Green Hairlike Algae

[jddeal]

For the past month or so, I've been constantly battling this green hairlike algae. At first it was just occasionally showing up on a leaf, but it got to the point of getting on the walls and completely covering large leaves on my Amazon Sword and Wisteria. Not sure what to do, and finding that simply removing it didn't help, I decided to clean the tank.

I cleaned every plant, rock, the heater, filter, and walls. I did what I could with the gravel. This gave me a clean aquarium for a few days, but then a dark patch of green showed up in the corner and is now once again, sitting on my leaves on the other side of the tank. I'm starting to think it is a water quality issue.

I cannot provide accurate parameters because in a classy post thanksgiving zen mode, I left it at home, so all I have are these somewhat decent test strips. Based on those, I have approximately:

10 Gallon freshwater with 30 watts of 6000k T5 light
Nitrate ~10ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
pH ~7.5-8 (could this be the problem?)

Attached are some pictures I tried to take. Currently it's not nearly as bad as it used to be, but the algae does cover the entire leaves and has these long green strands that flow in the current. It's terribly unattractive and I'm certain it's responsible for killing a few of my stem plants that got covered up in it awhile back. Any advice?

Thanks!

Photo Album - Imgur

 

[miles]

When you "clean" your tank, do you use any sort of soap? How long has the tank been established? Did anything change around the time you began to notice the algae? (did you add any new decorations, change to a different water source, change to a different food brand, get a different light, things like that) Also, what kind of filter are you using and what is its media?

It seems unlikely that your water parameters are the problem, as long as the pH has been stable. The light doesn't seem like it would cause a problem either, especially if it's been used since before the algae showed up.

Phosphate is a possible culprit. It can cause algae growth, and is present in soaps (which is why things like dish soap should never touch your tank..), some fish foods, and sometimes in tap water. So, it could be a change in your tap water chemistry. Water changes will remove phosphates (unless the new water is also contaminated, of course), and there are phosphate removal filter pads and chemicals. Of course you can't know if you need such things unless you also have a phosphate test kit. If you're really desperate, Seachem excel flourish (an aquarium plant fertilizer) has been said to reduce algae.

 

[jddeal]

I do not use any soap, I only used my tap water. The tank has been established for about three months now. I've only noticed this algae since the purchase of Eco Complete Substrate and my wisteria and amazon sword from a seller on AquaBid. Two weeks ago I started using Flourish but the problem existed long before that.

Water source has not changed, I did start adding Tetramin flakes in addition to the blood worms I have always used. The filter is an AquaTech 5-15 with the blue pad inside (which I admit I haven't ever changed in three months, but I do wash it out)

Although I would like to fix the problem, is there any type of snail or algae eater that might be able to combat this? I have a Mystery Snail (I think) and two chinease algae eaters, but they don't seem to target the green algae.

 

[miles]

Well Chinese algae eaters are notorious for not actually eating algae, but I wouldn't know what species to recommend.

Perhaps you could take a look at this thread, it might offer some insight into your problem. I learned a few things from it myself.. It appears phosphate in your water doesn't directly cause algae growth, but rather an imbalance of nutrients (which includes phosphates), plants, and light. There are a lot of great tips in this thread that might help you zero in on your real problem.