Strange algae, cae staying away

[Apocalypse_Gold]

I have a problem with my 10 gal qt tank. The only occupants are a chinese algae eater and some feral algae. It only grows on horizontal surfaces (gravel, java fern, water wisteria) and it doesn't stick to them (if my cae pokes in the gravel it goes flying and clogs my hob). It was taking over so I vacuumed the tank sunday and tried to get as much of it out as possible. It's now tuesday and I have several colonies, each about 2-3 cm in diameter . It spreads by sending out runners. I've never seen my cae touch the stuff. There is hardly any other algae in the tank, and he is always searching for food even though there are these colonies everywhere. I've tried reducing the amount of time the light is on. Should I get some more occupants or be more vigilant with the cleaning?

 

[TankGirl]

Can you describe this algae more? What color is it? Is it dusty, slimy, tufty or hairy?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

It is very dark green and clumpy but has strings interconnecting the individual clumps. The only horizontal surface it isn't covering is an aquarium decoration, but I think that is because the cae searchs that for food all the time, and he knocks it off. The algae was growing on the leaves of my water wisteria and those leaves were dying. It was also growing on the hair algae that was growing on my java fern .

 

[TankGirl]

If it is at all "slimy" then you have cyanobacteria, which is not an algae at all and will require antibiotic treatment of the tank (Maracyn). It is often called "blue-green algae" because of its very dark, bluish green color. It comes off sortof in sheets, and is not really attached.

Here is a link to the Plantgeek.net site and their overview of algae: http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9