Staghorn Algae be gone???

Question

I have a whole lot of staghorn algae in my tank.. I have done some research on it and have done everything I have found to try and get rid of it, with the exception of getting an American Flag Fish. I really dont want to medicate the tank with some algae be gone chemicals.. Any suggestions... It seems to be taking over the tank.... It is a 50 gal. with some glofish, zebra danios, green flame tetra, cardinal tetra, neon tetra, other tetras, platys, dwarf puffers, chocolate albine pleco, and a clown loach. With a Magnum 350 pro canister filter...The staghorn algae is now covering rocks, not just leaves on plants... I cant really back off on the light with out inhibiting the plant growth. I already use minimal light. Gosh I am just so tired of looking at this crap... its so ugly.. ANY IDEAS?????

i use a plant fertilizer ... ill have to read on it to see what the content is... thanks

Answer 1

I was looking at a few sites that mention that staghorn indicates an abundance of iron in the water. Do you use an iron supplement for your plants? Maybe you need to cut back on that.

If you've got well water, or iron in the pipes that could be leaching, you could try using some RO water, or get a polyfilter (a resin pad similar to a phosphate pad, expensive [probably $7-9 for a 4x8 pad you can cut], but it will pull the iron out of the water).

You can see if your LFS can do an iron test on you water to see if your iron is high.

You should be able to kill it on the rocks using a mild beach solution (5%), rinsing, and letting air-dry for a few days. Bleach is mainly chlorine and sodium hydroxide, so the chlorine will volatilize in 24 hrs with good light. You could also try soaking them in hydrogen peroxide. These won't help your plants, though.

Answer 2

well a temporary fix would be a blackout. You can move all your plants to a large rubbermaid and place it wher elight is going to get to it. Then cover the tank completly for a few days

Answer 3

Oh I don't know