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How do you get algae off of live plants? Can I just rinse it under running tap water?

Last edited by T/A at 07-Jun-2005 15:53

Artificial plants? Sure, that works. I've done it myself without problems. You will most likely have to scrub/rub the leaves with something to get the algae off though, since most types won't just rinse away.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Sorry for the confusion, I am refering to live plants.
I edited my original post.

I'd also like to mention that the plant is hornwort. I currently have it floating in a separate container. It's no longer in the tank.

What's the type of Algae?.
Maybe you can reduce the lighting hours or maybe add some Otos.



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I'm not positive what type it is. It's either Staghorn Algae or Hair Algae. It's green and sticky and it's only on the floating Hornwort.

Long strands? Sounds like hair algae. Good candidates to eat it are numerous, but each have associated "problems" with being added to a community tank.
True Siamese algae eaters are my favorite fish in the world and great with this stuff, BUT - they're definite schoolers that should be kept in groups of 5+ and they reach 5-6". So, they need a lot of space.
Rosey barbs are good, but have the same problem - they get about 6" (and a much heavier 6" than SAEs) and are actve schoolers.
Jordanella floridae eats it, but is fairly territorial and aggressive.
Flying foxes eat it, but can be territorial with similarly-shaped fish. On the good side, they can (indeed, should) be kept without "buddies."
Mollies sometimes eat it but prefer/need brackish water, and of course breed up a storm.
Amano and Cherry shrimp eat it but it takes a lot of them (1 per gallon or more) to make a dent, and many fish like to eat them.

Last edited by LittleMousling at 07-Jun-2005 16:29

-Molly
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info from the other thread said,...it ifs hair algae..u may use flourish excel to remove it...otherwise..get some fish to eat it or resort to other chem means...

check this

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/60208.html?200506080904

Last edited by tankie at 08-Jun-2005 10:18

if you have a large enough tank add a group of rosey barbs and you will never see hair algae again.

Would the tap water kill the hornwort?

I'm fairly sure the algae is no longer growing. I've had the plant out of the 10 gallon tank and without light for almost a month. I would just like to clear the plant of any remaining algae so I can put the hornwort back into the tank. I've removed the lights from the 10 gallon, so I doubt the algae would grow back.

If just rinsing the plant won't work, I guess I could give flourish excel a try. Would I just dose it by the directions?

Just to clarify about the Flourish Excel - try not to think about is as some sort of magic potion that kills hair algae.

Instead, keep in mind that I think it works so well because you are really adding carbon to your tank, which is helping your plants grow, which in turn is preventing the algae from growing. It's not an algecide, but rather an addition of plant nutrients.

And if the plant in question is hornwort, i suggest finding a piece of it that isn't covered in algae, breaking it off and throwing away the rest. Give it enough light and in a week or so you should have the entire plant grown back.

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Back in the saddle!

Since I didn't get a clear answer about rinsing the plant in tap water, I decided to try old tank water. And it worked!
All I did was swish some of the hornwort around in the old water and the algae just fell off. I'm assuming that isn't normal, so the algae most be dead.
I think the algae problem occured from the 10 watt bulbs being too close the floating plant. So instead of using the standard light fixture, I setup a table lamp with a 10 watt screw-in fluorescent bulb. This way the bulb is about 5 inches from hornwort instead of a half inch like with the standard fixture.

If I have any algae growth this time, I'm going to try some type of phosphate remover. I'm not sure if that is the cause, but at least I'll know after trying it.