Black Algae

billc · 08-31-2002, 08:28 PM

Been fighting a black algae problem for about a month now.. Just when I think I have it under controll it come back with a vengence. My water paramaters are good but I just can't beat this stuff.. am going to do major water changes over the weekend. I have added extra Blue Leg Hermits as was told they would eat the stuff.. They don't like it.. Tang won't touch it.. Turbos don't like it either.. And the Bleenie don't bother it.. I have cut back on the feeding to near starvation. I also plan on cutting back on lighting from 10 to 6 hours per day..Any sugestions??

cath · 08-31-2002, 08:40 PM

Ewwww, gross me out!

I have no idea, I'm just bumpin this up for you!

Stang69 · 08-31-2002, 09:45 PM

Cyno perhaps? If so from my expierance it is caused from a few things

1. Bad or old lights.

2. Lack of circulation

3. excess nutrients in the tank. from overfeeding or the lack of propper skimming.

There are a few products on the market that will kill it off but thats like puting a bandaid on a wound. I would suggest finding out where the problem lies and eliminate the source rather than puting a bandaid on it.

HTH Jeff

billc · 08-31-2002, 10:12 PM

Changed bulbs last weekend.. I think I know where it came from.. One of the LFS has an out break and they can't seem to get a handle on it either.. The one I normally go to suggested the blue legs.. This may be labor day week end and I plan on laboring all through it to beat this stuff or at least find out how to combat it..

hooked · 09-01-2002, 08:56 AM

You can suck it all up with a turkey baster and think you got it and it will come right back in 2-3 days. Try to increase the flow in the areas that you have it in. I had this problem for 3 months and just did water changes and kept the skimmer clean. I won, woooot that is right I won ( sorry just real happy about it ). This stuff is a nightmare, I would take hair algae over it any day. I did it the long way with no chemicals as this is always best. Water changes were weekly and it was hard at first but I got used to just waking up sunday morning and doing it. Hope you can take care of it quicker then me, good luck.

tdwyatt · 09-01-2002, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by billc
Changed bulbs last weekend.. I think I know where it came from.. One of the LFS has an out break and they can't seem to get a handle on it either...

When new species of any new competitor are introduced to a closed system, they will have a period where they will bloom unless there is some organism that can immediately prey on it as the newbie population blooms. This is true whether the new organism is microscopic or macroscopic, animal or plant. This too, shall pass, it is just a matter of removing the biomass to remove whatever nutrients are locked up in it while removing the offending organism at the same time. Water changes will definitely help, as will bulbs outside the red spectrum (replacement of red-shifted old bulbs will do this). Improving circulation may or may not help, although if it is indeed cyanobacteria (which I suspect it is as well as Jeff does), this will definitely help slow the bloom. Increasing the current will reduce cyano's ability to absorb nutrients from the water column. Cyano must absorb its nutrients via diffusion, as it cannot employ active transport to gain nutrients well. This is the reason slow currents or still water promotes cyano growth. Reducing the photoperiod temporarily, even with the new lights, may be in order as the competition reestablishes itself (or a consuming organism blooms to keep up with the new cyanobacteria). Think "Food chains".

Hope this helps, the advice you've been given above by others is good for almost any specie nuisance algal bloom. Check for Phosphates, and resume your feeding (if it is appropriate) when you see some results, as the biotope needs to be fed as well as the obvious critters. Look for the unobvious source of nutrients, and remember that while the algae is blooming, the water column may not reflect the actual amounts of nitrate available to the biotope, as these nutrients are locked up in the organisms that are blooming.

billc · 09-01-2002, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the help.. I am getting ready to do another water change in the morning.. reset timer for lighting to 6 hours per day.. Have cleaned all pumps filters and skimmer again.. I have looked for an ID that looks like the algae I have and no matches.. I will treat it as cyno for the time being.. Any suggestions as to predetors of cyno...

tdwyatt · 09-01-2002, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by billc
...I will treat it as cyno for the time being... ... Any suggestions as to predetors of cyano(bacteria)???

There are several spp. of snail and some fishes that will eat cyanobacterial mats, but I was more specifically speaking of introducing or stimulating the populations of smaller consumers. Peter Wilkins, speaking at MACNA in Ft. Lauderdale, mentioned success in the introduction of a cup or sand from tanks that were well-matured and showing few if any cyanobacteria outbreaks. His reasoning behind this was directly related to the introduction of competitors and consumers from systems that had populations of both types of organisms in order to introduce new levels of consumption (to improve the overall biodiversity of the benthic infauna and flora). Although the introduction of conch and bristletoothed tangs (and Rabbitfishes, Signatus lo or S. maculatus will help, it is the microbial and macrofaunal competition/predation that will bring your system to balance. Eradication of cyanobacteria is most likely impossible if you wish to keep the biological aspects of filtration alive in your system, so the use of chemical elimination will only hurt your biotope, with the cyano coming right back after conditions become favorable again (keep in mind that cyanobacteria were responsible for our relatively high percentage Oxygen atmosphere and reducing CO2 to reasonable levels. They have survived mass extinctions of life in the sea during the "snowball" Earth and were responsible for some of the earliest reef "mounds".) It may even be necessary for the bloom to reach a certain critical mass before the populations of competitors will be stimulated enough to become efficient grazers on cyanobacteria, but that is speculation on my part. I have conchs in the display tanks and rabbitfish in the prop systems, but they are carryovers from the early maturation of each of those systems. The best thing is patience, maybe a cup of sand from a very mature cyano-free tank, some consuming critters for now, and good water quality params to get you to the next level of system maturity.

Hope this helps

billc · 09-02-2002, 08:13 PM

Tom

Thanks for all of the info.. Did one more water change this morning (makes 50 gal exchange in 3 days). Cleaned the skimmer and pumps again.. Got back in a while ago after a day out on the Harley. Stopped by the only LFS I would trust to pick up some sand out of his tanks and wouldn't you know it he was closed.. It will be a week before I can get back there when he is open.. I think I understand your post about letting the cyno run rampant until a natural bacteria developes.. And as you stated that would be detrimental to the rest of the tank.. As I understand this it might be a long drawn out affair to get this under controll.. The tank looks better know but I know it is only a matter of time till the stuff starts coming back.. Thanks everyone for your support and input..