Is this White Hair Algae?

[Joey P]

I just notice a few long white strands in my tank. At first I thought one of the silk plants was unraveling, but when I tried to grab it, it just fell apart in my hand.

I had just done a PWC a few hours ago and it certainly wasn't there then so it must have popped up in the last hour or two. Can it grow that fast?

I do have Ich and I'm treating for it right now so the tank temp is around 86-88 and there's a lot of air being pumped in. I was also using Ick Guard 2 but after the PWC started adding salt.

I'll post some test results in a few minutes.

 

[Joey P]

All tests showed zero and the pH looked to be at 8.0 on the high pH test (it seemed a bit to dark for 7.6 on the regular test).

 

[Scottyhorse]

I get those too sometimes after PWC. I think they are just hairs or filter particals that have collected debris on them.

 

[Joey P]

Whatever they are, they're mostly gone now. A few pieces wrapped around some of the fake plants, but if today was the first time I saw it, I wouldn't have even noticed.