gda

yme

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well,

I had some very good info from Tom by PM. but I think it is also good to share info on the forum. So hee it is: I do have some GDA growing in my tank. for sure on leaves of plants, but probably also on the glass. I performed twice a 3 week "let it be" treament but without result. Yesterday I removed the crap from the glass and today I see a nice film already appearing. A clear faillure.

I want to repeat the treatment but while searching the internet I found an old post of Tom, that basically said that it couls also help if you have a micron filter to get rid of the gda after you removed it from the glass. I thought to give it a shot. The web tells me that I should buy a hot magnum canister filter with micron filter. So far so good, untill I couldn't find a shop in europe that sells this brand. So I send an email to marineland to ask whether they sell in europe.
If not, any thoughts about another brand of micron filter? (I don't like a diatome filter, with all the mess it gives, the H.O.T. seems pretty ideal instead)

anyway here are some pics:

340x.jpg


207_0724.jpg


207_0740.jpg


greets,

yme
 

yme

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well, the answer is that i also have gda on the glass. it was very clear using a microscope.

Last night i was thinking (couldn't sleep) about it. Then a thought occured: Could you prevent the zoospores of gda from setteling down on the glass by adding seachem clarity? on their website they state that it binds algae.... So, together with a big waerexchange, could this help? has anyone tried?

I also asked the question on the apc website, in the seachem section.

greets,

yme
 

VaughnH

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Remember, green dust algae are zoospores - free swimming spores. Green water is not, as far as I know. So, green dust algae spores swim to a good spot to colonize rather than simply settling there. It will be interesting to see what Seachem has to say about this.
 

Tom Barr

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No, the SeaChem stuff will not work.
Mechanical filtration will remove anything that gets sucked in, but that does little good, as it grows back fast. You need to get it all and keep scrubbing the glass.

You can scrub the glass and in 10-60 minutes, the free swimming spores will settle again.

GW simply keeps swimming all the time, it's a true phytoplankton.
Not this one, it will settle then grow.

After about 3 weeks, the mat will start to slough off the glass and become spotty, patchy etc, then you can wipe it off without much issue, try and filter after this time, do not disturb the GDA till then.

So you can go very aggressive, or not much at all, intermediate control will cause you issues though.

Once it's grown for about 3 weeks or more, it no longer has then free swimming stage and produces a different spore and rarely causes much issue thereafter.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

detlef

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Hi,

my idea getting rid of GDA is based on an observation I made when the sun once hitted the panes of my tank. GDA which was rampant at the time settled right in the brightest areas. As the "sun moved" GDA unattached and moved to different places where current and light met the needed amount.

Idea: Place a strong light near the pane and let it shine through the tank from one side once the photoperiod and light cycle has ended for the day. GDA should gather in the brightest spot during some 30' to 60'. You then should be able to suck/siphon the spores out as they come loose once you shut the extra light off and your usual tank light on (to see what you are doing). Just be quick. GDA unattaches within 15 to 30 seconds. I haven't tried this method and would be curious if it's feasible. I would imagine it might work only for GDA in its free swimming stage and also probably for smaller tanks only.

Best regards,
Detlef
 

yme

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Too bad....

But anyway. I tried the 3 weeks "let it be" for 3 weeks. It grew back within 2 days after removing the stuff. The first picture is how it looked like just before removing. I must say, no patches were getting loose and it didn't look like the cycle was complete. Could it be that I have a species that takes a longer time to complete the cycle?
Also, I scrubbed the glass yesterday evening again. This morning the glass was still quite clean. The settling on the glass should have already taken place. So if I see tomorrow or this evening a film of algae, I can conclude that it is actual growth that I am seeing, not settling of zoospores (right?). Can I then also conclude that the resettling of the zoospores is quite inefficient in my tank, but the growth is fast?

greets,

yme
 

yme

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the answer from seachem:

Clarity is very effective at clearing all types of algal blooms. Please do realize that Clarity is a flocculating agent, meaning that it literally clumps debris together before it can be removed from your tank. Initially, you may see more clouding before you see clarification. Using fine mechanical filtration or filter floss in conjunction with Clarity will help to clear your tank more quickly.

i asked again more specifically the same question :)

@ detlef: it might be another "small hammer" , like Tom uses to say :D . worth while trying though!

greets,

yme
 

Tom Barr

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I think you might be able to knock it out if you clean daily and run a UV for a few days, say 1 week.

It's work, but it should stop bothering you if it is not coming back much, perhaps the effects of 3 week time frame had some impact. There's still some growing, but it's slowly going away.

I'd go real aggressive in your case.

Also, like any algae issue, recheck parameters, CO2 more than any other.
I've had GDA appear and go away in maybe 10 tanks or more.

But I do not have any issues now.
I've only done the leave alone method on several tanks and 4 of my own.
The other 6 have been aggressive attacks.

All worked.

This alga is relatively new, I had it back in 2001 for the first time, though I saw it 1-2 years earlier. Now everyone seems to have it all over.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

yme

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I am indeed planning to go aggressively. (like treating cancer: burn/slash/poison it!)

To optimize everything, I added another powerhead. I also decreased the pH by 0.2, but that resulted in fish at the surface, so now I am stuck at 0.15 degrees.

very interesting that it is a "new" algae. I didn't know that.

greets,

yme

ps: no oxyguard in my mailbox yet...
 

yme

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2nd answer from seachem:

Sorry for not answering your question directly. Clarity will bind to ANY particulate matter in the tank and make it larger so that fine filtration can then remove it. IMO, it would make sense that if there were spores in the water column that weren't already attached to something, it would bind to these also and help to remove them.

I will try to give it a shot anyway. (if it is available in holland). of course not only clarity, but also uv, daily scraping the glass, 2x a week 50% waterchanges etc...

greets,

yme