I converted my old tank of 2 years to my new African Malawi Tank using lace rock and crushed coral. It has been up and running for about 3 weeks now and I have noticed a brown green speckled alagee growth on the tops of some of the lace rocks. It has started to spread to certain areas of the glass & equipment. It is not bad yet, However it seems to be spreading fast. I never had alagee growth before on this tank prior to the tank conversion. The changes to the tank include: PH 7.8-8.0, Temp 78.5, Lace Rock, Crushed Coral, and the use of Seachem Chinchilid salt. I do weekly WC of 40-50% including a gravel vacuum. I think I introduced this growth from the Lace Rock since that is were I noticed it first. Any ideas of how I can stop this growth before it overwhelms my tank. Ideas other then WC/Reduce light or nutrient load would be appreciated. I would like to avoid removing all the lace rock to.



Thank you,

Anyone- It is spreading really fast?

I would suggest increasing you light on the tank.. most brown and red algae succumb in high lights.. ( I know most brown and red algae are not algae at all but for this discussion the word works.. lol)

you can so some spot treatment as well.. by using a pipette dropper and some hydrogen peroxide from the drugstore... squirt it directly on the algae in small sections and it should bubble for you.. that is doing some damage to it.. this is a start and should show you a great improvement fairly fast...

do some tests on your water before it hits the tank... check nitrates esp.

water changes would be a good thing but-- BUT make sure your water is not adding nutrients to the tank instead of diluting them out...


Ken

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176+ tanks w/ cichlids, annual killi, rainbows, wild strain livebearers, natives, Bettas, planted tanks, etc.

The algae is mostly on the tops of my lace rock. It is a brown/golden dust like algae. I think it is called diatoms. Some places online say to leave the tank as it may me going through the last stages of a mini cycle. Should I add a pleco, some oto's? & a SAE fish. Will they survive in a PH environment of 8. What else can I do or what clean up fish can i add to aid in this bloom.

diatoms are not the favorite food of much.. though otos will eat them as well as many goodeids.. but neither one is really appropriate for the tank... place some anubias in the tank.. they will compete more successfully for the nutrients than the diatoms. and use the peroxide method.. Do it in smallish sections at a time.. and before the next treatment allow 2 days... but it will make a huge dent and start bringing it under control.

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176+ tanks w/ cichlids, annual killi, rainbows, wild strain livebearers, natives, Bettas, planted tanks, etc.

will my fish eat the anubias

Do you mean take the rocks out and put perioxide on the rocks with the diatoms.

The Anubias will handle the rough African play and they will NOT eat them.

no do not take the rocks out.. use a plastic pipette... fill it with hydrogen peroxide and then get tip of pipette real close to encrustations on rock and squeeze a little peroxide out... do smallish sections at a time and wait two days before doing next section... the diatoms will stop growing where you treat.. it may take a while for them to disappear but it will but a major hurting on them...

ken

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176+ tanks w/ cichlids, annual killi, rainbows, wild strain livebearers, natives, Bettas, planted tanks, etc.

OK thank you.

np.. let me know how it goes.. there are some additional second best techniques if it does not improve...

I wrote a big article on "algaes" and got lots of practice dealing with 'em while i was writing... lol

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176+ tanks w/ cichlids, annual killi, rainbows, wild strain livebearers, natives, Bettas, planted tanks, etc.