HELP -- Red brush algae starting to infest

[Bob]

How do I get this stuff under control! It is starting to form en masse
right under the water flow of the filter and on the leaves of one of the
older plants. Some of these strands look to be longer than 1/2" long. Here
is the set-up

55g freshwater
600 gph filter
pH approx. 8.0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
no CO2 infusion, several life plants

It is questionable whether a common pleco put in a few days ago is doing
anything with it -- it appears that some patches have disappeared though,
but not significant enough to make a determination.

I hate to put chemicals in the tank to get ride of the stuff. What kind of
fish can control this algae? More plants?

Right now there are only a few fish in the tank -- 3 dwarf gouramis and 2
guppies. Had a massive die off about 2 weeks back -- unknown cause --
approximately 10 smaller cichlids died within 3 days. Ammonia and nitrites
never spiked. Should the pH of the water be brought down? Water temp is
75F.

Please help before I am looking at a algae filled tank.

[TomD]

I have only read about natural control, but (luckily) not had to try it.
The book by Walstad suggests using a floating type of plant because it can
eat the nutrients causing the algae faster than the algae can. I believe a
suggested plant was called water lettuce.

"Bob" > wrote in message
om...
> How do I get this stuff under control! It is starting to form en masse
> right under the water flow of the filter and on the leaves of one of the
> older plants. Some of these strands look to be longer than 1/2" long.
Here
> is the set-up
>
> 55g freshwater
> 600 gph filter
> pH approx. 8.0
> ammonia 0
> nitrite 0
> no CO2 infusion, several life plants
>
> It is questionable whether a common pleco put in a few days ago is doing
> anything with it -- it appears that some patches have disappeared though,
> but not significant enough to make a determination.
>
> I hate to put chemicals in the tank to get ride of the stuff. What kind
of
> fish can control this algae? More plants?
>
> Right now there are only a few fish in the tank -- 3 dwarf gouramis and 2
> guppies. Had a massive die off about 2 weeks back -- unknown cause --
> approximately 10 smaller cichlids died within 3 days. Ammonia and
nitrites
> never spiked. Should the pH of the water be brought down? Water temp is
> 75F.
>
> Please help before I am looking at a algae filled tank.
>
>

[LeighMo]

How much light do you have over the tank? If you don't know, how many bulbs,
and how long are they?

>pH approx. 8.0

Why so high? Is your tapwater naturally that alkaline? Or do you have
something in the tank to raise the pH?

>I hate to put chemicals in the tank to get ride of the stuff. What kind of
>fish can control this algae?

SAEs -- Siamese Algae Eaters. But you have to get real SAEs. Most of the SAEs
sold in U.S. pet stores are actually false SAEs. See this page for how to tell
the difference:

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

>More plants?

That can help, if you have enough light for them. Floating plants are good if
you don't have a lot of light. (What kind of plants do you have now?)

>Right now there are only a few fish in the tank -- 3 dwarf gouramis and 2
>guppies. Had a massive die off about 2 weeks back -- unknown cause --
>approximately 10 smaller cichlids died within 3 days.

Is it an African tank? Do you have aragonite in the tank or something?

> Should the pH of the water be brought down?

No. Especially not if it's an African tank.

The reason I asked about the pH is that high pH can mean there's not enough CO2
for the plants. But a low pH isn't good in and of itself.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/