gda ?

[EssexPete]

Having read Tom's articles about gda I decided to leave it to go through its life-cycle.
After 2 days of not cleaning the glass (usually a daily ritual) i can no longer see the fish except for a couple of inches at the tank bottom pls see attached pic.

Is this gda?

Thanks
Pete

 

[VaughnH]

Re: gda ?

Congratulations! You have been able to grow a magnificent crop of GDA!! If you just ignore it, don't disturb it, don't touch it, for 2 to 3 weeks you should find that any snails in the tank grow to giant size, a green fuzz algae starts growing on the plant leaves, and by the end of that time the GDA thins out, you can once again see thru it, it vanishes from the leaves, and you can wipe it off the glass, never to see it again!

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Phew! Thanks Vaughn
I imagine that in 2-3 weeks I won't even know if the lights are on

Is the stuff growing on the plant leaves fuzz algae?
http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2661 (pls see pic)

Any suggestions as to how to get rid of the dark green fur algae?

BTW - I read about not letting the spray-bar ripple the surface too much, I turned it down a little so ther's just a slight movement at the surface and my CO2 use has dropped by nearly half!!

All the best
Pete

 

[robin adair]

Re: gda ?

Hi Essexpete

You have my sympathy. It must be hard staring at a wall of green for so long wondering what the fish and plants are doing on the other side. It must be a real test of patience working through the boom-bust cycle of GDA. I for one admire your approach and watch this thread with interest.

Cheers

Robin

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Thanks Robin - your support is appreciated!
It does seem counter-intuative staring at a bright green wall of glass, I really can't tell what's going on in the tank unless I look from above which doesn't give much indication other than that the plants are still growing like crazy. I'm itching to scrape it off, but will resist the temptation - a bit like a kid with a scab on his knee.

Over the last day or so small (5-10mm) clear circles are appearing in the main algae growth, but other parts of the glass that were previously clear where the light barely reaches still seem to be accumulating a growth.
Today is day 8... and counting.
I'll do another pic either later today or tomorrow.

All the best
Pete

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Here's a pic of the front glass on day 8 of the GDA growth...

Pete

 

[VaughnH]

Re: gda ?

I think I understand now why it is called green dust algae!

 

[vidiots]

Re: gda ?

Here's a pic of the front glass on day 8 of the GDA growth...
Pete

This is one of natures sick jokes. We work so hard to make the tanks look as nice as possible and despite our best effort nature has other ideas. The fish inside don't care either way, infact they may even feel safer not being able to see the outside world.

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

It is strange that almost all the fish aren't bothered by looking out to dry land as it were, except the anglefish - there's a small corner at the top of the tank that is algae-free, the anglefish are all huddled-up in the corner peering out.
I somewhat doubt they are missing me, but I suspect it's more along the lines of keeping an eye out for feeding time !


Day 10 and still waiting.....
Pete

 

[robin adair]

Re: gda ?

Just one thought, Pete, as the ecological approach is being used to combat the GDA outbreak, I'm wondering if the obvious algae-eating fish are in the tank to help you out? If there are SAE's in there, they must have plump little bellies. If not, then they might help lot in bringing the outbreak under control and restoring the balance.

R

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Good idea Robin, I have been keeping my eye out for some SAE's at my LFS (there's plenty of places I'll buy kit etc, but only one store I'll buy fish from).

They do sell SAE's, but on close inspection, they're not really SAE's, so I'll keep looking.

I recall a post recently where Tom suggested long-fin rosy barbs - beautiful fish, but I've always been a little wary of some of the barb species as they do have a tendancy to nip and I'm not sure how much of an appetite they have for plants. It's not long ago I had to catch 12 albino buenos aries tetras (what fun that was!) they were decimating the plant life.

Looking in from the top of the tank, the algae on the plant leaves seems to be doing well but despite several posts and pics, I've had no response as to how to get rid of the stuff.

Best wishes
Pete

 

[VaughnH]

Re: gda ?

When I went thru my last battle with GDA I had virtually every leaf covered with green fuzz, but when I finally could see thru the glass again, the leaves were clear again, and I had as algae free a tank as I ever had. (Plus the biggest pond snails I had ever grown!)

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: gda ?

I recall a post recently where Tom suggested long-fin rosy barbs - beautiful fish, but I've always been a little wary of some of the barb species as they do have a tendancy to nip and I'm not sure how much of an appetite they have for plants. It's not long ago I had to catch 12 albino buenos aries tetras (what fun that was!) they were decimating the plant life.

Looking in from the top of the tank, the algae on the plant leaves seems to be doing well but despite several posts and pics, I've had no response as to how to get rid of the stuff.

Best wishes
Pete

Yep, the GDA is pretty easy to kill, but you have to wait the cycle out.
Rosies are great but they do shred anything furry looking.
Most hair algae eating fish do.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Well, it's 15 days since I left the GDA alone. Looking in the top of the tank the plants are still growing like crazy - I doubt there's much room left for the fish.
Any comments on the attached pics as to what 'stage' I'm at with this..

BTW - I'm still continuing with EI dosing and 50% weekly water changes - that's correct isn't it?

Thanks
Pete

 

[VaughnH]

Re: gda ?

I would wait at least another 3 days, just to be sure. Better three more days now than having to repeat the whole 2+ weeks later.

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Wednesday is my water change day, so unless I hear to the contrary, I'll leave well alone until weds 20th sept...

Thanks
Pete

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Today's the day !!
I've left well alone for 25 days now, so I'm going in, scraper and syphon in-hand - wish me luck
Attached is a pic of the tank after 25 days of undisturbed GDA growth.
I'll post another of my 'new look' tank tomorrow.

Pete

 

[Sintei]

Re: gda ?

I really hoped it worked for you and awaits your findings with anticipation!

 

[VaughnH]

Re: gda ?

The suspense is killing me!! What happened? I'll bet you scraped off the remaining algae and found behind it a beautiful, healthy aquarium, with obscenely fat snails!

 

[EssexPete]

Re: gda ?

Well...........
No giant snails, but I'm not surprised as there weren't any to start with

I think the pics speak for themselves.
There's still a little hair algae here and there, but the vast majority has gone.
The dark furry algae is still there, but it now looks almost grey/black rather than dark green, so hopefully that's on it's way out too.
I took out 2, 2 gallon bucket fulls of plant prunings
I think the only plant I can't fins anymore is the blood-red stricta, but that wasn't looking too good anyway.

24 hrs after I cleaned the GDA off it now looks even better, I've never seen the water so crystal clear, and so far there are no little green dusty spots appearing on the glass

I'll do another few pics tonight and post tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who helped me.

Best wishes
Pete