Major algae boom - bad conditions inside the tank

[abudakos]

Hi all,

the last couple of months the conditions inside my tank have been really bad. I've had all sorts of algae, from hair algae to blue-green algae and despite all measures and actions I've taken to combat it, nothing seems to work. Basically, gravel cleaning in my aquarium is something hard because of the arrangement of the bogwood and plants. I have a huge piece of bogwood as a centerpiece and most plants are planted either on top of it (java fern, anubia) and in front of it in the gravel (valisneria, ceratophylum). I have blue-green algae forming on the surface of the gravel touching the front glass.
I was thinking that it's time to rearrange the inside of the aquarium and do a major clean on the gravel by first returning my fish back to my LFS, empty the water, clean the gravel thoroughly through siphoning and place the bogwood at the back of the tank, thus leaving lots of space in front for my plants. This ofcourse means that I will have to re-cycle the tank but I'd rather make a fresh start than be sorry later when fish start suffocating.
Has anyone been in such a situation where you needed to start from scratch again?
Do you have any advice?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[ade]

Can't really help with your current problem, except to say I'd be surprised if you needed to go to the extent of starting from scratch. I have recently, but only because I also wanted to upgrade my tank to a bigger one. Otherwise I would have persevered with curing the current tank - or the problem *may* just come back.

On another note though...my pond filter has a UV section to it, which zaps the algae as it passes through and causes it to clog enough to be caught by the filter. Are there such filters available for aquarium use?? Haven't seen any myself and was just wondering if not - why not?

Cheers

 

[Alien Anna]

Algae is often the result of high nitrates and phosphates and there are steps you can take if that is the case. Have you tested either of these nutrients?

Also, blue-green algae is more of an infection than true algae, and it can only be killed by a specific blue-green algae remedy based on erythromycin. It's actually closer to bacteria than plants, like normal algae.

As well as treating the blue-green algae you could also try to kill the light in the tank - I don't mean shrouding it, like when you're treating velvet, but turn the lights off for a couple of weeks with just indirect daylight for the fish. This worked for me - I had terrible algae before. It is pretty drastic, but better than stripping down the whole tank.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

Test your water for excess phosphates and nitrates (two of the usual suspects in the hunt for algae problem causes). I had a bad problem with cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and have brought it under control using phos-zorb (phosphate absorbing resin) and reducing the time the lights are on to 6 hours a day. The phosphate levels in my tap water are very high so I'm thinking of trying RO water. You might want to try that too. Just make sure you don't use pure RO water and you treat it so that it is suitable for the fish you have.

Hope that helps.

WK

Alien Anna,

Any idea of where I could get hold of some meds that contain this erythromycin stuff? I haven't seen any anywhere and I've been looking for six months now! Any product names in particular? Also, is it harmful to the filter bacterial culture or fresh water inverts (shrimps)?

Ta,

WK

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi,
Kent Marine do a chemical that is said to help prevent blue-green algae by removing its food source. It's called Kent Marine Poly-Ox Red Slime Remover and it will also work in fresh water for blue-green algae. It's available from Aquatics Online but it costs a fortune and if you read the data sheet, its scary stuff.

A treatment I can't recommend because I haven't tried it is Interpet's Anti Slime Algae 0542.

It does claim to be a treatment for just your problem (and I notice there's a hair algae treatment as well). It too is available from Aquatics Online and its significantly less scary than the other stuff.

 

[Mogo]

Hi Waterloo Kid,

There are several products readily available at LFS here in Canada and the US, but I'm not sure about products in the UK. Just to name one just in case you want to find it online is Mardel Laboratories Maracyn I.

The thing is, I don't know how effective erythromycin would be on blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria, is a gram negative bacteria, and erythromycin works primarily on gram positive bacteria. And besides, dumping antibiotics or algacides will only rid the problem temporarily, and the problem will keep returning until the root cause is dealt with.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

Thanks for the info AA & Mogo. I've seen the Interpet Anti-Hair Algae treatment all over the place, but I've never seen Anti-Slime Algae anywhere. Might just order me a bit of that stuff.
Mogo, yeah, I know it's just a symptom cure but I'm working on the causes, just haven't figured out where to put the RO unit yet!

WK