Help white/grey either algae/fungus

[Tobezoned]

I need some help guys. I have a 45 gallon tank with 2 bristlenose pleco and 8 peppered Cory's.

This algae/fungus is getting out of hand. It's on all the plants and decorations. I would starve it of light but that would kill my plants, and my beneficial bacteria isnt fully established quite yet, its nearly there but I dont want to set things back by adding chemicals to the water. What should I do? The java moss looks so covered that it must be being suffocated. The water is also slightly tinded/clouded white.

I recently had a slight ammonia (0.5ppm) and nitrite (0.5ppm) spike as one of the plants I had died and I didnt realise at first. Theres 15 plants in my tank total, and the tank light gets super bright

Edited April 20, 2021 by Tobezoned

[Tobezoned]

I need some help guys. I have a 45 gallon tank with 2 bristlenose pleco and 8 peppered Cory's.

This algae/fungus is getting out of hand. It's on all the plants and decorations. I would starve it of light but that would kill my plants, and my beneficial bacteria isnt fully established quite yet, its nearly there but I dont want to set things back by adding chemicals to the water. What should I do? The java moss looks so covered that it must be being suffocated. The water is also slightly tinded/clouded white.

I recently had a slight ammonia (0.5ppm) and nitrite (0.5ppm) spike as one of the plants I had died and I didnt realise at first. Theres 15 plants in my tank total, and the tank light gets super bright

 

[Fish Folk]

33 minutes ago, Tobezoned said:

I need some help guys. I have a 45 gallon tank with 2 bristlenose pleco and 8 peppered Cory's.

This algae/fungus is getting out of hand. It's on all the plants and decorations. I would starve it of light but that would kill my plants, and my beneficial bacteria isnt fully established quite yet, its nearly there but I dont want to set things back by adding chemicals to the water. What should I do? The java moss looks so covered that it must be being suffocated. The water is also slightly tinded/clouded white.

I recently had a slight ammonia (0.5ppm) and nitrite (0.5ppm) spike as one of the plants I had died and I didnt realise at first. Theres 15 plants in my tank total, and the tank light gets super bright

I'm not sure what this is . . . my algae ID book is not handy. Are there any fish in the tank? What are your parameters? Temp? Photo Period for lighting? Type of light / Kelvin rating? Size of Tank? pH, AM, NI, NA, GH, KH?

If it was my tank, and this has only gotten worse over the period of a week, I'd get all fish out, water change 90%, Black out for a few days, and hit with an anti fungal and anti algae chem (separately). Yes, you'll stress plants . . . but to get rid of this stuff . . . it's going to kill them anyway.

[H.K.Luterman]

What is your lighting schedule? Do you use a timer?

[Tobezoned]

6 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

I'm not sure what this is . . . my algae ID book is not handy. Are there any fish in the tank? What are your parameters? Temp? Photo Period for lighting? Type of light / Kelvin rating? Size of Tank? pH, AM, NI, NA, GH, KH?

If it was my tank, and this has only gotten worse over the period of a week, I'd get all fish out, water change 90%, Black out for a few days, and hit with an anti fungal and anti algae chem (separately). Yes, you'll stress plants . . . but to get rid of this stuff . . . it's going to kill them anyway.

Theres 2 baby bristlenose pleco and 8 juvenile corydoras. I dont have a quarantine tank and the benificial bacteria is barely done establishing in this tank so I cant really take them out. Not sure the Kelvin but the lights are very bright look like LEDs and are a mix of white and purple lights. Can I treat it somehow with them in the tank? 

[Tobezoned]

1 minute ago, H.K.Luterman said:

What is your lighting schedule? Do you use a timer?

I usually turn the lights on at around 9 am and turn them off at 8 pm. I have a time bit with covid I'm basically home all the time so I can do it myself 

[Fishdude]

If the light is separate from the tank, you could reduce it by either raising the light higher above the tank or put something between to block some of the light (assuming this is an LED light which doesn't get hot). Reducing the light might make a big difference. I don't recognize the actual algae so part of me wonders if it's some type of mulm?

[H.K.Luterman]

Lowering the amount of time the light is on will help. You don't have to do a total black out, but a few weeks of a shorter light cycle will help. I keep my lights on a timer just for simplicity sake (I work from home), and I do 4 hrs in the morning, a 4 hour "siesta" with the lights off in the afternoon, and 5 hrs on at night. 

[Tobezoned]

Just now, Fishdude said:

If the light is separate from the tank, you could reduce it by either raising the light higher above the tank or put something between to block some of the light (assuming this is an LED light which doesn't get hot). Reducing the light might make a big difference. I don't recognize the actual algae so part of me wonders if it's some type of mulm?

I installed a dimmer switch to the light so as of today I have put it on a much lower setting. I'm still worried that whatever this is will end up using more of the little light I am now providing than the actual plants will

[Tobezoned]

1 minute ago, H.K.Luterman said:

Lowering the amount of time the light is on will help. You don't have to do a total black out, but a few weeks of a shorter light cycle will help. I keep my lights on a timer just for simplicity sake (I work from home), and I do 4 hrs in the morning, a 4 hour "siesta" with the lights off in the afternoon, and 5 hrs on at night. 

I wi lldefinitely try this. Would it also be good to reduce the intensity of light? I just Installed a dimmer switch onto my aquarium light today. It's an array of LEDs built into the lid, they look to be a mix of white and purple LEDs.

[Fishdude]

1 minute ago, Tobezoned said:

I installed a dimmer switch to the light so as of today I have put it on a much lower setting. I'm still worried that whatever this is will end up using more of the little light I am now providing than the actual plants will

That's a good addition, I found the dimmer can really help. If the plants are mostly low light then once there's a balance of nutrients and light in the water the plants themselves should take care of the algae issue. I had a clump of java moss once that suffered like this and just died off but once I got lighting and fertilization under control the next clump of moss I bought flourished. It will probably take some time to balance the light and the fertilizer.

[H.K.Luterman]

Just now, Tobezoned said:

I wi lldefinitely try this. Would it also be good to reduce the intensity of light? I just Installed a dimmer switch onto my aquarium light today. It's an array of LEDs built into the lid, they look to be a mix of white and purple LEDs.

Wouldn't hurt. I have a ton of duckweed in my tanks that naturally dims the light, and I find I get hair algae creeping in whenever I clear too much duckweed out. 

[Fishdude]

2 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

Wouldn't hurt. I have a ton of duckweed in my tanks that naturally dims the light, and I find I get hair algae creeping in whenever I clear too much duckweed out. 

I call it "the scourge" but it's in all of my tanks anyway.

[Tobezoned]

2 minutes ago, Fishdude said:

That's a good addition, I found the dimmer can really help. If the plants are mostly low light then once there's a balance of nutrients and light in the water the plants themselves should take care of the algae issue. I had a clump of java moss once that suffered like this and just died off but once I got lighting and fertilization under control the next clump of moss I bought flourished. It will probably take some time to balance the light and the fertilizer.

Should I still use my fertilizer? Wouldn't it also help the algae grow if I did? If i can somehow identify if this is algae or a fungus then maybe I could get a siamese algae eater from my LFS. Or would adding a fish just spike my amonia and nitrates as this tank only recently cycled?

[Fishdude]

5 minutes ago, Tobezoned said:

Should I still use my fertilizer? Wouldn't it also help the algae grow if I did? If i can somehow identify if this is algae or a fungus then maybe I could get a siamese algae eater from my LFS. Or would adding a fish just spike my amonia and nitrates as this tank only recently cycled?

I mean in terms of a non-expert opinion I would hold off on adding any additional fish simply because it's not a cycled tank as you said. At this point you want those bacterial colonies to mature before you add any additional bioload. Adding fertilizer isn't a problem, unless it's in excess of what your plants can use. The issue is balance - you want to add about the level of ferts needed for your plants to consume at the light levels they grow best in. Too much light (which can be intensity or length that the light stays on) will allow algae to capitalize on that imbalance and grow. 

One thing to keep in mind is that some algae can be healthy - in this case you probably want to make adjustments and keep an eye on the growth. I've found that plants can bounce back if you get the balance of Easygreen and light correct. 

Another thing you could consider if the algae is bothersome is that you can treat with hydrogen peroxide mixed with carbon - look for videos from expert fish-keepers about fighting back black beard algae with that. Some algae is healthy though - your bristlenose plecos will enjoy it for sure, so treating the water may not be the best option.

[Tobezoned]

2 minutes ago, Fishdude said:

I mean in terms of a non-expert opinion I would hold off on adding any additional fish simply because it's not a cycled tank as you said. At this point you want those bacterial colonies to mature before you add any additional bioload. Adding fertilizer isn't a problem, unless it's in excess of what your plants can use. The issue is balance - you want to add about the level of ferts needed for your plants to consume at the light levels they grow best in. Too much light (which can be intensity or length that the light stays on) will allow algae to capitalize on that imbalance and grow. 

One thing to keep in mind is that some algae can be healthy - in this case you probably want to make adjustments and keep an eye on the growth. I've found that plants can bounce back if you get the balance of Easygreen and light correct. 

Another thing you could consider if the algae is bothersome is that you can treat with hydrogen peroxide mixed with carbon - look for videos from expert fish-keepers about fighting back black beard algae with that. Some algae is healthy though - your bristlenose plecos will enjoy it for sure, so treating the water may not be the best option.

Thanks for the advice I will try all this. Although now thinking about it, the bristlenose havnt really touched the algae at all. So maybe it's not algae if they aren't interested in it?

[Fishdude]

4 minutes ago, Tobezoned said:

Thanks for the advice I will try all this. Although now thinking about it, the bristlenose havnt really touched the algae at all. So maybe it's not algae if they aren't interested in it?

Possible, although if they're small they may be getting enough to eat from what you're feeding and off the glass and ignoring what's on the plants themselves.