Please ID and help me remedy this algae!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
E

ecuacura

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 1, 2007
77
0
0
Raleigh, NC
Hair algae? Filamentalgae? Not too sure which, but is is slowly taking over my 38 gal tank. Please take a look at the photos and any ideas/help is appreciated!

Setup: 38 gal, compact flourescent on 10 hr photoperiod, 40 gal aqua clear, 2 20 gal poweheads, all planted with swords, crypts, banana plants, only guppies (with some fry), bamboo shrimp, 2 chinese algae eaters one rubbernose pleco (very, very small) and an assortment of pond and trumpet snails.

Photos...

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i have the same problem in a 15g
 
Eeee gads!!! Well If it happened to me I would remove the good plants, Jars should be fine for them. Then I would do the (I think its) 5 days of dark. If your fish aren't too delicate put them in jars or a hospital tank, or feed your fish well and leave them for the five days. Then cover the tank so NO LIGHT gets in. Wait 5 days and pray. I've read a lot of people swear by it. Then limit the amount of light its is currantly getting (because something has to be causing it) or are you using plant fertilizer if so you may want to cut that back as well.
 
Hair \ Beard algae is extremely hardy and I doubt turning out the lights for 5 days will eradicate it. Flourish Excel, and Hydrogen Peroxide are know good treatments. The treatment dose for peroxide is minimal and should be done in small doses over a period of time rather than one big dose which may damage some large cell plants. Overdosing may also kill fish. Do a lot of reading before using peroxide.. atleast though with peroxide you are not adding more medications or fertilizers or herbicides to your aquarium
 
Hey not just turn out lights. cover completely blankets tarps.. NO LIGHT. Opperates on the idea that plants need light to live ie no light= dead plants. By all means do the peroxide if that's the way. But its something to try while your reading up.
 
His problem is that he is unable to remove it from his plants. They would need to be removed from the tank since it is basically attached to the plants as well. By taking his plants out and placing them in a separate tank he stands a very good chance of infecting two tanks. Yes the theory of no light = plant death is correct and works great on blooms and green or brown algea.. not so much on a hair type algae due to the issue with it's hardiness and the fact that it does tend to attach to plants that are just as sensitive to light.
 
I do have some Flourish Excel that I stopped using a while back because I thought maybe the extra nutrients were helping to feed the growth of the algae... I will try Excel first for about a week (after a 50% water change) and see how that does and let you know. After that, maybe a week of total dark, and then maybe a week of peroxide dosing and we will see what works. I will keep everyone informed!

Thanks guys!

J
 
***UPDATE*** Ok... so it was regular Flourish I had been using, not Flourish Excel. I'm happy to say that after a tank tear-down and now dosing regularly with Flourish Excel the hair algae is near gone and the tank couldn't look better. Thanks for all the advice/info!

J
 
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