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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

black algae hairy plants.

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21 Jul 2010 15:40 #1 by tina.d (Tina Doyle)
my plants have grown black hair-like algae. is it good or bad to have and what is it? its growing along the edges of the leaves.
tina

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21 Jul 2010 22:33 - 21 Jul 2010 22:34 #2 by Ma (mm mm)
Have asked about this myself and didn't get anywhere either:)

I would have to think at this point that the amount of CO2 and fertilizer and lighting duration. my tank had it quite bad so I trimmed off the hairy bits where possible, strict 12 hours lighting, correct dose of fertilizer and C02, this has reduced it a fair bit but not completely.

After that I have no clue

Mark

Location D.11
Last edit: 21 Jul 2010 22:34 by Ma (mm mm).

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21 Jul 2010 22:39 #3 by Aims (Aimee Croke)
Hi,

Having a little algae problem too but in a cycling tank so havn't a clue what to do about it!

Found this on my google expedition. www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/
Has fairly good photos of different types of algae and suggestions of how to get rid of it. At least if you can work out what it is you're a step closer to fixing it!

Happy algae fighting!:laugh:

Aims

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  • David (David)
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21 Jul 2010 23:10 - 21 Jul 2010 23:11 #4 by David (David)
Replied by David (David) on topic Re:black algae hairy plants.
Hi
Possible answer taken from wiki ans

(Black Algae in a fish tank isn't actually algae at all. It is bacteria protein called cyanobacteria. If your asking how to rid your tank of this, the first thing you'll want to do is test your water for nitrates and phosphates. Generally this is a major factor in the growth of the bacteria. Scrub the glass, clean the decor, and stir the gravel. Remove as much as possible with a net. Next perform a 25-30% water change. This will help reduce the levels of nitrates and phosphates. Also, since this type of bacteria has to photosynthesize reducing the amount of time the light is on will be greatly beneficial.)

Also if you have the room in your tank a great addition to help with the problem would be
the Siamese algae eater

Hope this helps
Last edit: 21 Jul 2010 23:11 by David (David).

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21 Jul 2010 23:31 #5 by joey (joe watson)
Mark. wrote:

Have asked about this myself and didn't get anywhere either:)


same for me on this and another forum

i too have this problem and it does my nuts. brown waste gets trapped in it and it looks terrible. not even amano or cherry shrimp clean this stuff off, so i'll look into the answer david gave. siamese algae eaters/chinese algae eaters/flying foxes do a great job keeping all plants spotless in my other tank so one may be takiing a wee trip...

one respose i got from a shop owner was to trim off affected leaves, cut lighting down (i was running 2 bulbs, now only 1 is on yet same problem) and add co2 and ferts. waiting for money to get co2 and fertilisers but will give it a go. if its from high nitrates and phosphates as david said, i will be reading the fertiliser labels to make sure i'm not adding to the problem!

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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22 Jul 2010 18:36 #6 by tina.d (Tina Doyle)
tanks for that have trimed meself but just keeps comeing back,doesnt sem to do any damage though its just ugly.

tina.

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22 Jul 2010 18:39 #7 by tina.d (Tina Doyle)
cheers for that, think il be having a big row with my plants very soon.

tina.

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22 Jul 2010 18:44 #8 by tina.d (Tina Doyle)
hi, tested everything nitrates etc all fine, will def reduce lighting time though, tanks.

tina.

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24 Jul 2010 00:58 #9 by joey (joe watson)
i'm going to give the easy carbo and fertiliser a go so i'll let you know how i get on, followed a very good link either posted on this thread or a similar one and the black algae dies off if u stimulate plant growth with co2 and fertilisers and strong lighting, it all has to be in balance and low-tech tanks need very little maintainence (water changes) from what i read

Location: Portlaoise, Midlands

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24 Jul 2010 22:08 - 24 Jul 2010 22:58 #10 by Ma (mm mm)
Joey I am using them myself with fert pellets too, important for good growth, not even close to fert substrate but definately better than the liquid fertilizer for rooted plants, Anubias and other above substrate root plants are grand with liquid, though is you use heating cables this pulls the liquid fert into the gravel\substrate as warm water rises, and the nutrients get trapped there for the plants to absorb through roots.

I think I am dong as well as I possibly can without plant substrate fertilizer and a C02 system but the green hair stuff when it comes ruins everything. Heres a vid of plants with easycarbo and fertilizer+pellets
www.youtube.com/v/YYWcWlz25SE


Good flow so no Nitrates build up in areas, over filtration may help feed this as more nitrites are processed releasing more nitrates..I think? I do have a lot of filtration going in the tank and with detritus from lots of plants making lots of ammonia as it breaks down, get processed by bacteria, may give a boost of nitrates that may cause this maybe combined with low flow or too much light direct or reflected, again just guessing.


Mark

Location D.11
Last edit: 24 Jul 2010 22:58 by Ma (mm mm).

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25 Jul 2010 09:32 #11 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:black algae hairy plants.
Just my two cents, I have a 120 lido, planted Tank, now, there will , without a doubt, be protesters saying that water changes are the only way to remove the baddies from the system and I usually agree but this post has made me realise something............ the 120 liter is Algae free, I was sitting looking at it last night and thought, this tank is really clear, I mean Crystal, no spot algae on Glass, no Algae on Anubias and everyone knows the fact the Leaves last on these things for bloody years and they are clean, green and healthy, even around the Heater and input / output tubes have none of the usual slimey feel to them and I realised, Nitrate removing granules, I had been given them by Paddy ( Reef Paddy ) when I got a Nano marine from him.

I do know that these things WILL have an expiry date and it will probably go from this pristine example to an Algae caked version. If you were willing to change these granules when needed I'd say you could keep Algae at bay.

If anyone is looking for these, I'd suggest Seahorse as that would probably be Paddy's local so to speak.

Just a thought.

Kev.

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25 Jul 2010 09:40 #12 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
Hi,could also be the age of your light bulbs? the spectrum will "burn out" through time and after a year or so it becomes the wrong intensitity. I would generally tell customers to change their bulbs every 8-10 months to get the best out of them!!!
Also an amazing product from Esha called Protolon 707 (mad name!) that is fantastic, only one i am aware of that will eliminate ALL kind of algae! Could also try Siamese flying fox- crossichielus siamensis, but dont get them mixed up with the true flying fox that is not a great algae eater... most fishfarms/wholesalers/importers do!
Hope this helps!
Drew

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25 Jul 2010 10:20 #13 by Ma (mm mm)
stretnik wrote:

Just my two cents, I have a 120 lido, planted Tank, now, there will , without a doubt, be protesters saying that water changes are the only way to remove the baddies from the system and I usually agree but this post has made me realise something............ the 120 liter is Algae free, I was sitting looking at it last night and thought, this tank is really clear, I mean Crystal, no spot algae on Glass, no Algae on Anubias and everyone knows the fact the Leaves last on these things for bloody years and they are clean, green and healthy, even around the Heater and input / output tubes have none of the usual slimey feel to them and I realised, Nitrate removing granules, I had been given them by Paddy ( Reef Paddy ) when I got a Nano marine from him.

I do know that these things WILL have an expiry date and it will probably go from this pristine example to an Algae caked version. If you were willing to change these granules when needed I'd say you could keep Algae at bay.

If anyone is looking for these, I'd suggest Seahorse as that would probably be Paddy's local so to speak.

Just a thought.

Kev.



Kev ye solid gold dancer, will have a look for these granuals, appreciated matey, if this is the answer I will have to put you on the Crimbo card list:)

I dont think I need to add anything to kill te algae as it is just hair on plants, glass is spotless thanks to shrimp apple snails and 8 small plecos, no glass cleaning for me:) Nitrate reduction is the way to go, I think my problem is actually so many plants and high filtration.

Cheers top notch gentlemen.

Mark

Location D.11

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