Algae ID?

[evansbradley]

So I have something that looks like this growing in my tank



What is it and how do I get rid of it? I didn't seem to notice it until my ghost shrimp died off.

 

[mrvincent]

Colonial Hydroids (joke)
Take a picture of it, this drawing doesn't remind me any type of freshwater algae...

This is brown, green, black ? Orange algae ?

If it's grey, this could be staghorn algae.

 

[evansbradley]

Grey-ish white color. It's too small to take a picture

 

[mrvincent]

Grey-ish white color. It's too small to take a picture

Maybe staghorn then... Means too much lighting/not enough CO2.

Dim down the lights of possible, or cut back on the timer. If you run lights 12hrs/day, then cut to 8hrs/day. Is it a planted tank ?

This can ben due to overfeeding too I think.

According to http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php ,
"grows in long individual strands that form a few branches. It will grow close to the light source on equipment and plants. Strands can be pulled off the surface or in very bad cases the whole leaf should be discarded. Higher ammonia/ammonium levels (from overstocking or substrate disturbance) and low CO2 levels will favour this algae. It's been known that the Siamese Algae Eater will keep this algae in check. Nutrient control and healthy growing plants will limit Staghorn algae. "

I had this algae before, I can confirm young SAE (Siamensis fish) will eat it, and no more Staghorn since I dose CO2 from pressurized cylinder.

 

[evansbradley]

I'll try cutting back on light! I don't have a CO2 rig. It is a planted tank. Very sparsely planted for now. Thanks!!

 

[PerfectDepth]

Your drawing actually looks more like a hydra, which is a freshwater polyp, not algae.

 

[evansbradley]

How do you go about getting rid of it?