View Full Version : What kind of algae is this?
On my plastic plants, I see very thin hair-like green substances that appears to be growing (they are about few millimeters long)... Is this what they call hair algae? I do have 2 ottos in my tank and they don't seem to be interested in these algaes... Should I also look for SAE?
Appreciate any feedback!
MyRequiem
09-22-2003, 7:37 PM
Bump. I want to know what that stuff is also.
Grrrrr, they are now little longer and denser. Ottos absolutely don't eat them. My LFS sells tank full of fishes called "algae eater" (how generic can you get? :D), so I read up on how to identify a real SAE, and they turned out to be false SAE... :mad:
Do cherry barbs eat these by any chance? I don't want to have anything to do with rosy barbs, don't like 'em...
CichlidBoy
09-22-2003, 9:09 PM
its hair algae i get all the time in the tanks a the store i work at
Originally posted by CichlidBoy
its hair algae i get all the time in the tanks a the store i work at
How do you get rid of them?
NJ Devils Fan
09-23-2003, 3:28 PM
Algae (http://members.tripod.com/njdevilsfan130/algae.htm)
Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
Algae (http://members.tripod.com/njdevilsfan130/algae.htm)
But which algae do I have? According to this link, its not brown algae, not blue-green algae, not green algae, and not red/brush algae (I assume since my tank does not have high carbon hardness)...
Thanks again!
NJ Devils Fan
09-23-2003, 5:47 PM
It's green. If you read the green algae part, it's the second paragraph. You can easily pull off the algae. Also, read the tips on how to prevent algae.
Aha I missed the sentence below the picture - thanks for pointing that out...
Just to confirm, here's what this algae looks like (yuck, I really don't like the hairyness of it! :D )
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid81/p2a9c40edbe6ce718daa8da5e6403fbf3/fb01a5c2.jpg
The article recomends Rosy Barb, but other than SAE, are there any other fishes that eat this algae?
NJ Devils Fan
09-23-2003, 6:38 PM
Well, you could take it off yourself and then see what could be causing it, like an excess of nutrients or too much lighting.
SimonWoodstock
09-23-2003, 6:51 PM
are there any plecos that will eat it?
Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
Well, you could take it off yourself and then see what could be causing it, like an excess of nutrients or too much lighting.
I guess so... It's probably not lighting since I only have 20w, so it must be the amount of nutrients. I didn't believe I overfeed them, but I'll try to reduce the amount to see if it makes any difference...
Still, it would be nice to find SAE to handle it.. :D
valerie
09-23-2003, 6:57 PM
SAE will eat it when they are small. Amano shrimp are supposed to eat it(but mine don't). Rosy barbs eat the stuff. Flag fish i think eat it too. A Bristlenose pelco might eat it but mine never has, they prefer the non hair green algaes.
Is it all over the tank? Or just on that one plant? I would suggest removing most of it by hand.If you can't get it off try the bleach treatment for it. I have tried almost every algae eater known in my planted tanks and none of them really do the best job for hair algaes. I usually jsut remove affected leaves or it its really bad i bleach it.
I guess removing it manually will be ok for now - I'm pretty sure that they will come back since I'm not sure what I'm doing is causing it (other than potentially reduce the amount of food). Most of the food dissapears within the first minute, so personally, I'm not sure if this is the solution...
I just checked Rosy Barb again, and I still don't like it... :D It even grows to 5 inches, which is too big for me...
Hmmm...