Red/Brown hairy algae

[YuccaPatrol]

My tank is now about 6 months old. Over time, the algae populations have shifted several times. I have had stringy green algae, bright green stuff that covers the glass, among other types.

Now my tank is being dominated by a hairy reddish/brownish algae that is starting to cover the plants and drifwood rather heavily. It is not completely unattractive, but I don't want it harming my nice plants (java ferns)

This is a 15 gallon tank which receives frequent water changes and all water chemistry is stable and within the norm.

This algae began to dominate after I removed some grasses and other plants that I just did not like the look of. None of my fish seem very interested in eating this stuff although the guppies do tug at it some.

should I just consider this another passing phase, or is there something I can do to encourage more of the attractive green algaes to come back? I do not want to add any sort of algae killing chemicals or junk like that.

 

[Harlock]

Do you think you could ID your algae from a lineup? Check out this excellent article over at Plant Geek.Net and see if you can determine which algae it is, then we can maybe help. For what it's worth, I am going to guess when you pulled the plants you didn't like the look of there was a nutritional imbalance at that point that gave the algae a foothold. When you say the water chemistry is stable, what exactly are the numbers?

 

[YuccaPatrol]

Looks like it is the red brush algae.

For now, I am just going to let it do its thing and hope that some more favorable algae will eventually dominate once again.

Thanks for that great article on algae types. I have it bookmarked for the future!