Journal Frank's Dutch Attempt

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@FrankZ you wouldn't have a microscope to look at it, would you? With algae that is difficult to kill, I would like to get a good look under a microscope to ID it.

To me, it still looks like the cyano I've experienced in the past. I'm not sure what is in the commercial cyano-killers but I used erythromycin with good success. It does take a couple of days for it to go away.

Before going with anything extreme, I would try the following:
  1. 90%+ water change, with substrate cleaning and then add quality activated carbon actively for a few days;
  2. Reset fertilizer;
  3. Erythomycin and black out for 2 days; and
  4. 90%+ water change, with substrate cleaning and switch activated carbon and leave for a week.
If the above didn't work, I would then consider @Burr740's 1 punch or the traditional 1 2 punch methods.

Sorry you're going through this.
 
Art said:
@FrankZ you wouldn't have a microscope to look at it, would you? With algae that is difficult to kill, I would like to get a good look under a microscope to ID it.

To me, it still looks like the cyano I've experienced in the past. I'm not sure what is in the commercial cyano-killers but I used erythromycin with good success. It does take a couple of days for it to go away.

Before going with anything extreme, I would try the following:
  1. 90%+ water change, with substrate cleaning and then add quality activated carbon actively for a few days;
  2. Reset fertilizer;
  3. Erythomycin and black out for 2 days; and
  4. 90%+ water change, with substrate cleaning and switch activated carbon and leave for a week.
If the above didn't work, I would then consider @Burr740's 1 punch or the traditional 1 2 punch methods.

Sorry you're going through this.
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I do have a nice microscope with a nice digital camera for it but it’s in use at a customer site for a while so I don’t have access to it.

I did the @Burr740 1 punch with glute last night followed by a water changed. I did another water change this morning. That was a LOT of glute. Anyway, it will be a few days until I know if it worked.

The slime did vacuum out much easier this morning from the areas I saw it. I cleaned out a pile, as much as I could see, before doing the 1 punch.

My Val’s did not take it very well as expected. The melt is going to be epic but they will come back.
 
gjcarew said:
How about hydrogen peroxide? 1-2 punch is extreme but effective
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Sorry man, i missed responding to this. I tried spraying the fern and anubias a few times with peroxide during water changes. It didn’t seem to help and burnt some of the leaves in the process.

My little jar test thing I tried was to see if letting it sit in peroxide for hours would kill it. It did not.
 
So to recap, you have this green, slimy algae that you haven't been able to get rid of. It doesn't smell.

You placed some in a separate jar and hit it with hydrogen peroxide and it did not kill it. You tried Red Slime Remover also without success.

This thing is either an algae or a bacteria. It has to be impacted by something.

Keep us posted.
 
Art said:
So to recap, you have this green, slimy algae that you haven't been able to get rid of. It doesn't smell.

You placed some in a separate jar and hit it with hydrogen peroxide and it did not kill it. You tried Red Slime Remover also without success.

This thing is either an algae or a bacteria. It has to be impacted by something.

Keep us posted.
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I’ll post more later as I gather some more details but I think you’re spot on with this assessment. Wish I had my microscope because I think it’s a mix of both. Whatever it was/is the glute treatment seems to have worked. IMG_3434.jpeg
 
Spoke to soon. Slime is coming back on the anubias. I pulled the wall out and doing a long 1-2 punch with it in the sink. It always seems to start with anubias for some reason, maybe I did not get it fully clean with the two glute treats I did.
 
FrankZ said:
Spoke to soon. Slime is coming back on the anubias. I pulled the wall out and doing a long 1-2 punch with it in the sink. It always seems to start with anubias for some reason, maybe I did not get it fully clean with the two glute treats I did.
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Don’t go too long with the anubias! I melted a ton I had in the past doing that. But I left them in a solution of it for like a day soooo lol
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
Don’t go too long with the anubias! I melted a ton I had in the past doing that. But I left them in a solution of it for like a day soooo lol
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Ended up doing an hour in peroxide and an hour in metricide 14. Not straight chemical though. Diluted down a good bit.

I’m kind of back to square one with this slime. All the plants have taken a beating from the water changes, heavy slime removal, and subsequent nutrient reduction. I did dose all macros and micros after each water change I guess it just wasn’t enough given how often and how many changes I did. The ludiwigia meta stems have started to melt which I believe is a big indicator of macros being way too low. I noticed it as I was pulling out the anubias wall and half the meta stems just floated away when I bumped them.

I did another water change today and found my RO/DI storage has a small leak about half way up. So now getting a new one is on the to do list.

At this point i am beyond frustrated and not sure which way to go so I am going to relax and watch the slime do what it’s going to do while I nurse the plants back with more food.
 
You should be larding on the ferts right now bruh, esp macros. You need the plants healthy and thriving not stalled out, or worse deteriorating. That is crucial to fixing this. Far more important than treating/killing the algae

An hour is a long time, hope you diluted it a lot. Youll know in a couple days if the leaves start to brown. If its damaged put it in another tank for a while. You dont need anything thats in poor shape sitting around in this tank

What I would do: Another thorough clean, no treatment, 50-60% water change. Go back with something like 15/5/20, then give it two more doses through the week something like 5/1.3/7-8. This is a little rich but thats what you want this time. Next wc cycle start hitting 18-20/5-6/25-28 total for the week with about half coming right after the wc. Micros can stay at the same suggested dose 3x week

If you have any easy fast growers in your other tanks add some to this one. The more surging plant mass you can get in here the better. Atm you dont really have a lot. Dont worry about the 'scape' for now
 
Burr740 said:
You should be larding on the ferts right now bruh, esp macros. You need the plants healthy and thriving not stalled out, or worse deteriorating. That is crucial to fixing this. Far more important than treating/killing the algae

An hour is a long time, hope you diluted it a lot. Youll know in a couple days if the leaves start to brown. If its damaged put it in another tank for a while. You dont need anything thats in poor shape sitting around in this tank

What I would do: Another thorough clean, no treatment, 50-60% water change. Go back with something like 15/5/20, then give it two more doses through the week something like 5/1.3/7-8. This is a little rich but thats what you want this time. Next wc cycle start hitting 18-20/5-6/25-28 total for the week with about half coming right after the wc. Micros can stay at the same suggested dose 3x week

If you have any easy fast growers in your other tanks add some to this one. The more surging plant mass you can get in here the better. Atm you dont really have a lot. Dont worry about the 'scape' for now
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Pretty sure I wrecked them. I wasn’t going to admit this because it’s embarrassing, BUT, here goes. When I sprayed the anubias wall with glute in the sink I got a phone then forgot about them for a while. Long enough that the glute dried. This was before filling the sink with water. So yeah, the leaves are turning brown and mostly toast. I’ll yank it and put into my acara tank until I get time to trim off all the dead leaves.

I have a number of weedy fast growers to add. Pearl weed, rotala rotundfolia, and hygro salicifolia to name few.

I have a bunch of hornwort too but I don’t think I’m up for that kind of nightmare growth. It might fill the tank in two days.
 
IMG_3454.jpeg
Green haze for days. Plants have stopped melting and I haven’t seen any slime under water.

I did add a dozen otos and they are having a field day. I’m sure shrimp would too but the emperor tetras eat them as fast as I put them in. I did a bunch of temporary plants randomly where there was space. I need to go shopping and get a few cases of patience. Anybody know of any good deals?
 
FrankZ said:
View attachment 5890
Green haze for days. Plants have stopped melting and I haven’t seen any slime under water.

I did add a dozen otos and they are having a field day. I’m sure shrimp would too but the emperor tetras eat them as fast as I put them in. I did a bunch of temporary plants randomly where there was space. I need to go shopping and get a few cases of patience. Anybody know of any good deals?
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Hey Frank, sorry you're dealing with this but if it helps, we all have been there. I keep a hang-on UV filter to deal with green water if that is something you're having. Not sure, it may be GDA you're dealing with and you know that's mostly light and nutrients.

I too planted indiscriminately with plants just to get the volume of healthy plants growing fast. I will organize later. It's a good plan so just hang on.
 
Art said:
Hey Frank, sorry you're dealing with this but if it helps, we all have been there. I keep a hang-on UV filter to deal with green water if that is something you're having. Not sure, it may be GDA you're dealing with and you know that's mostly light and nutrients.

I too planted indiscriminately with plants just to get the volume of healthy plants growing fast. I will organize later. It's a good plan so just hang on.
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Thanks art. Here are a before and after photo of my UV Green machine. Before is Wednesday at the and of a clean up. After is from just a bit ago. Lights are not at full brightness yet but the reduction in haze is significant. IMG_3460.jpeg
Before
IMG_3465.jpeg
After
 
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I’m honestly stumped frank. We are clearly missing something, just what? However when the haze clears I like what I see, lots of good strong growth.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
We are clearly missing something, just what?
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Could it be that we are missing the slime? :unsure::) That would definitely be good news, and the green water can be addressed separately. A lot has been going on with this tank, so that may explain that even when slime is gone it needs some time to settle and be happy again?
 
The water has cleared up nicely. I’ll get a picture shortly when the lights are on fully.

But, there is always a but, the slime has come back on the helferii. I tried to manually pull it off my hand but up rooted the plants with the slime. So it’s back and as physically strong as it was prior to the two glute bombs. Recent history says it won’t be long before it’s growing all over the place again.

I don’t know how much more banging my head against the wall of slime I can take. At this point a restart might be easier. I just need a bag or two of BDBS to restart it. I say that because the MTS is going the way of the shop vac and NOT going back in if I do restart it. It will probably be a full restart with fresh substrate and new filter media.
 
IMG_3470.jpeg
Overall the haze is minor and things don’t look bad as long as you stay far enough away.

IMG_3472.jpeg
Zoomed in photo of the slime making a come back in the helferii. It coats the leaves then they turn to mush and fall off. The roots and stems are good shape though so I think if I can nurse them back if I can just stop the dang slime.
 
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