Hair Alae In My Tank. I Think....

[kevthefish]

I have had a problem in my tank now for about a month now. I think i have hair algae in my tank. It attaches it's self to the thin leaves of my aquarium, My description would be. It looks like thick black witch hair, if that makes sence?

Can anyone help? As i've tryed to trim the infected leaves and clean it of my ornaments, but i find it grows back very quickly.

Thanks kevthefish.

 

[scottca]

Hi,

It sounds like you have Black Brush Algae (BBA) - If you go to http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm - can you confirm what algae it is?

(Thanks to Aaronnorth for the link from your signature, I have used this manytimes!)

If it is BBA, then its caused by high lighting with not enough co2, or the co2 level is fluctuating. Could you provide more information on your aquarium (Size, Equipment, Lightning, whether your running any DIY or Compressed co2 etc)

Regards,

Craig

 

[bricko]

I had the green variation of hair algae growing on leaves and other decor. I found that by balancing the lighting and fertilisation better in my tank that the plants began to outcompete the algae. I also used a 3x overdose of Flourish Excel with no adverse affects to fish or shrimp, this affectively killed of the algae, firstly turning it red and then coming away and dying from anything it was attached to.

As scottca said, a better description of your tank setup would be beneficial to helping you out.

 

[aaronnorth]

Thanks to Aaronnorth for the link from your signature, I have used this manytimes!)

comes in very usefull!

ammonia spikes are also a problem, how much, and how often do you do water changes? did you disturb the substrate at all?

 

[kevthefish]

Hi,

It sounds like you have Black Brush Algae (BBA) - If you go to [URL="http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm"]http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm[/URL] - can you confirm what algae it is?

(Thanks to Aaronnorth for the link from your signature, I have used this manytimes!)

If it is BBA, then its caused by high lighting with not enough co2, or the co2 level is fluctuating. Could you provide more information on your aquarium (Size, Equipment, Lightning, whether your running any DIY or Compressed co2 etc)

Regards,

Craig

I tested my aquarium about a week ago and all the stats where fine apart from my N02 had a little spicke at about 0.1ppm if that makes sence?
I'm due another one tomorrow so i'll have to see if anything has changed after my weekend water change.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[aaronnorth]

Nitrite i dont think cause algae, i have certainley never heard of it. best to go with the advice given in the link:

Often grows on leaf edges of slow growing plants, bog wood and mechanical equipment. Also sometimes it grows in fast flowing areas of the tank. Grows in clumps or patches of fine black tufts up to about 0.5cm long.

In a high light tank it is an indication of low or fluctuating CO2 levels or not enough water circulation around the plants. In a low light tank it is often due to changing CO2 levels.

In a high light tank you will need to increase your levels of CO2 and/or improve water circulation around the plants. Scrub and cut off as much as you can first. Increase levels slowly to 30ppm or more but watch the fish to see if they are respiring heavily. Make sure you have good water flow around the whole tank along with some good surface movement. Adding a powerhead may help.
If you have a low light tank without CO2 injection then not doing any water changes will help. This is because tap water often has lots of CO2 dissolved in it which causes CO2 levels in your tank to fluctuate. The algae respond to this a lot quicker than the plants do.
Siamese Algae Eaters are known to eat BBA so can be used to control this algae.
Overdosing Flourish Excel will clear it up.

JamesC - The planted tank ( http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/index.htm )