Hair-like Algae

[Marconis]

I've noticed that I have been getting these small hair or string like looking green thins along my glass. I wipe them when doing a PWC, but within the next two days they start coming back. They are hard to see, you have to put your face a few inches near the tank in order to see them. Another thing, two days ago I noticed that a few of my rocks had brown gunk on them, along with the plants. I rinsed them off and scrubbed a bit. They are cleaner now, but will it come back?

Is it ok to scrub algae when not doing PWC, say three days after I just did one? Is this alge and brown stuff something to worry about?

[LandGhoti]

Does the brown stuff come off easily, like dust? If so, they are diatoms and are quite normal in a new tank. They usually go away on their own, but I have algae eaters that took care of mine. I had the green hair stuff too but, again, algae eaters feasted on that. If you're scrubbing it off, it will likely come back eventually.

How long are your lights on during the day?

[hc8719]

i've had this problem. here's my answer

take a razor, wipe down the algae and catch the remants with a net. this prevents the algae from spreading more spores, as they are out of the tank.

this won't wipe them out, as spores are bound to be all over, though you can hinder their invasive rate. there are many other options to conisder treating algae in addition to the scrape and remove way, including feeding and lighting.

a way to prevent aglae by feeding, if too many flakes hit the ground, reduce how much you feed in one serving, but feed the fish an extra meal later on so they arent starving. smaller meals more often are better than one big buffet

[Marconis]

Ok, Ill try that hc8719. Thanks a bunch.