Ive had good luck with otocats and staghorn algae. And a Siamese algae eater for hair algae. They are both slow eaters but good clean up crew to have in a medium to large size community tank
Otos and staghorn... That's a new one I've never heard about before. As far as I know, there's nothing that will touch staghorn algae. That's interesting that you've got them to somehow munch on it!
Great vid.. Thanks for the kind words and support. I suffered pretty bad from undiagnosed PTSD for a lot of years.. Social anxiety was one of the side effects
I have a tank that gets a lot of natural light and there is always hair algae - and my plants grow fastest in that tank. So I'm always wanting to take well-grown plants from that tank to put in others, but don't want to spread algae. I pop the plants with algae into a holding tank that is filled with scuds. I leave it in with them for 1-3 weeks and the scuds do a fantastic job of eating all the hair algae and leaving the plant super clean. Then I rinse the plant several times to get the scuds off it and move it to one of the other tanks. I have a lot of fast fish, so if scuds do make it into the other tanks, they are not taking over and I rarely see any. Love my scuds.
High bioload and detritus are 2 common reasons for algae buildup, and my tank unfortunately falls into this category lol I have around 25 small to mid sized fish in a 40 gallon (mid sized fishes are 6 boesemani rainbows, 3 pearl gouramis, and 1 electric blue acara). Needless to say I need to feed a lot of food 😅 Luckily my plant mass is quite a lot so algae is still manageable. I find that optimizing water flow, CO2 amount + distribution, vacuuming out detritus during twice a week water changes helped to slow down algae growth
Hmm.. I want to quarantine my Salvinia and Duckweed in a tub they are both smelling to high heaven and treat them with algae remover. I also need to get a freshwater tester kit to see what levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are. The hair algae is only attaching itself to my floating plants.
Hmm... From your other comment, I think it might be a lighting issue. If the algae is only on the surface, but not anywhere else, you could try turning down the overall intensity or lower the photoperiod. As for the algae remover chemical, be careful when using it if you have any snails or shrimps in your tanks, make sure that it's washed off from the plants before transferring them back to the main tank. Another thought I had about the algae is that it's something called "Blanket Weed"/Cladophora. This one I didn't specifically cover in the video I believe, but from memory, it can produce H2S, which gives it that rotten egg smell. If this is what it seems, you can try increasing flow, remove as much of the algae as you can, and maybe trim the roots of the floating plants a little so they can't latch onto them. I'm currently battling this type of algae in one of my tanks, so I'll warn you as you may be in a long, tough battle if you decide to not use chemicals (I can't as I keep shrimp in that tank). As for the red roots of duckweed, from my memory, not all may turn red. It could easily be a genetic thing (I had Red Root Floaters not have as much red vs pictures on the internet). You can also try increasing the red lighting in your light as this makes any red in plants produce more red if that makes sense. Hope this helps!
Restarting a tank will have its pros and cons. Objectively, you will need to know how to balance a tank if you want to stay clear of algae. This video here explains all about that: ruclips.net/video/fi7aCcY0SR0/видео.html This next video I'll link goes over the how to really tackle algae. I also go over if it's worth restarting a tank as well. ruclips.net/video/V_VGV1dhH_w/видео.html The combination of both these two videos should give you an understanding on algae issues and what's needed for success. I still recommend watching these two videos if you do plan to restart. The reason is that you may still end up running into the same situation that you have if you don't know how to prevent it and fix the wrongs.
Willow branches will also clear green water. Small branch with few leaves will grow roots in a few days of sticking out of an aquarium. Takes a few more days after that but works great!
That's very interesting! Are they actual saplings or just twigs with the leaves and all that? My only worry would be the bark starting to rot quickly...
@@TropiscapeAquatics Just cuttings from tree branches around 12-18 inches long with a few leaves at the end. Bark didnt ever seem to be a problem as its such a thin layer at that point in the branch. IThey may have had some fuzz a few days in but fish ate it all before i noticed if they did.They will grow new leaves as well if you leave them in the tank long enough. Not sure how far the process would go as i read they would drain all the nutrients out of the tank faster then the plants could absorb them so i always pulled them out after the water cleared. Have often wondered how effective they would be against other bad algae outbreaks but only ever seem to get them(bad outbreaks) in the winter(in canada), so havent had the chance to try it against anything but green water(trees are all dormant here in the winter with no leaves, which im pretty sure is key). Worth experimenting with if you were to keep the branch and root mass growing might make for some interesting videos
That's interesting to hear that you primarily get algae in the winter! I'm also from Canada so it was interesting to read that. Yeah, that fuzz is what I was kind of talking about. If I'm not mistaken, it's a type of fungus that eats away soft material on the branches such as bark. I do know shrimp and fish will munch on it and that it is harmless so it's all good! For its use on other algae breakouts, I assume it would work wonders just like how people use houseplants in aquariums as it removes all of the excess nutrients but it's just like you said, it may remove more nutrients than needed. This may bring even more algae as plants start to die off and lots of ammonia will build up. It would be worth experimenting with in the future!
@@TropiscapeAquatics Would be interesting to see if it would help stabilize an ei system dosed to the max. Might have to acclimate the dosing as it got bigger, but you would think it could only get so big before the fact its hanging out of an aquarium and not planted in the ground would catch up to it. Drives me crazy this always comes up in dec, never remember in the spring. I always get algae in the winter months but its my fault from over feeding and under cleaning. Only recently started feeding every 2-3 days and the dfrnce in algae was noticeable almost right away
@@grezeldafrightenstein1154 Oh I bet it would help stabilize an EI system! Although, it would probably be better to control the EI system than to fight it. Plus, you have no real control on how much nutrients the branches will absorb. Furthermore, as it grows larger, it may need more adequate lighting which some aquatic plants may not like. I agree that it won't last too long when it gets to the hanging off the edge size. My only real guess for the December algae situation is if your tank utilizes the sun as December has shorter days and longer nights.
So i have cladophora(atleast that's what I'm told) but not from a moss ball. I actually have no mood in my tank. My breakout happened when i went on vacation. Does this still fall into the filamentous algea section or is it a category of its own?
Cladophora would technically fall into the filamentous algae section. However, it's a different kind of beast on its own that makes it fall into a filamentous sub-category. The typical solutions for filamentous algae might not work for Cladophora... I made a video about Cladophora that you can watch here: ruclips.net/video/AhAlV19YgQ4/видео.html
The best thing you can do is to limit the amount of surface agitation, but not to the point where the surface film gets really bad. Otherwise, there are two other aspects that you can control, lighting and nutrients. One or both of these values are either too high or two low. I have an older video about the effects of surface agitation if you're interested: ruclips.net/video/RhjAtNICAjY/видео.html As for the other aspects, you'll need to try to find that balance between light, nutrients, and the available CO2 in the water. This video can help understand balancing (Of course, CO2 is not a necessity for plant growth and health to some extent): ruclips.net/video/fi7aCcY0SR0/видео.html
Water changes do make wonders when it comes to the general health of a tank! Gotta love them! House plants are another alternative to floating plants as they also take advantage of atmospheric CO2
While I agree that those will definitely help, you can't ignore lighting and nutrient/CO2 imbalances as a cause for algae to grow. Then again, you could bundle all those up into the proper maintenance section.
How's my editing on this one? Was it too fast? Are the words a bit too big? Too many sound effects? Let me know! Thanks! 😀
Its perfect btw
No u
Also thank for the feedback 😊
I like the style, it is fast but somehow all the information went straight up my brain (simple, solid, and clear) grear job 👍
@@bintang_og7 Thanks for the feedback! Gotta experiment more with speed. I guess it can differ every video
1:43 1. Destroy your credit card 😂😂😂
Best video ever
Ive had good luck with otocats and staghorn algae. And a Siamese algae eater for hair algae. They are both slow eaters but good clean up crew to have in a medium to large size community tank
Otos and staghorn... That's a new one I've never heard about before. As far as I know, there's nothing that will touch staghorn algae. That's interesting that you've got them to somehow munch on it!
quick and informative ty!
I like this style! 😀
Great vid..
Thanks for the kind words and support. I suffered pretty bad from undiagnosed PTSD for a lot of years.. Social anxiety was one of the side effects
Thanks! Stay strong mate! We got this! 💪
Great vid, straight to the point
Thank you! 😄
Thanks 🙏🏻
You're Welcome! 😄
I have a tank that gets a lot of natural light and there is always hair algae - and my plants grow fastest in that tank. So I'm always wanting to take well-grown plants from that tank to put in others, but don't want to spread algae. I pop the plants with algae into a holding tank that is filled with scuds. I leave it in with them for 1-3 weeks and the scuds do a fantastic job of eating all the hair algae and leaving the plant super clean. Then I rinse the plant several times to get the scuds off it and move it to one of the other tanks. I have a lot of fast fish, so if scuds do make it into the other tanks, they are not taking over and I rarely see any. Love my scuds.
Huh, never heard of using scuds before! Cool little fact!
High bioload and detritus are 2 common reasons for algae buildup, and my tank unfortunately falls into this category lol
I have around 25 small to mid sized fish in a 40 gallon (mid sized fishes are 6 boesemani rainbows, 3 pearl gouramis, and 1 electric blue acara). Needless to say I need to feed a lot of food 😅
Luckily my plant mass is quite a lot so algae is still manageable. I find that optimizing water flow, CO2 amount + distribution, vacuuming out detritus during twice a week water changes helped to slow down algae growth
Yeah, the maintenance vacuuming part is another reason that people become lazy about, myself included...
Hmm.. I want to quarantine my Salvinia and Duckweed in a tub they are both smelling to high heaven and treat them with algae remover. I also need to get a freshwater tester kit to see what levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are. The hair algae is only attaching itself to my floating plants.
Hmm... From your other comment, I think it might be a lighting issue. If the algae is only on the surface, but not anywhere else, you could try turning down the overall intensity or lower the photoperiod. As for the algae remover chemical, be careful when using it if you have any snails or shrimps in your tanks, make sure that it's washed off from the plants before transferring them back to the main tank.
Another thought I had about the algae is that it's something called "Blanket Weed"/Cladophora. This one I didn't specifically cover in the video I believe, but from memory, it can produce H2S, which gives it that rotten egg smell. If this is what it seems, you can try increasing flow, remove as much of the algae as you can, and maybe trim the roots of the floating plants a little so they can't latch onto them. I'm currently battling this type of algae in one of my tanks, so I'll warn you as you may be in a long, tough battle if you decide to not use chemicals (I can't as I keep shrimp in that tank).
As for the red roots of duckweed, from my memory, not all may turn red. It could easily be a genetic thing (I had Red Root Floaters not have as much red vs pictures on the internet). You can also try increasing the red lighting in your light as this makes any red in plants produce more red if that makes sense. Hope this helps!
so, i have, green spot, filamentous, staghorn, and Cyano...
solution i see: reset the tank 😭
or... just keep trying
also, very helpfull video
Restarting a tank will have its pros and cons. Objectively, you will need to know how to balance a tank if you want to stay clear of algae. This video here explains all about that:
ruclips.net/video/fi7aCcY0SR0/видео.html
This next video I'll link goes over the how to really tackle algae. I also go over if it's worth restarting a tank as well.
ruclips.net/video/V_VGV1dhH_w/видео.html
The combination of both these two videos should give you an understanding on algae issues and what's needed for success. I still recommend watching these two videos if you do plan to restart. The reason is that you may still end up running into the same situation that you have if you don't know how to prevent it and fix the wrongs.
Willow branches will also clear green water. Small branch with few leaves will grow roots in a few days of sticking out of an aquarium. Takes a few more days after that but works great!
That's very interesting! Are they actual saplings or just twigs with the leaves and all that? My only worry would be the bark starting to rot quickly...
@@TropiscapeAquatics Just cuttings from tree branches around 12-18 inches long with a few leaves at the end. Bark didnt ever seem to be a problem as its such a thin layer at that point in the branch. IThey may have had some fuzz a few days in but fish ate it all before i noticed if they did.They will grow new leaves as well if you leave them in the tank long enough. Not sure how far the process would go as i read they would drain all the nutrients out of the tank faster then the plants could absorb them so i always pulled them out after the water cleared. Have often wondered how effective they would be against other bad algae outbreaks but only ever seem to get them(bad outbreaks) in the winter(in canada), so havent had the chance to try it against anything but green water(trees are all dormant here in the winter with no leaves, which im pretty sure is key). Worth experimenting with if you were to keep the branch and root mass growing might make for some interesting videos
That's interesting to hear that you primarily get algae in the winter! I'm also from Canada so it was interesting to read that.
Yeah, that fuzz is what I was kind of talking about. If I'm not mistaken, it's a type of fungus that eats away soft material on the branches such as bark. I do know shrimp and fish will munch on it and that it is harmless so it's all good!
For its use on other algae breakouts, I assume it would work wonders just like how people use houseplants in aquariums as it removes all of the excess nutrients but it's just like you said, it may remove more nutrients than needed. This may bring even more algae as plants start to die off and lots of ammonia will build up. It would be worth experimenting with in the future!
@@TropiscapeAquatics Would be interesting to see if it would help stabilize an ei system dosed to the max. Might have to acclimate the dosing as it got bigger, but you would think it could only get so big before the fact its hanging out of an aquarium and not planted in the ground would catch up to it. Drives me crazy this always comes up in dec, never remember in the spring. I always get algae in the winter months but its my fault from over feeding and under cleaning. Only recently started feeding every 2-3 days and the dfrnce in algae was noticeable almost right away
@@grezeldafrightenstein1154 Oh I bet it would help stabilize an EI system! Although, it would probably be better to control the EI system than to fight it. Plus, you have no real control on how much nutrients the branches will absorb. Furthermore, as it grows larger, it may need more adequate lighting which some aquatic plants may not like. I agree that it won't last too long when it gets to the hanging off the edge size.
My only real guess for the December algae situation is if your tank utilizes the sun as December has shorter days and longer nights.
So i have cladophora(atleast that's what I'm told) but not from a moss ball. I actually have no mood in my tank. My breakout happened when i went on vacation. Does this still fall into the filamentous algea section or is it a category of its own?
Cladophora would technically fall into the filamentous algae section. However, it's a different kind of beast on its own that makes it fall into a filamentous sub-category. The typical solutions for filamentous algae might not work for Cladophora...
I made a video about Cladophora that you can watch here:
ruclips.net/video/AhAlV19YgQ4/видео.html
where is the how to KH measurment video? I couldnt find it
Here:
ruclips.net/video/770Cvs6ov4k/видео.html
but what if you dont use co2?
The best thing you can do is to limit the amount of surface agitation, but not to the point where the surface film gets really bad. Otherwise, there are two other aspects that you can control, lighting and nutrients. One or both of these values are either too high or two low.
I have an older video about the effects of surface agitation if you're interested:
ruclips.net/video/RhjAtNICAjY/видео.html
As for the other aspects, you'll need to try to find that balance between light, nutrients, and the available CO2 in the water. This video can help understand balancing (Of course, CO2 is not a necessity for plant growth and health to some extent):
ruclips.net/video/fi7aCcY0SR0/видео.html
We do indeed live in a Maple Country.
🇨🇦
80% of algae problem will be resolve by floating plants, proper maintenance, water changes and time
Water changes do make wonders when it comes to the general health of a tank! Gotta love them!
House plants are another alternative to floating plants as they also take advantage of atmospheric CO2
While I agree that those will definitely help, you can't ignore lighting and nutrient/CO2 imbalances as a cause for algae to grow. Then again, you could bundle all those up into the proper maintenance section.