# Help me KILL it...



## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

This is Aegagropila linnaei, AKA Cladophora.










Underwater it is an awesome, green ball of goodness. It can also grow on wood.

So I though, 'Hey, lets try this stuff emmersed in my vivarium!'

BAD IDEA

This is emmersed Clado:


























Brownish, Greenish, Grey puke. ITs ugly. Its spreading fast. And I cannot kill it.

Normally I would use glutaraldehyde to kill it in an aquarium. With sensitive frogs in the tank, I don't dare use a harsh chemical! 

Help would be appreciated before my tank turns to fuzzy puke!!!


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## Ulisesfrb (Dec 8, 2008)

Yeah, I don't have much help for you, but something similar happened to me with Ricca. It went all over the ghostwood and cork. I brushed it down really good and sprayed it very heavily with water. It seemed to go away, but it grows back a little bit. I just flush it with water, which seems to work, although doesn't kill it permanently.


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## frog dude (Nov 11, 2011)

Step one: move frogs out.

Step two: Remove any expensive plants.

Step three: any other pieces you might not want destroyed gets removed. 

Step four:


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

HAHA! Awesome!


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

That grey stuff is NOT marimo. It's some kind of mold. I have the marimo growing as a terrestrial and it's a nice, green carpet.


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

epiphytes etc. said:


> That grey stuff is NOT marimo. It's some kind of mold. I have the marimo growing as a terrestrial and it's a nice, green carpet.


It very much is Marmimo. I specifically put it there and watched it transform. I have some microscope images of it somewhere showing the algae structure. Plus I have treated it with H202 which would wipe out a mold in seconds. And with my microfuana army, mold stand no chance...

I would be interested on some info on your tank though, because if i can get it to convert back to its greener form, that would be awesome. My guess so far is either too much light, or not enough.


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## Tuckinrim8 (Jul 26, 2007)

I think It is a type of slime mold or maybe a Cyanobacteria (Ed?)that appears in some of my vivs from time to time. Springs and Isos don't touch it. When it's on the wood you can actually peel it back but when it's in your mosses and ground cover its really hard to remove. Sounds like your best bet is to throw some leaf litter (I don't see any) in and be done with it.


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

Tuckinrim8 said:


> I think It is a type of slime mold or maybe a Cyanobacteria (Ed?)that appears in some of my vivs from time to time. Springs and Isos don't touch it. When it's on the wood you can actually peel it back but when it's in your mosses and ground cover its really hard to remove. Sounds like your best bet is to throw some leaf litter (I don't see any) in and be done with it.


Leaf litter is heavy in the back. The front supposed to be a nice green moss pad.... Do you think the leaf litter would block out the light and cause it to die? Its definitely Clado and not a bacteria or mold. I have microscoped it already.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Can you post some pictures of the slides? If it's living/growing, how come it's so grey?


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

hypostatic said:


> Can you post some pictures of the slides? If it's living/growing, how come it's so grey?


I'll see if I can get some tonight. Im not entirely sure on the grey. I have been trying to kill it with H202 so maybe that, or a lack of light? Im honestly not sure.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

EntoCraig said:


> It very much is Marmimo. I specifically put it there and watched it transform. I have some microscope images of it somewhere showing the algae structure. Plus I have treated it with H202 which would wipe out a mold in seconds. And with my microfuana army, mold stand no chance...
> 
> I would be interested on some info on your tank though, because if i can get it to convert back to its greener form, that would be awesome. My guess so far is either too much light, or not enough.


It could be the decaying marmimo is fueling the mold expansion...may have even been the carrier of the initial bug...but was kept in check by being submerged. Just seems unusual for a plant to change its form like that....they don't typically grow as "puke", but with leaves and such...though mosses do spread a film as part of their reproduction...I suppose that could be it, but it usually isn't that um...obvious. 

I think white vinegar is a mold killer and fairly safe if diluted... remove the
top soil layer with that crap on it, scrape as much as you can off anything else, maybe put any frogs in another tank for a few days and spray it down with a vinegar/water solution. Don't mix vinegar and bleach...that is toxic according to the internet....the solution mix for mold on clothes is 50/50 I think, not sure if that is good enough for plants/viv.

In the end after some time the system will reach equilibrium again and keep whatever that is in check probably.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I have the mold in my tree frog tank. Water just makes it angry. Isos and springs don't care. It won't go away. I'm planning to cover it with clay to see if that will do it. I'll let y'all know


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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

Take frogs out and and plants you want to keep.

Turn lights off for 2 to 3 days on main viv. Sometimes starving will kill pest algeas/cyno. Doesn't always work but by eliminating a flora's main "food source" try it!


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

fishr said:


> Take frogs out and and plants you want to keep.
> 
> Turn lights off for 2 to 3 days on main viv. Sometimes starving will kill pest algeas/cyno. Doesn't always work but by eliminating a flora's main "food source" try it!


I don't think you need to take the frogs and plants out. A healthy plant will survive 2 or 3 days. I have seen this technique done in reef tanks and it worked quite well.


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## trevorthetoad (Nov 5, 2012)

I had a problem with cladophora in one of my aquariums a while back. It was growing on my Java moss. Tetra algae-fix killed it all, but I'm not sure how safe it is to use in a frog tank or how you would use it outside the water. Good luck getting rid of it!


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## curlykid (Jan 28, 2011)

I have seen things like this in reef aquariums from time to time. It looks very much like a bacteria. I'm positive it's not a plant as it would need chloroplasts to reproduce and grow, which it doesn't telling by it's color. I'm really not familiar with any out-of-tank treatments sorry.


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## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

I know you think its not a mold or bacteria but that is definitely not a plant. Im sure the moss is still in there but the grey parts are a mold or bacteria. And lack of light probably wont kill it.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Sure looks like a Cyanobacteria to me.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

I agree with Pumilo, it looks like cyanobacteria. Let me know, because I also have some cladophora to put in viv (but if this is the effect, it is better not to do it).


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## Plantnerd (Dec 9, 2011)

Cladophora can survive in very low light. I doubt afew days of darkness will kill it. I have had a ball in a cup of water standing in a very low light area for a year now, and it still looks green and happy as ever. 

I am also baffled that this should be the emersed form of an green alge.

But if it is im going to pull the stuff i have in my viv right away


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

Well, I will treat it like all of the suggested above and see if I can kill it. 

I'm positive I saw chloroplasts and a cell wall under the slides, but I guess it doesn't really matter as long as it dies! 

Thanks you all for your comments.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

EntoCraig said:


> Well, I will treat it like all of the suggested above and see if I can kill it.
> 
> I'm positive I saw chloroplasts and a cell wall under the slides, but I guess it doesn't really matter as long as it dies!
> 
> Thanks you all for your comments.


probably from the moss it is coating...and digesting?


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## EntoCraig (May 17, 2011)

Dendro Dave said:


> probably from the moss it is coating...and digesting?


Very possible! Clado (MArimo) is actually not a moss, but an algae. It has a distinctive smell too, both aquatic and emmersed. 

Im going to try some cleated copper and hand removal of what I see.

I may just remove the frogs and use glutaraldehyde. It breaks down into a carbon source over the course of a few days.

Again, thank you all for your help and comments.


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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

jeeperrs said:


> I don't think you need to take the frogs and plants out. A healthy plant will survive 2 or 3 days. I have seen this technique done in reef tanks and it worked quite well.


This is true, but I didn't want to be held responsible if his prized plant(s) died or his frogs were suddenly not acting right.


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