Beard algae & Brush algae - How to Get Rid

[renrub]

Posted a thread that i suffered a outbreak of the above algae, increased my co2 injection and dosed the NKP and other micro nutrients accordingly, now everything seems better already.

Manually removed alot of the algae already, but there are still some amongst my mosses and some plants. How do i get rid of them? Don't think they'll die off by themselves right?

I would like to know which kind of fishes or shrimps eat this kind of algae.
Currently i got SAE, OTO, Yamatos, Tiger and Cherry shrimps, but they don't seem to be eating them. Will american flag fish eat them? Thanks

[TBI]

maybe u can try playin with lights.....u knw wat i mean??? playin..

[renrub]

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On 11/24/2003 8:15:08 PM

maybe u can try playin with lights.....u knw wat i mean??? playin..

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don't get what u mean. care to elaborate more? []

[Magnum-]

i think he means that u off ur lights or put those infected plants in a dark tank

[PeterGwee]

A blackout has no effect on BBA....its fine for BGA as well as some of the other algae types.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[renrub]

so what do i do?

[MikeKoh]

I usually dump in yamatos to clear out the algae. You seems to have the whole algae eating gang. Dont feed your fish with fish food. Just leave them alone for a week.... they will do their job.

[PeterGwee]

Since you have corrected the CO2, BBA should slow down and come to a halt. If it stops spreading, all you need to do is to trim them off. SAEs are known to eat them unless yours are train for fish food already... Just keep up with the CO2(20-30ppm throughout the entire photoperiod) and dose nutrients regularly to prevent deficiencies should keep algae at bay.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[renrub]

i don't feed any food to my SAE and i feed my other fishes (eg. lamp eye) sparingly.

My SAEs stomach are all boated up [] so i think they are doing their job. Do mollies help in clearing up algae too? I've got an experience with putting a $2 pack of feeder molly into a newly setup tank and they cleared the dirt that collected on the leaves surface, wonder if they eat algae too.

[victri]

Hi there! Glad to hear that the CO2 adjustment is working to curb algae growth. I've been fighting some BBA at the front inch of gravel in my tank. The growth has stopped, and I'm now picking up gravel with tiny black pom-poms one by one. Hell of a backache, but no other choice I guess.[]

[renrub]

Hi, nice to see u around. I removed alot of my plants... now left with a few strands here and there. The most headache part is removing them from my moss wall... can't bear to throw my whole moss wall away! Guess i've to be patient while my SAE eats them up.

Btw u mentioned that some of ur hemianthus callitrichoides is turning yellow. Maybe u can separate them into smaller bunches and let them spread
I did that to mine and its spreading quite well, just like glosso though abit slow I know it takes alot of courage to do something like that to a $15 plant
[]

[victri]

Actually, I've solved the HC yellowing problem. I was lucky to be advised by Oliver Knott that his HC had that before too. Low iron. I've increased iron dosing and it's much better now. Bright green colour is returning. I've also broken it into smaller pieces to plant since the 1st week, and also trying to grow some on moss attached to driftwood. I'm very tempted to get more to fill up the foreground. Far East brings in Tropica plants now right?

[renrub]

not sure whether Far East Aquatics has the plant, actually i dont' even know where the shop is []

[jellydot72]

Yes, Far East got Tropica plants. Just got HC from her on Sunday. First time keeping them. Any particular demands from this plant? Strong lights?

jellyman

[sherchoo]

Guys,
Getting abit off topic.

Victri,
Are you picking out the infected gravel piece by piece? Actually you could try siphoning it during water change. Place the hose just above the gravel surface and the gravel that is stucked with BBA will get sucked out easily. No need to break any backs.

[murphys33]

I have witnessed yamatoes eating the beard algae and those long green thread algae... when lights are off and if your water condition is alright..those yamatoes will do the job.... avoid feeding yr fish for 5 days.... u will see the yamatoes working afer lights off...very effective!