Hair and Dust?

[noelllll]

Hey all, I've been having a bunch of trouble with some weird stuff going on in my tank lately.. First there's long strands of hair growing on most of the plants that I have, I cut all the leaves that had it growing on them and a few days later I already see its back! I have some pictures attached but just from today, not when it was real bad. Also there's a bunch of dust like stuff all over the Java moss and the stones.

As for water parameters everything is pretty normal. Only thing I'm unsure of is the hardness I can't really tell on the strip, I have a picture of today's test if necessary. I used to have my lights on 11 hours a day but I reduced it to 10 hours a few days ago..

So, yeah I would love to be able to solve these problems, I would very much appreciate any tips or help. Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

The long strands are thread algae. The other is detris being held together with algae. First how long are you running your lights daily? What type lighting and bulbs do you have? Are you using liquid carbon (excel) or CO2? Are you using any ferts? What is your nitrate and phosphate levels?

For what your calling dust algae you need to incease circulation in the tank so detris can't settle. Also when doing a WC you need to use your hand to stir up the water causing the detris to rise so you can suck it out during the WC and so the filter can pull it out of the water. As for the thread algae I need to know the above information. But for now run your lights 6 hours max daily until algae is under control.

 

[Rivercats]

Also forgot to add that the top right picture looks like it has staghorn algae growing.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I could be wrong (going off memory here) but isn't Staghorn a sign of too many nitrates? Or was it excess ammonia?

I used to get it in my goldfish tank if I slacked off on my water changes. I took a lot of diligent WC'ing and some spot treatment with Flourish Excel to get rid of it.

 

[Josethatfishguy]

From my experience with hair alge, adding current and doing a larger pwc reduced my hair alge to a point were my sae's ate what ever was left. (Note: I kept them in a holding container when I fed the other fish). Reducing your nitrates helps keep any alage away.

 

[noelllll]

Hey thanks for all the replies
As for the questions:
Run my lights 10 hours a day (on a timer)
4 Light Bulbs that use 18watts and a 60watt replacement
Don't use any liquid carbon or anything
For ferts I have Osmocote that I put in ice cubes and push into sand every once in a while (got that tip from here)
My nitrates don't seem too high I tested yesterday and it's below 20ppm
Don't know how to check for phosphates, though.

I'll try stirring up the dust before the next water change but I can't really add more circulation because when I had the air stones running they were messing up the Jungle Vals getting them all twisted in each other making it look bad..
I looked up staghorn algae and it looks very much like what's growing on the plants, even more so because when I pulled some of it off before it did look black but when in water it looks much lighter.
Do you think getting something like flourish would solve the problem that easy?

 

[Rivercats]

You need to only run your lighting 6 hours until all algae is under control. After that go to a max of 8 hours. I don't know what type of lights you have but you may be running too high lighting and not using any CO2 or liquid carbon or a fertilization regime. What type of plants do you have in your tank and what size is the tank. When using high light you have to use liquid carbon or CO2 along with balanced macro and micro ferts.

As for adding more water flow in the tank little Koralia nano powerhead... Amazon.com: Hydor Koralia Nano (Mini) Pump/Powerhead 240gph: Pet Supplies. I use these little powerheads and they work very well.

 

[noelllll]

You need to only run your lighting 6 hours until all algae is under control. After that go to a max of 8 hours. I don't know what type of lights you have but you may be running too high lighting and not using any CO2 or liquid carbon or a fertilization regime. What type of plants do you have in your tank and what size is the tank. When using high light you have to use liquid carbon or CO2 along with balanced macro and micro ferts.

As for adding more water flow in the tank little Koralia nano powerhead... Amazon.com: Hydor Koralia Nano (Mini) Pump/Powerhead 240gph: Pet Supplies. I use these little powerheads and they work very well.

I don't think I have too much lighting, my tank is 50 gallons. I was told it goes by how many watts the lights use not what they replace..
As for plants I have Jungle Val, Corkscrew Val, Amazon Sword, Wisteria, Water Sprite, and Java Moss.
Would the powerhead you posted be good for a 50G, or would I need something bigger? I'm going to PetSmart today and I'll look around and try to see if they have anything that might help..

 

[Rivercats]

Watts per gallon is very outdated and can't be used with todays new lighting types (T5HO, LED, etc). So what type bulbs do you have and what type lighting? You still need to run lights 6 hours a day until algae is gotten under control. As for the power head that one is strong enough to move water around without blowing plants and fish all over. I use 2 of them in my 220g to keep water moving in dead spots.

 

[noelllll]

Watts per gallon is very outdated and can't be used with todays new lighting types (T5HO, LED, etc). So what type bulbs do you have and what type lighting? You still need to run lights 6 hours a day until algae is gotten under control. As for the power head that one is strong enough to move water around without blowing plants and fish all over. I use 2 of them in my 220g to keep water moving in dead spots.

I'm not sure the exact type of bulb that they are, the brand is Conserv Energy and they're actually 75 watt replacements per bulb. It says 1170 lumens on the package. I could post more stats if you want? Or a picture of it all?

For now I've reduced the light to 6 hours a day and I bought a bottle of Seachem Flourish Comprehensive which I plan dosing at least once a day, maybe twice..
I'm also getting another filter to run alongside the one I have now (AquaClear 200, getting an AquaClear 50). Do you think that would be good enough for circulation if I have them on opposite sides of the tank?

 

[Rivercats]

Do your light bulbs screw in?

I wouldn't dose the Seachem everyday or even everyother day. Follow the directions and if you have a lot of plants then dose it 2x a week.

Yes a second filter is always good. I have 2 55g tanks and run a cansiter filter on one end and a large HOB filter at the other end of the tank. I'm not sure going with such a small second filter is a good idea. IMO a larger one would would work alot better in a 50g tank.