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Not sure what kind of algae this is, but it's driving me nuts. No matter how much I remove it, it's always back in a few days. I'm pretty sure the cause is that I've had a number of plants die off (some caused by being strangled by this stuff) and I don't have enough left to absorb all the nutrients.

I know it's not blue green algae, because it doesn't have that rank smell to it and it's much more green than blue-green. It's not slimey except when it gets to the surface of the water, where it kind of bubbles and gets yucky. It forms long streamers that move in the currents of the water.

Water params are normal at 7.4-7.6 pH, Nitrite 0 and Nitrates hovering between 20 and 40. I just did a big removal of the algae last week and already it's back and trying to strangle my poor wisteria. Help!


If you'd like more pics, I can get them. This was just a picture I had taken yesterday, which happens to show off the SO lovely algae.

Last edited by Kitten at 10-Mar-2005 12:23[/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

It looks like what we call hair algae. We get it in our tanks that face the sun.

Hornwort keeps it's growth down to nothing.

We've bleached the tank, filter, gravel ,ect ect to try and kill it. It always comes back. Even worst if we don't have hornwort in these tanks.

Edit: BTW we find that rosy barbs do a good job of picking at it and getting it off the plants. The don't so much eat it, they just like to pick at it.

Last edited by Shannen at 10-Mar-2005 14:00

Hmm. I wonder how Baby would do in this tank. (Baby being the rosy barb fry I rescued ... at least, we're pretty sure it's a rosy barb!) I've transferred one of my algae eating shrimp from my five gallon to this tank (I can't FIND the other one in a stupid tiny five gallon... either it's the world's best hider or it's gone).

I'll see if I can get hold of hornwort... I've had it before, but it died off eventually. Maybe I'll see if Baby will attack the algae... *ponders* I'm going to have to see how I stand on stocking. *chuckles*

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

If you can fit them, I'd use 3. In about 2 weeks they had picked almost all of it off of everything, and we simply gravel vaced the stuff up.

Ahah... well, unfortunately, I just have Baby... I'm still waiting to figure out if he/she is a rosy barb or some variation thereof. Baby hasn't really gotten much color yet, so I'm beginning to think female...

This tank is a 20 long and currently houses, uh... six betta females, three black neons (all that's left of my original seven), and nine cories (four trilines, one agassizzi and four tiny pandas). I can move Baby to this tank and hopefully he'll nibble at the algae, but how can I prevent it?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~