StagHorn algae outbreak

[magnosis]

I had the bad luck of not immediately noticing that my water softener stopped working. With the 2 last water changes (weekly 50%) this introduced higher than normal levels of Iron, with the GH jumping to 18 and KH to 28.  The result was actually favorable for some plants that were showing signs of Iron deficiency, but also helped in creating a StagHorn algae outbreak (typically caused by a combination of high Iron combined with sub-optimal water quality)

During that time I also re-calibrated my drop checker, adjusted CO2 to a [more] stable 15-25 ppm, and that helped reduce proliferation but there is still quite a bit of StagHorn on my plants, mostly on the Java Ferns and Rotalas.


What's the best way to get rid of it ?  The intertubes don't have as much info on this algae as there is for BGA, BBA, Hair and Thread; seems like it's not very common.

PS: I'm not too keen on using H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxyde), in my experience this is great against Hair, Thread and Blue Green Algae, but it hurts the more fragile stem plants.

[HappyGuppy]

Yes, the h2o2 does hurt the elodea and hornwort the most.  In my experience most other plants barely show any effect if anything.  Also, they do grow back.  Is your tank heavily planted with these more susceptible plants?  If not they why not remove some, nuke the tank, put them back in, and fix the water conditions so that another outbreak doesn't happen again. Or try a series of low doses to have minimal impact upon the hornwort & elodea.

Basically a quick clean & then fix the problem.

Just my two cents.  It is what I would do, but it is important to handle this how you consider best.

[fischkopp]

Staghorn indicates an CO2-light imbalance.

Remove any bigger pieces by hand. Crank up the CO2. The remaining staghorn usually disappears on its own within two weeks.

[magnosis]

Staghorn indicates an CO2-light imbalance.

Yes, I also found other sources claiming low CO2 and low current could be a cause.

My drop checker is green, at 5 dKH, which indicate anywhere in the range of 15-25 ppm if I'm not mistaken.  Using 110W of T5HO on 59 tank (~50g water).

I'm a bit hesitant on rising CO2 levels more, since my water has an extremely high KH (indicating strong concentration of carbon).  What do you think of that ?

[fischkopp]

Unless you are keeping sensible fish that require high oxygen its safe to increase CO2 levels. Always keep an eye on all your fish if you do increase the levels. Shall they gather on the surface or become sluggish you will need to back off immediately. Siamese algae eaters are good CO2 indicators ...

I don't have much experience with harder water, but give it a shot anyway. Plants can utilize carbon in different forms, but some are preferred over others because it's less effort for the plant. I am no chemist, but I believe that the soluble from of CO2 was the easiest for plants to utilize, florish, and eventually out-compete algae.

I tend to run my planted tanks on a quite high CO2 concentration, beyond 30ppm. It's difficult to put in numbers. When I used drop checkers I wasn't happy with a solid green. CO2 was cranked until it was nice yellowish.

[magnosis]

OK I will try that tonight, thanks for the info !