Green/Brown Hair Algae

[Southpaw]

What would be the source of this? I have a 20 gal long with a dual t5 ho fixture. Flora max 24 w 12k 24 w on a 9 hour photo period with DIY co2

 

[Bettafanatic]

When I got hair algae, all I did was brush it the surfaces with an algae scrubber (very lightly on the plants) and then caught the floating algae with a brine shrimp net. It took a little while but in the end it completely solved the problem, and the plants eventually out-competed any remaining algae I missed. You could try decreasing your photoperiod too.

 

[Rivercats]

While you have algae you need to only run your lights 6 hours. Also have you tested to see what your nitrate and phosphate readings are? Can you post a picture of the algae as some algae can be spot treated with Excel.

 

[Southpaw]

6 hours? I don't want to let my dwarf hairgrass die been struggling to get that to grow. I have attached the areas I see it has spread too. What do you think?

 

[Rivercats]

Okay a couple of things. Is your DIY CO2 running consistantly? I'm not a CO2 person but I know you need to be running the proper amount and consistantly not letting the bottles get low which lets the CO2 levels fluctuate which can aid algae growth. Plus are you dosing ferts on a regular basis? If so what kind? And light photoperiod needs to be reduced until the algae gets under control. I have high lights and only run my metal halides 6 hours. When you have the proper amount of light, CO2, and ferts your plants can outcompete algae.

It looks like you've got thread algae and possibly hair algae. With the thread algae you can get a new toothbrush and twist it round and round and the algae will wrap in it and alot can be pulled out of the plants. That is Val in the first picture correct? If so I wouldn't recommend using Excel for spot treating as many types of Val's will melt when it's used. I'm not sure if spot treating with H2O2, hydrogen peroxide will help, hopefully someone else will be able to answer that. But honestly once you get everything balanced your algae problem will resolve.

 

[Southpaw]

Yes the CO2 is running consistantly, but I have a airstone that kicks on when the lights turn off. Alright first thing I will be doing is reducing the photo period. And as of now I am not dosing ferts, I have the dry ferts now and plan do go the pps-pro route, but doing more research to make sure I do not harm my shrimp colony. And yes that is Val, I have heard Excel melts that like no other.

 

[Rivercats]

I actually have a big stand of Corkscrew Val and use a high amount of liquid carbon and have never had it melt. Sometimes I think it has to do with each tanks individual chemistry when it comes to it melting things. But I've heard others talk about it not melting their Corkscrew Val either so it might just be that type of Val.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Are you using a drop checker to see if you're getting adequate co2 diffusion from your diy system? I run DIY co2 on my 12g and the drop checker is a very useful visual tool to know.

As for the algae.. I've been experiencing both brown and green hair algae in my 6g. The brownish stuff was easy to remove with the aforementioned "toothbrush" method. I found that increased phosphates were the culprit. I conducted multiple pwc's and removed this pygmy chain sword that kept melting leaves, which were the source of the phosphates. After removing that stubborn plant and with numerous pwc's the brown hair algae disappeared.

The brown stuff was the easy stuff to remove.. Now I'm experiencing the green stuff.. What is called green hair algae is sometimes actually spirogyra algae. This stuff is NOT easy to remove. Let's hope you don't have spiro. All it takes is one imbalance like from an ammonia spike and there it forms. Problem with spiro is that it likes everything your plants like (i.e. Light, ferts, and co2). So right now I'm formulating a plan of attack because it's tough stuff.

On a side note, I'm just learning how to name all these algaes. I'm still trying to understand all the nuances when it comes to the difference between hair, thread, or string algae and when it's one or the other, or if they're actually the same thing being called by different names... LOL