Eradication of brush algae with copper

[shireen]

Hi ... my brush algae is out of control. It's killed most of my plants. I have to do a complete tank make-over (40 gallon tank). The wood is badly infested and can't be used until it's been sterilized in bleach. (I may try to save one of them.)

Since brush algae sticks to gravel and the glass, completely eradicating it would be impossible. So I was considering a copper treatment. Has anyone tried it?

I read over Neil Frank's article at thekrib.com, and think i understand what to do. But I wanted to run it past the resident experts and people who have done this before.

The procedure:

1) remove all fish to a small holding tank, make them comfortable for a 2 week stay. (But I know they will be really pissed off!)

2) star dosing with copper at 0.5 ppm for 10 days.
(I found some at http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/ )

3) Days 11-13, do several water changes, including gravel cleaning to remove the copper.

4) Day 14, add a lot of new plants, any old plants that survived bleach treatment, substrate fertilizer (flourish tabs), and start CO2. (I'm currently not doing CO2, but just got a new Tunze regulator to start it again.)

5) After a day, add the fish to their refurbished home.

Any advice?

thanks!
shireen

[eleontie]

Have you tried Excel ? In my experience it works great with brush algae. You can still take out all your fish and try overdosing excel if localized treating is hopeless. Then go with big water changes. Somehow I fill it will be less problematic on the long term than the copper. Especially if you plan on having any invertebrates.

Eugen

[shireen]

Hi Eugen, thanks for the tip. I had no idea Flourish did that.

I had hoped to find a way to do this without removing the fish because i hate stressing them out during capture. But I guess that's unavoidable.

I'll try to cancel the copper order.

So how do you dose? Some of the google searches suggested 5x the recommended dosage. How long do i let it sit in the tank?

Thanks, again, great suggestion!

cheers,
shireen

[Cristy Keister]

First try dosing at 5ml per 10 gal for 5 days, then resume recommended dosing. That won't harm the fish, but remove shrimp. The algae won't disappear immediately, but that dosing will most likely have killed it. Remove as much algae as you can by hand, use a stiff toothbrush on the wood. Once you resume the CO2, and balanced fert dosing, the brush algae should not come back.

btw, Excel will also kill valisneria plants at that dose, but won't harm most other plants. Rick, are you listening?

Excel only lasts for 24 hours in water, but copper is forever in your tank silicone.

[eleontie]

And try squirting the Excel directly on the algae covered hardscape with a syringe. It will be much more effective than just dosing the excel in the water column.

Eugen

[shireen]

Cristy, i thought i was supposed to remove the fish for high excel dosages. Some people reported that they looked sick at high dosages. So you're saying that 5ml/10g will be OK? If that's the case, I'm relieved because i was dreading catching them and stressing them out.

Eugen, for eradicating small clumps of brush algae, can i do the squirting while the fish are in the tank?

Thank you both!!!

cheers,
shireen

[Cristy Keister]

That's not an especially high dose. It's the dose recommended for 1st time dosing or after a water change. Since Seachem says that Excel degrades in water in 24 hours, you're not going to build up a super high amount. I've dosed this way several times with no trouble, and I haven't heard of anyone who has had trouble with their fish at that dose. Some have had trouble with shrimp and Excel.

[Cavan]

As bad as algae can be, there is ALWAYS a way to get rid of it without starting all over. In addition to the good advice given already, I suggest lots of co2, higher phosphate and Excel on top of co2 after you get things fixed. Once you learn how, preventing it is easy

[shireen]

Hi Eugen, Cristy, and Cavan ...

thanks so much for the tips. This info is so helpful. I really appreciate it.


cheers,
shireen