Alage on gravel

[MdmBudak]

My tank is relatively free from alage, except for the gravel and its getting bad.

It all atarted from my glosso. They were growing over each other and getting thick. I notice the gravel beneath turning black and quickly removed the glosso. I then sucked out most of the algae on the gravel.

The alage is dark green in colour and is looks like thread/hair. From that patch where the glosso used to grow, its slowly spreading.

Can someone pls advice how can I get rid of the alage? I have 5 ottos and 3 SAE and they don't seem to have an appetite for the alage that is growing on my gravel.

Thanks

[renrub]

think u got the same kind of algae as me. Mine i didnt do anything about it till 2weeks later, by the time its already spreading everywhere.

I think u need to increase ur co2 injection, just like my case. Go test ur pH and kH first though

[victri]

Any chance it looks like the ones in this link?

algae on gravel

Same as yours, mine started under the glosso. I've been fighting these the past 2 weeks. They seem to have slowed down after I increased CO2 to close to 30ppm and slightly adjusted fert dosing.

[sherchoo]

The algae in Victri's pic is indeed BBA or Black Brush Algae. It's the most dreaded algae to most aquarist. It was discussed before and one thing is for sure that it's due to nutrient inbalance. Check your NPK and your CO2 level first, correct it if necessary. In the meantime, manually remove as much as you can.

[victri]

I think I have it under control after adjusting the CO2 and ferts. It seems to have stopped spreading. Now I'm breaking my back manually removing the existing black pompoms.

[jellydot72]

The last time I have them, i got so frustrated that i literally suck them up with a hose and soak them in chlorine for a day then rinses it with lots of dechlorinated water.

jellyman

[sherchoo]

Jellyman,
You put back the treated gravel? I didn't even bothered... too lazy. just dropped a layer of gravel when it got relatively thin.

[jellydot72]

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On 11/27/2003 4:08:34 PM

Jellyman,
You put back the treated gravel? I didn't even bothered... too lazy. just dropped a layer of gravel when it got relatively thin.
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Yupp...me put them back[] no extra in stock.

Jellyman

[murphys33]

dump yamatoes and watch them eat up the algae.... get the adult ones about 2 inches in size - they are very efficient - 20 should be good..and make sure you do not feed them anything - these yamatoes get lazy when there is fish food

[sherchoo]

I have yet to see any creatures that feed on BBA.

[MdmBudak]

Funny thing is, this BBA is only growing on the gravel but not on the plants. Managed to sucked out alot during the last water change.

Can I just cover it with a thin layer of gravel to kill it?

[sherchoo]

BBA are also known to grow on rainbars, wood, rocks and other non living objects. I've ever noticed BBA even grew on the shell of my flower snail.

Mdm,
I did ever use the gravel to cover the BBA. Not sure if it worked or not but the source of the problem was not addressed back then, so the BBA started again on the new gravel.

[naturetan]

I agreed with Sherwin. I also encountered the same problem. Need to work on your imbalances first as it's tough to fight. Ignore such problem it will spread quickly. Then to reduce the dread, try covering that layer of gravel with some plants will help.

[jellydot72]

Ya......covering it dun really help, after sometime they resurface. My final war tactic with algae is have lights off for 3 days. I will even cover the tank exterior to ensure total darkness. But plants also suffer a little but soon u can nurse it back to health with proper care.

And talking about those big yamatos.....they all died during my last tank 're-scape'. sop sop.....[] they were with me for years. those that I got recently are tiny.

Any one know where to get those larger one and what is the market price now for yamatos?

jellyman

[Daz]

Sherwin, not too sure about the statement that it grows on non-living object. I have some on my Tonina Sp. just 3 to 4 bunch of pom pom only.

[theodore]

BBA can also grow on slow-growers such as nana and some cryptocoryne species if the root cause of the outbreak is not addressed. For Tonina sp., it could be because they are freshly planted or if they are aren't too healthy in the first place.