Fuzzy Wood!?

[newfishaddict]

I have some hair like growth on my driftwood in my 29g. I have no problems with algae in this tank, the plants are growing strong. But my only piece of driftwood is very "harry", there is a brown inch long hair all over the surface of the wood... It actually looks VERY nice, but is it dangerous or a sign of anyting bad?

amm niti =0 nitra=8 phos=1 co2=20 ph=7.1; lots of live plants, I do a 30% change every 7-10 days. and add ferts every 3 days. I aim to keep nitrate=12 phos=1 co2=25

this tank has 68watts of HO 6700k bulb and ~20w of 10,000k bulb..

29g tank.

 

[newfishaddict]

EDIT:

LOL! Wasn't reading.

Uhh..hair fungus comes to mind..?

This hair his long, thick and brown. Looks much like the hair algae I used to have in my 55g, but this "stuff" is very soft like suede or velvet and not hard and tough like the hair algae that used to be in my 55g.

 

[newfishaddict]

Mmm... the only 'velvety' algae I know of is brush algae, but it doesn't grow as long as yours.

Does it look like this?

(I've included a link in case the photo doesn't show)
brush algae



EDIT: I meant hair algae, not hair fungus in my post above! Sowee!!! )

Interesting, the pic is a bit fuzzy but my stuff does look exactaly like that except that I have no scale for how big that stuff is AND my stuff is very dark brown (could be due to tannins in my wood?..hmmm)

 

[George Farmer]

Sounds like BBA (black beard/brush algae). It's normally associated with low or unstable CO2 levels.

It can be killed off quite effectively by overdosing Flourish Excel. Google "overdosing excel BBA" for more info.

 

[alanchown]

Sounds like BBA (black beard/brush algae). It's normally associated with low or unstable CO2 levels.

It can be killed off quite effectively by overdosing Flourish Excel. Google "overdosing excel BBA" for more info.

Does using Flourish Excel prevent the formation of BBA?. I've started using it with Flourish, and was hoping that it would prevent BBA. When i had aquariums years ago, I could never get rid of it. I am using CO2 and good lighting this time, so hopefully it wont be an issue.

Alan

 

[newfishaddict]

Well, the other names for it is Red brush algae and black brush algae, so the colors actually vary from dark green, black, or dark red. They grow when there's none or very little nitrates.

Interesting, thanks.

Sounds like BBA (black beard/brush algae). It's normally associated with low or unstable CO2 levels.

It can be killed off quite effectively by overdosing Flourish Excel. Google "overdosing excel BBA" for more info.

I like it, it is only on my wood, my plants are growing great, I just want to know if it is dangerous to my fish in any way.