Getting rid of green slime algae - Erythromycin? - Excel? - Something else?

[Jag1980]

Made this topic easy to find for others who have the common problem of green slime algae.

I have lots of plants and healthy fish in my tank.
I have 2 Oto catfish who sometimes feed on this, killing the algae my fish eat might be a problem??
My tank info is listed below in my signature, 29 gallon tank.

What treatment is best to get rid of this annoying and sometimes deadly to plants algae?
Please post the dangers of the method you talk about so we know what to watch for.

What's the best treatment:
Erythromycin?
Flourish Excel?
or other method of treatment?

I will post before and after pictures of my results.

 

[WyldFya]

Erythomycin is not a good treatment, you will kill some weaker plants and some BB. Flourish excel is bad because you have several species that are intolerant of excel. Adding CO2 to your tank is what is really needed. Either that or drop your lighting. You have too much light for low light plants like that without the use of co2.

 

[Jag1980]

Erythomycin is not a good treatment, you will kill some weaker plants and some BB. Flourish excel is bad because you have several species that are intolerant of excel.

That makes sense.
I read on other forums about these methods and most seem to not mention the details that come with these types of dosing, thanks for clearing that up
I do not want the results that I would get if I used these methods.

You have too much light for low light plants like that without the use of co2.

I'm very confused about the aquatic science on lighting for the type of light requirements of certain plants and to when CO2 needs to come into the play.
Do you know off hand where I can go to learn about this part in greater detail?
I hate to keep bothering you with all my beginner question, there's so many books and online articles out there it's really hard to figure which I should learn from that will teach me every thing I need to know and not just a couple basics things.

I'm not going to use CO2 for maybe another year or maybe not at all.

I read at places saying that I have a low light setup and figured I can only house low light plants, so I been getting low to medium light plants for my tank. What makes them not suitable for my tank?

I'm testing my skills on cheaper plants before I buy my main decorative plants. I also need to buy my large piece of driftwood first so I know what I am having to plant around.

 

[Jag1980]

Yesterday I started my Flourish fertilizing schedule and did the first 14.5ml of excel along with my other ferts for day 1.

Here is before and after of the algae on my driftwood.

Yesterday it looked like this:

Today when I woke up and turned on the light I seen this:

I have had these Oto cats in my tank or about a week and they never seem to do much algae eating that was noticeable, today it's all gone?
I'm sure it wasn't the excel doing anything?
Maybe the excel did something to the algae to make it more edible and easier for the Oto cats to eat??
Sure would like to know why it's now gone all of a sudden....?

 

[WyldFya]

Excel would have killed the algae, but watch your hornwort and water sprite. They are both excel intolerant.

 

[Jag1980]

If it was the excel, wouldn't the algae just die and turn brown or something rather than disappearing without any trace of death?


I just noticed today that the Sprites are getting brown to darker brown areas on them, mostly on the stem.. Also the Hornwort are getting brownish on the ends too... Maybe they where going to get like that for some other environmental issue I might be having anyway before I dosed?
I got them to be a nutrient sponge to help control algae but they weren't really doing anything for that that I have noticed.. or maybe I would have noticed if I didn't have them?
If they continue to die I guess I will have to change to different plants

 

[Jag1980]

Well today the green slime algae has moved to my hornwort and is now starting to cover my flourite... This algae is getting incredibly worse each time I look at my tank.. What should I do now? I need this gone asap.
Should I do a 40% water changes every 2 days or what?

Also, there a little bit of daylight coming in from the side of my curtain and it shines onto my tank, is this a bad thing or will that be ok?

I really don't want my fluorite ruined from this green slime crap...

I thought my hornwort was having issues, but it seems ot be ok now. I'm doing a schedule fert dosing now since Friday and my plants are doing ok.




http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/c02-units/hardware/co2-diffuser-set/prod_410.html

 

[Jag1980]

Another thing, should I stop dosing a certain fertilizer or at least decrease a dose or something? I am using the Seamchems schedule at about 85 to 90% recommended dosage.
I really don't want my green algae coming back. I will be buying more plants next week.

or maybe I should get one of those cheap little CO2 deals that take tablets or something of that nature that is rated for a tank of my size or smaller, just to add a little flavor of CO2 ? unless my filter would just remove every bit of CO2 I put in the tank anyway..?

 

[movitt]

im a plant noob but you could try a black out period

 

[WyldFya]

im a plant noob but you could try a black out period

Black out=plant death + algae death
Plant death + algae death=ammonia spike
Ammonia spike=fish stress