Brown is going away but now ive got HAIR!!!

[jeffro426]

Ive been fighting this brown algae in my tank for the past few weeks...i put a rubber pleco in my 55 last week and hes gobbled all of it up....now, im getting this really fine, peach fuzz like green algae growing on everything! Most of it is less than a 1/4 inch long, but its growing! Will the pleco eat that too, or will i need to do something else about it?

[Roland]

While some plecos eat some types of algae, this does not get to the root of the problem.

There is obviously too many nutrients in your water, or too much light.

Light - try having your lights on for about 10 hours a day. If you have them on a timer, have the light turn off for an hour during the day. Algae hate this, but plants dont seem to mind.

Your tank may have too many nutrients. Nitrate - the product of the nitrification cycle (filteration) - fuels algae. Plants also use Nitrate. If you buy some fast growing plants in sufficient numbers they should out compete the algae for this Nitrate, and die back.

Lowering the temperature (within your fishes limits) will lower the metabolism of all living things in the tank - including algae.

Try weekly 20% water changes. Nitrate often builds up in mature aquariums over time. Also check your tap water isnt already high in Nitrate.

Ottos are extremly efficient algae eaters.

Finally, help along this process by removing as much as you can manually.

[NatakuTseng]

I'd reccomend several water changes a week. From my own experience Ottos are not a big fan of hair algea, nor are plecos. Florida Flag fish are fans of it, as are Amano shrimp. The amano shrimp are effective at combating green hair algea. Also how long has the tank been set up? How much lighting do you have (watts per gallon)? What is your ammonia,nitrite, and nitrate readings?