Re: Algae Problem- Link for Picture

[Dave Millman <dave at tactics_com>]

At 12:48 AM 9/23/2002, Cory Williamson wrote:
>Thanks for all the inquiries about my algae problem/ photos- Ghazanfar Ghori
>has kindly provided a link to the algae that I scanned directly on my
>flatbed scanner-  http://www.aquaticscape.com/temp/Algae_cory.jpg.


Sorry for the delayed reply.

This stuff infested my Java Moss. It is almost exactly the same color, and 
a similar "size" if you compare the strand lengths of the Java Moss and the 
algae. So clumps of infested algae, when inspected in bright light, turned 
out to be maybe 40+% algae by volume.

Three months ago I got very serious about algae control via nutrients. The 
good news is, this one took only three weeks to get rid of. The magic 
nutrient in my tank was: IRON. I lowered my Flourish Iron dose to about 1ml 
per week into 65 gallons of water, a fraction of the dose recommended on 
the bottle. After three weeks, this stuff was GONE. Upon close inspection 
of the Java Moss, occasional strands are visible, but none is visible from 
more than a few inches away.

Plants also started to suffer, as I had lowered Iron too far. There was an 
overall yellowish cast to the tank, and red plants in particular looked 
bad. I have since increased the iron dose to 3ml per week with no 
resurgence of the algae. I am continuing to inspect the Java Moss closely 
to see if the algae is sneaking back, but none yet. I will probably 
increase Iron further, as long as it continues to benefit the plants.