Algae bloom maybe?

Hi, I’m 1 year into the hobby and still consider myself a beginner. Recently, I’ve had 15+ platys on a 10-gallon tank. They poop a lot so I decided to replace them with 10 cherry shrimps and donated all my platys on a LFS. A couple of baby platys still remain coz they were good at hiding when I was trying to catch them all. I thought it would solve my problem of having too many fish waste (and having too many fish on a tank as well), but then all of a sudden my live plants started dying and looked like it’s covered in algae. Any suggestions on what I should do to make my plants thrive again?

januarymiko said:

Hi, I’m 1 year into the hobby and still consider myself a beginner. Recently, I’ve had 15+ platys on a 10-gallon tank. They poop a lot so I decided to replace them with 10 cherry shrimps and donated all my platys on a LFS. A couple of baby platys still remain coz they were good at hiding when I was trying to catch them all. I thought it would solve my problem of having too many fish waste (and having too many fish on a tank as well), but then all of a sudden my live plants started dying and looked like it’s covered in algae. Any suggestions on what I should do to make my plants thrive again?

Click to expand...

This is how it looked like before.

januarymiko said:

View attachment 136802This is how it looked like before.

Click to expand...

Hi! Newb here too as I defiantly don’t consider myself an expert like so many of the ppl on here with their years and years of experience... but plants are sort of my specialty as I own 200+ Aquatic and tropical plants in my house and greenhouse lol! How long has the tank been set up? Have the plants been in there the whole time and are just now dying off? Or rather did you add them about a month ago and are now seeing changes? Has anything been added or changed recently including temp/pH/GH/KH? Is it possible you got new lights, added a lid/ any decorations or move the tank into a new spot? Are you seeing new growth along with the melt back?

januarymiko said:

View attachment 136802This is how it looked like before.

Click to expand...

Yes, looks like an algae bloom. As far as I know, you can purchase algae eaters if you want. You can also do a deep clean (you should be doing this biweekly/monthly, taking out decor and plants and washing them in warm water during your water change). Your old picture looks like you have had algae growing on there as well.

Lower your tank's time under light to only about 8 hours a day. Clean the tank walls, remove any thing that is removable that is covered in algae, clean things that you think can be cleaned (do not use soap, just warm water).

That is my advice... some may have better advice.

Madisonkeug said:

Hi! Newb here too as I defiantly don’t consider myself an expert like so many of the ppl on here with their years and years of experience... but plants are sort of my specialty as I own 200+ Aquatic and tropical plants in my house and greenhouse lol! How long has the tank been set up? Have the plants been in there the whole time and are just now dying off? Or rather did you add them about a month ago and are now seeing changes? Has anything been added or changed recently including temp/pH/GH/KH? Is it possible you got new lights, added a lid/ any decorations or move the tank into a new spot? Are you seeing new growth along with the melt back?

Click to expand...

No. The plants have been in the tank this whole time and like I said, the tank is a year old now. I haven’t made any changes except replacing my platys with cherry shrimp. But before I replaced it with shrimp, I left the tank with just a betta and a couple of snails for 2 weeks. In that span, algae stared coating the plants and they started dying. All my plants a considered beginner plants like java moss, java fern, and anubias plants. On a different forum that I posted, someone said that maybe the platys were providing nutrients to the plants with their waste and removing them made the tank unbalanced. But still, I’m not sure what to do to make the plants thrive again

carligraceee said:

Yes, looks like an algae bloom. As far as I know, you can purchase algae eaters if you want. You can also do a deep clean (you should be doing this biweekly/monthly, taking out decor and plants and washing them in warm water during your water change). Your old picture looks like you have had algae growing on there as well.

Lower your tank's time under light to only about 8 hours a day. Clean the tank walls, remove any thing that is removable that is covered in algae, clean things that you think can be cleaned (do not use soap, just warm water).

That is my advice... some may have better advice.

Click to expand...

I read you can bleach dip plants as well to remove algae. Do you think a bleach dip would help remove algae? And is it safe to bleach dip plants that are already attached in the drift wood?

januarymiko said:

I read you can bleach dip plants as well to remove algae. Do you think a bleach dip would help remove algae? And is it safe to bleach dip plants that are already attached in the drift wood?

Click to expand...

I would be really hesitant to do anything that involves cleaning equipment in your tank. If you don't wash it thoroughly you will poison your fish and they will die.

It isn't worth it. Is it effective? Maybe. But I wouldn't test it.

Just rinse thoroughly or soak in warm water.

januarymiko said:

The plants have been in the tank this whole time and like I said, the tank is a year old now. I haven’t made any changes except replacing my platys with cherry shrimp. But before I replaced it with shrimp, I left the tank with just a betta and a couple of snails for 2 weeks. In that span, algae stared coating the plants and they started dying. All my plants a considered beginner plants like java moss, java fern, and anubias plants. On a different forum that I posted, someone said that maybe the platys were providing nutrients to the plants with their waste and removing them made the tank unbalanced.

Click to expand...

There is truth in that suggestion that removing the fish removed a major source of nutrients...ammonia/ammonium in particular which aquatic plants need as their preferred source of nitrogen. The fish, esp "messy" fish, provide lots of ammonia/ammonium by themselves and the decomposition of their waste. Suddenly that source is gone, and algae is quick to take advantage because it is not at all fussy over such things.

Including light, which is now helping the algae. Light in balance with nutrients is what provides what plants need. Keeping it at this level (once established) is key to avoiding algae. And avoidance is the only real issue; nothing suited to this tank will "eat" this type of algae except maybe shrimp and snails, but they won't be that effective. Don't know the light specs, but reducing the duration the light is on each 24-hour period should help assuming the intensity and spectrum were previously OK, it is now a matter of limiting the duration so the plants have sufficient but no more. A good vacuum into the open areas of the substrate will also help with organics, and keeping the filter well cleaned.

Do not resort to bleach dips or similar, this is not needed, and really will not help if the actual cause is not rectified anyway, so we approach it from that perspective. And certainly never use bleach or any chemical/substance (hydrogen peroxide is another often suggested) on wood, as wood absorbs liquids and they can leech out weeks later.