters, plants, tank side, etc. Even with my regular weekly cleanings, low bio load, and excellent filtration, I couldn't get rid of it. I just learned to deal with it.....
We then decided to split up our fish as they were getting aggressive toward eachother. When the fish were gone, snails appeared. (The fish were not there to eat them) I let the snails go, and within a week, my plants and everything else in the tank were clean! I know snails are a HUGE pain sometimes, and hard to get rid of, but I just pluck them out and throw them away, when there get to be too many. (Or put them in my pond)
I have learned to accept the snails and just keep the population under control instead of getting rid of them. They keep everything super clean, and the kids like to look at them!
If you need some, I would be happy to send you some! LOL
Good luck!
~*Misti*~
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Post by parker002 on Sept 20, 2012 10:23:00 GMT -5
Yeah, snails. Um. OK. We had a pond snails and they cleaned up ALL of the beard algae in the tank. Unfortunately, the plentiful food source caused the population to explode, to the point that they substantially increased the bio-load and now we have a problem with green hair algae. The snails are now under control due to the introduction of assassin snails. We're trying to get the algae taken care of now - fortunately it responds to Flourish Excel quite rapidly whereas the BBA does not in my experience.
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Post by babygeige on Sept 22, 2012 15:01:12 GMT -5
Both of the bulbs in the tank are 36 inches long, so they go the length of the tank. I'll check the glass canopy though and see if there is a build up of some sort.
I know that nothing is going to be a quick, magic fix. I just don't want to waste any more money on new lighting or plants only to continue having this problem. I've spent more money on plants for this tank in the last year than I have spent on the fish in it since setup in 2007!
I hadn't thought of snails...I do have some of those stupid little ones (maybe pond snails) in my 50. I'll have to seriously weigh the pros and cons of introducing them. They used to be in this problem 30 gal, they disappeared. I wonder if that's when this problem began...
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Post by Carl on Sept 22, 2012 15:56:15 GMT -5
Maybe! Worth considering, even with the "cons" Carl
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Post by babygeige on Sept 30, 2012 21:47:46 GMT -5
So I decided to put ONE snail in my 30 gallon to see what would happen. I started cleaning out the 50 gallon, keeping an eye out for a snail to grab, and couldn't find a single one! I noticed in the last month or so that there seemed to be fewer snails, but only realized today that I don't have any left. Maybe the remaining ones were just well hidden today, I'll have to watch out for them and as soon as I spot one, grab it!
The glass canopy is fine all the way across, so there's no issues there. I did swap out the rose bulb for the old 6000K daylight bulb today, we'll see if that makes any difference at all.
Otherwise, back to the drawing board.
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Post by babygeige on Dec 7, 2012 11:09:47 GMT -5
Everything has been pretty much the same in my 30 gallon as far as ugliness, until about a week ago I noticed the sudden reappearance of snails! Is it normal for them to just materialize out of nowhere? I haven't seen any in my tanks for months and months and now they show up in the 30 gallon. I haven't been as diligent with tank cleanings lately - I've had to skip a week here and there because I've been very busy. Maybe that's why they appeared, but all of my tanks are in the same boat. Anyway, I'm going to leave them alone (as much as it pains me to see those slimy things crawling all over my tank). It'll be interesting to see how much of a difference they make.
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Post by Carl on Dec 7, 2012 12:35:39 GMT -5
Cleanings can make a difference in snail populations.
I know that they will live in the substrate, and any filter media they can find their way into. When I have cleaned more meticulously and more regularly, populations have been low, but when I have relaxed my cleanings, the populations have grown.
Carl
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Dec 11, 2012 12:00:42 GMT -5
I have the same problem on my anubias (Coffee and petite) in my 55g. It used to be on the Wendtii, but for some strange reason, the Wendtii started growing really fast and it went away. It is still on the anubias though. I too have just learned to live with it....plus the 8 in common pleco snacks on the Coffee anubias, so it only has a single leaf per rizone(?). My problem was across the entire tank. I have MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) in the tank...huge population, and have the entire time. Is there a perticular type of snail that does a better job on BBA? I have Ramshorn snails and an apple snail, a mystery snail and maybe pond snails...
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Post by Carl on Dec 11, 2012 20:54:59 GMT -5
Have you tried Nirite Snails? These do not have population explosions and work the best for BBA algae
Ramshorn Snails are also decent for BBA.
What is interesting (or frustrating), is while I too have battled this algae many times, I cannot categorically name any one method, snail, etc that will take care of this problem. What works one time does not always work the next.
I think Parker sums up my experience:
Carl
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Post by parker002 on Dec 12, 2012 13:25:14 GMT -5
I have the same problem on my anubias (Coffee and petite) in my 55g. It used to be on the Wendtii, but for some strange reason, the Wendtii started growing really fast and it went away. It is still on the anubias though. I too have just learned to live with it....plus the 8 in common pleco snacks on the Coffee anubias, so it only has a single leaf per rizone(?). My problem was across the entire tank. I have MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) in the tank...huge population, and have the entire time. Is there a perticular type of snail that does a better job on BBA? I have Ramshorn snails and an apple snail, a mystery snail and maybe pond snails... I had to move my Anubias Nana to the guppy tank. I'm not sure if it was the Angels or the Synodontis but somebody was munching them down to nubs.
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