Eradicating Algae growing on Moss

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

I may have stumbled on a good method to eradicate algae growing on mosses. I had all kinds of algae growing on my Erect Moss in my main tank when I tore it down. There were Beard, Black Brush and Hair algae growing all over it. After I took down the moss, I placed them all inside a plastic tank and shoved it under my killifish bench. Here's a picture of the tank:



Here's a picture of the tank below my killifish bench where it's dark and cool.



Inside the tank, there were about 10 algae-eating shrimp. They are either the Malayan ones or those known in Mandarin as "Black Shell Shrimp". Anyway, after a few weeks, when I took the Moss out for close examination, I noticed they were completely cleansed from algae. Here's how they look, with a close-up.





As I've said before many times, the mosses are undemanding plants. Even when kept in dark corners, they stay alive. Without light, CO2 and fertilisation, the algae dies. The shrimp helps by eating off all those that don't.

Loh K L

[hammy]

But this is only applicable to java moss right?

Selwyn

[RonWill]

But this is only applicable to java moss right?

Selwyn, nope. Same applies to other plants, including Echinodorus, Anubias and fern species.

Works even better if you have a small 6~12 shrimp team going at it!

[hammy]

Ok, thanks Ronnie. But what about string aglae on Riccia (which will rot when there isn't sufficient light)?

Although it can be easily removed from the patch I have, still, it keeps coming back. I've tried Yamato shrimps, SAE and Ottos but they all don't seem to work.

[PeterGwee]

Selwyn, getting rid of the algae is easy through a blackout followed by large water changes to remove all possible young spores being thrown out by the mother algae. The point that the algae keeps coming back in your tank tells me you are not taking care of the plants needs properly. Maybe you can give more information on your tank to let folks help you better.

Regards
Peter Gwee :wink:

[molahs4]

I had the same experience with my riccia. Once you get cladophora tangled into it, you are in a tough spot. The best solution is maintaining balanced nutrients including CO2, shrimp, and manual removal. I don't know that the blackout will kill the algae without killing the riccia along with it. A blackout may be your only option if none of the other solutions work. I gave up and removed my riccia, which was not a big deal because I couldn't get it to grow well for me anyway.

I believe that this initial post was referring to the mosses, which are much hardier than riccia.

[Capt.]

Loh K L,

Do you have any idea how cool it was in the bucket?

[timebomb]

Christian,

It was a very hot day today so I was rather surprised when I took out the thermometer from the tank, that the reading was somewhere around 27 degrees C. That would be about 80 F, I think.

Loh K L

[Capt.]

Loh you are right that 27 C is about 80 degrees farenheit. I was just wondering what kind of temperature my amano shrimp could handle. I noticed you said "cool", how cold would you guess it gets? Do the shrimp have any problem with the cold?