Good or Bad Reaction?

[trigger78]

I put some Carbon and PhosGaurd in my media containers yesterday afternoon. There was some red algae and some green stringy algae growing on the heater. Today the red is almost gone and the stringy stuff has died back some. And, should I worry about ammonia from this die back? Thanks all. -Alex

 

[jrittz]

In my experiences so far...
I think anything that dies in a tank creates ammonia once it breaks down but it sounds like in your case there was little die off. It may create a very small spike but I doubt there's really much you need to worry about.
If there was a lot of algae that died off then I would recommend watching your ammonia levels. If by chance you see a larger spike and if you have species in your tank that are very sensitive to ammonia, I would recommend doing a 10-15% water change.
Again, a lot of this relies upon what you have living in your tank and what type of filtration you have setup. One last thing that possibly plays a factor is how estabilished your tank is.
HTH
Jrittz
P.S. Maybe some of that algae is dependant upon the phosphates in the tank and removing the phosphates essentially killed the algae? Hopefully someone else can give you a little more feedback.

 

[trigger78]

Bump!!!!!! Any input please. The fish are 1 clown and one huma picasso. And there is no agression. The tank has been up for about 5 months. Clown has been in for 4 to 5 weeks. Trigger for 3 days. Did ammonia test as soon as i noticed the die off and it showed a tiny bit from what i could tell. You guys know how some of these tests kits are. My perfect water isn't exactly the right color according to the chat for ammonia. Will test again late tonight if it is still the same or up more then will have to do an emergency mix and change. Just did water change about 5 days ago so don't have any water ready. Thanks Jrittz. Come on people!!!!!!! -Al

 

[dreeves]

If you are experiencing the die-off as you stated, continue using the stuff you are...you may also do a water change.
Microalgaes are opportunistic feeders...they will die-off to produce food to continue to grow..if you cause a die-off, that die-off will eventually be broken down to Nitrates which will feed new growth.

 

[elfdoctors]

I don't understand why carbon and phosguard would kill anything off. You probably just lowered the nutrients in the tank which dramatically slowed their growth. Your cleaner crew probably was able to catch up.
Algae (and most other plants) tend to be low in protein. If it dies off it would produce only small amounts of ammonia.
I suspect that what you call red algae is really cyanobacteria. I wouldn't worry about anything except why did you may have had excess phosphates in the first place (tapwater, overfeeding?).

 

[beaslbob]

hopefully, you have other plant life in the system which can consume any ammonia/phosphate/nitrates released.

 

[trigger78]

Beaslbob, I was hoping you would read this. Yes, I have other algae in the tank. The only algae die back was on the heater and that spot of red stuff that could have been cyano. Was just worried since it happened so quickly. The red stuff is completely gone today. The stringy stuff on the heater is about the same. Did water tests a few minutes ago and there seems to be no more probs. The trace of ammonia didn't read this time. NO2 & NO3 both read zero. So, was this good or bad beaslbob? If it was cyano then it has to be good doesn't it? The algae on the filter and lr didn't die back like the later. Thanks -Alex

 

[beaslbob]

sounds like you done good. I think the red (even if cyano) feeds more off of the phosphates so the phosguard is be doing it's job. and with the other plant life, you should be ok on your parameter as you stated.
Even in my tanks and even the macro algae culture tank, I do have some hair algae. The best that can be done is to encourage the good stuff to grow and starve out the bad. I find lighting and feeding to be effective. The more your stabilizes the less actions you have to take to control the uglies. So sounds like you found a solution. Congrates.

 

[trigger78]

Thanks Beaslbob! I tried to find the post last night in which you gave me your email way I could contact you about this but this site kept giving me trouble for some reason. You know your algaes and plant life so figured you'd have an answer for me. Thanks beaslbob. -Alex

 

[dreeves]

Elfdoctors...Nusiance algae will die as quickly as it grows...
Removing the Nitrate and Phosphate from a system will very much kill nusiance algae off quickly, as well as slow the remaining down.
Good luck with your low in protien theory...

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by dreeves
Elfdoctors...Nusiance algae will die as quickly as it grows...
Removing the Nitrate and Phosphate from a system will very much kill nusiance algae off quickly, as well as slow the remaining down.
Most life tends to grow until its growth is constrained by some external limiting factor. A lack of fertilizer does not usually kill off plants but it does stop their growth. Beaslbob's plants continue to grow even though we all know that he has no nitrates or phosphates in his tanks. There is a big difference between a lack of fertilizer and using a herbicide.
Good luck with your low in protien theory...

I take it you disagree. I am only trying to help. Here is my rationale.
Most organisms tend to use the same the same basic energy sources - carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The structure of carbohydrates and fats do not have nitrogen. Therefore almost all nitrogenous wastes tend to come from protein. Ammonia (NH4) is the preferred nitrogenous waste for aquatic organisms because it is metabolically easy to produce and washes away easily in wet environments. (Urea (NH3-C-NH3) is made by humans and organisms which have moderate water resources, uric acid is made by animals with restricted water resources.) Most plants are low in protein as so much of their structure is tied to support. That is why vegetarian diets have to mix different plants together as most individual plants tend to be deficient in certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). Animal meat does not have this problem. Usually the only high protein parts of plants are associated with reproduction, such as seeds. As such there should be a much lower ammonia spike then if the same volume of fish were to die.
These concepts come straight from Bio101. I have a biology background and need to understand concepts to make intelligent choices about matters which are still incompletely understood. If I made an error above please correct me. I was just trying to help.

 

[elfdoctors]

Sorry, I inserted part of my reply in dreeves' quote. I still have to learn to edit quotes on this system. :notsure: I am not sure what I did wrong.

 

[dreeves]

I believe generally, when dealing with the microalgaes, what they consume is what they release back into the water column...
In the case of nusiance algaes such as hair algae, the components do not just include the Nitrate, but Phosphates, and Iron as well...Iron is a fertilizer for most algaes, macro and micro.
In any case, it has been thought upon here that for total export of the nutrients we are tyring to rid our systems of, depend on removal of the plant form. This is to remove the possibility of the plant die off thus releasing the nutrients back...home boy aquatics 101.