Clado-bloody-phora

I have a just under three month old, still maturing set up:

60l (16USG)
72W
ADA Aqua Soil
EI ferts

I have started to get some Cladophora in one corner of the tank below the filter inlet and outlet, in amongst some HC and Eleocharis parvula. There isn`t a great deal at the moment, but I would like to nip this in the bud.

My usual action with new tanks is to continuously remove as much algae as I find by hand, and never letting it get a foot hold. With the location of this stuff amongst such delicate plants, I am finding it impossible to do. I have six Amano shrimp in there, but they don`t seem particularly interested in it at the moment.

All ferts and are at target, as is CO2 using a drop checker and 4dKH solution.

I am thinking of spot treating it with Excel, but I am concerned about my HC and Eleocharis possibly melting. Can anybody think of a workable strategy to get rid of this stuff, or will it eventually subside of its own accord as the tank matures?

Cheers, Dave.

 

Thanks for the advice Tom and Hoppy. I think i`ll attack it for now with Excel and cranking the CO2 up a bit. I generally run with my drop checkers lime green, but I`ll edge this tank`s indicator up to the yellow and keep an eye on my shrimp.

I have wondered about circulation in this tank. I am using the CalAqua glassware with an Eheim 2213, which should give me good distribution in a 60cm. There are still a few temporary weeds that are in there, which I am slowly getting rid of over the weeks. I have always felt that they have restricted the flow a bit, because although they weighted down, they are not planted (didn`t want to dig them up out of my Aqua Soil). This means that they can drift about a bit and they tend to sit in front of the filter discharge.

Maybe I should get rid of these over the next few days and see what happens to the distribution. As for the glassware, I have modified the cabinet to have them both on the same side, so moving these around could be a problem.

Anyway, it`s early days yet and hopefully we will kick the crap out of this stuff.

Cheers, Dave.

 

I thought I would give a quick update.

First off, I think I may have misidentified the algae. Having looked around on the internet, I am now suspecting that it may be Rhizoclonium. Secondly, I underestimated how bad it was getting.

I have increased the CO2 and given the hairgrass a major haircut. Unfortunately, the algae seems to be bouncing back each time, so I have started to use a fine toothed comb, which is fairly effective in getting rid of the majority of it.

The CO2 dropper is sat right over the worst area and is almost yellow. There is more pearling, and a lot of it tends to get caught up amongst the fuzz of algae.

It has been fairly high maintenance as of late, but I am hoping that hassling the algae on a daily basis will eventually see it off.

Cheers, Dave.

 

Going by your website James, I am pretty sure it is Rhizoclonium.

Anyway, just when I think I have delivered a knockout blow to this stuff, it gets back up off the canvas and and lands one on my chin. The tank has just had a three day blackout which was effective in setting it back.

Unfortunately, it is a bit catch 22 at the moment, because all the pruning and black out has set back my hairgrass as well, so it is struggling to get the upperhand. What I have done straight after the black out is to float some Riccia on top and hope the growth from this will help the plants get the upper hand.

For the foreseeable, it is going to have to be lots of elbow grease and water changes. Can anybody think of anything else I can try?

Actually, I was thinking of possibly using a second black out, but I am not sure when to carry it out. I guess the answer would be to wait for the plants to show signs of full recovery before giving it a try.

Dave.

 

Hi Sherry,

I felt that I was fighting a losing battle, so I decided on the three day black out. Since then, I feel I have the situation under control.

What I am doing at the moment is only using two of the three light tubes and slowly nurturing the plants back to full health after the stress they have been through. I am also carrying out 50% water changes every other day and removing as much Rhizo as I can during them.

Flourish Excel is going to be dosed daily for the foreseeable future as well.

Dave.