Fuzz or Beard Algae ?

[crickit99]

In my 20 gallon Dwarf Puffer tank, I have an algae outbreak. It is green and kind of looks like bunches of fine fuzz. It is mainly on the Aponogeton leaves that have reached the water line.
I guess smaller versions are in some other tanks on driftwood and plants.

Is there a specific name for this? I know I saw a great site once that listed various types of algae and what caused each (and what could be done to control it)....but I can't find it now!
I have Ottos in the tank, but they are ignoring it.

Christina

 

[malkore]

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9 - algae identification and causes

 

[crickit99]

Well, the plants in the tank have been doing horribly. I just pulled as many leaves off that had the algae on them. But little "hairs" floated around the tank. I also see short "hairs" on the driftwood.
There were air bubbles all around where the algae was bunched on the leaves, and it was sticking to the leaves (hard to pull off).

I am at a loss, as I'm not even sure what this algae is....I may have just described common algae things, LoL, but any ideas?

 

[malkore]

ohhhh, bubbles trapped under the algae? That sounds like cyanobacteria. Is it very deep green sheets that have bubbles trapped underneath? and trying to remove the sheets of algae just makes it break apart? also, does the algae have a very pungent smell...kinda like fresh cut grass...except overpoweringly strong?

If the above sounds right, I'd say it's cyano. If not, then it's probably just the algae producing oxygen which couldn't float to the surface.

What we really need though, is your lighting on this 20gallon, if you inject CO2 (and if so the level of CO2 in ppm), nitrate and phosphate levels.
Algae is always, always caused by an imbalence in nutrients...too much nitrate, too much phosphate, and in some cases too much iron (thread algae, but that's not your issue).
IME high phosphate levels cause the hair/beard algae.

 

[crickit99]

Hmm, I don't recall what it smelled like.
It is mainly on the leaves that float on the surface, attached to the leaves. I'm assuming it likes the light. But looking at it in the water, it looks like fluffs of green, fine fuzz.
My plants have been doing not so well, and that's been my 'best' tank up til now.

When I pulled out some leaves, a bunch of short, fine 'hairs' floated around the tank. And after being pulled out, it was just a green slime.
I do recall it reminds me of algae I remember seeing as a child in ponds (natural) and lakes. It's just green and globby in the water, pulled out it turns to a slime.

It 's a 20 gallon high, 65 watts of light (Coralife Freshwater). Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate never goes above 5. I don't inject CO2, and I normally don't fertilize, although I may have added a bit of Flourish Excel a few weeks ago. My GH and KH are very low, since our tap water is soft....(in those, I don't have to continue putting drops in the test tube to change the color for a reading).

I will go home and test the iron and phosphate levels, and post back.

 

[malkore]

Take a sniff of it when you get home. Real green algae won't have much odor...cyano will definitely have a strong odor.

I see problems in this tank that could easily cause multiple types of algae blooms, including cyano.
You have 3 watts over this tank...that pretty much necessitates CO2 injection, and frequent fertilization. When you have light, plants will use nutrients much faster, hence why your nitrate is only 5ppm. Plants also require enough carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) to thrive as well. Once you hit 2watts per gallon, CO2 should be considered. Over 2.5watts, and you're treading on thin ice without CO2.
Soft water is the bane of CO2 injection...without a Kh of at least 3 degrees (3 drops to change the color in the sample) you're running the risk of pH fluctations that could stress the fish and open them up to illness (less hardy fish may simply die). Calcium carbonate, or baking soda can be used to increase hardness to 3dKh. Flourish Excel is a carbon supplement, so you could continue using it per the label instructions.

Low nitrate levels tend to bring on cyano, and it can be difficult to get rid of, sometimes requiring the use of anti-biotics (as cyano is actually a bacteria, not an algae). With higher light, you need to maintain nitrates at about 10ppm, and phosphates at no more than 1.0ppm. Every other day you should try to dose trace nutrients, including some iron. To keep it simple and because your tank isn't huge, I'd use Flourish comprehensive plant supplement, and Flourish Iron for your trace dosing days. Start with 1mL of each, 3x a week, and increase until you find a threshhold where no more will help the plants.

Test your phosphate, but don't bother with iron. Unless you have a LaMotte Iron test kit you won't get an accurate reading. Cheap iron test kits just can't accurately measure the low levels we need in planted tanks.

Ok, I"m sure that's more than enough for you to digest right now Good luck, and let me know how I can be of further assistance.