Oh crap...

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iamzrad

iamzrad

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2008
546
2
48
Southern Penn
Ugh, this stuff started to grow about a month ago, I rearranged, etc., and it went away. I was gone for three days and I come home today and boom, it has infested my compacta's and even my filter outtakes. As well as algae growth on my substrate and rocks...
I know my plants are doomed that have this crap on them, because the leaves are starting to turn brown.

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Any idea how to stop this and prevent it from happening?

Here's some parameters, since I know people will ask for them,
water temp- 78-79
pH- 6.8-7.0, relatively soft water
substrate- eco complete underneath with small black gravel on top
I dose 3 times a week with flourish, excel, potassium and iron, weekly 10% water changes
DIY C02 into a powerhead (center of tank)
 
hmmmm.thats weird man.havnt seen anything like that.is there to much to remove manualy?
 
Oh that stuff isn't fun >.< not sure exactly how it starts, or why. But I tossed a pair of long fin rosy barbs in my tank and they ate it. lf tend to be less aggressive. and removed them after the algae was gone about 2-3 weeks later. They can be a pain to catch, and will be aggresive towards other fish. I find haveing a pair seems to localize the aggression on eachother and not other fish. male so busy chaseing female neither have extra energy to bother other fish overly much.
 
take a look at the links in the planted tank algae sticky. algae in planted tanks is caused by a nutrient imbalance
 
That's staghorn. Staghorn comes about from inconsistent water nutrient balance. You can get it if you don't have a good regime or if the water comming from the tap varies. I see it every once in a while due to the phosphate irregularities in my water source. If you're adding CO2, it's not propagating through the tank well or it's at a wildly inconsistent level. Otherwise you might be getting some odd light, maybe an old tube, or a new tube that isn't the right spectra.

Mollies and barbs will eat that but if you get your water chemistry stable it'll melt away over the course of a month or two, maybe longer. If you want to kill it fast, Flourish Excel will melt it in a few weeks. But don't OD on it or you'll get a quick run of greenwater.

I have gotten staghorn regularly in the past, hell sometimes I still get it. It's a pain.
 
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