Wierd algae, can any one help me?

I have been having some problems with this algea for a while. I reduced the phosphates and it still happens. Photos are attached. The white one looks like a animal almost, the hair algea is hard to remove from anything.

46 gallon bow

2 inches of dirt and 2 inch gravel

26x t5 H0 light (7 hrs)

305 with biomax and some carbon, phosphate pillows 2x

1 week 40 % water changes

1 tsp ferts a day (plant deifnecy problem)

PH 7.0

C02 2 BPS

ammonia 0 PPM

nitrites 0 PPM

nitrates 0 PPM

phosphate 3 PPM

Temp 82 Degrees

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GSP on January 23, 2012 at 6:44pm

Some options, best used in combo probably...

Blackout
Add snails, shrimp and oto catfish. Perhaps even small Mollies or flagffish
Use Excel (for carbon and as an algicide)
Double up on the diyco2, use two bottles instead of one, in a staggerd refill pattern, so it's more consistent.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Andy on January 24, 2012 at 2:41pm

Great ideas GSP, thank you very much. What kind of snails, and shrimp would be helpful. Keep in mind I dont want a infestation of snails and the shrimp may get eaten by angels right? I like the natural methods(shrimp and snails) excel seems a little agressive, but I may do most of these suggestions.. THANK YOU

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GSP on January 24, 2012 at 5:18pm

Andy, the pond snails that you can see in my videos. They breed very fast. they eat a lot of algae.

Nerite snails; good slow & steady algae eaters, but u need many, & they lay eggs that never hatched.

Cherries would get eaten likely, but breed, so if the population starts large, they may have chance.

Amano shrimp are larger and unlikely or less likely, to be eaten. Big shrimp, eat a lot. Don't reproduce.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Andy on January 26, 2012 at 5:20am

What about ghost shrimp, I do not have any where to get the cherrys or amano shrimp. They only sell ghost.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GSP on January 26, 2012 at 5:37am

No ghosts arent really algae eaters.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Andy on January 26, 2012 at 2:35pm

I bought 2 cherrys and 3 amano shrimp today about 20 bucks worth kinda pricey. Is Dr tim on this web site anymore? I know he was selling cherrys for like 50 cents a peice.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GSP on January 26, 2012 at 3:15pm

If I were in the same Country I'd have been gladd to help you out in getting some cherries. Maybe there's another member here that can help.

Hopefully you managed to get a male and female cherry?? or at least a pregnant female??

I also use Otos and Garra sp. for algae eaters.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jason DuBois on January 26, 2012 at 1:25pm

I had some ghost shrimp and I saw a reduction of brown hair algae. I think ghost shrimp might be worth a try. My fish did eventually eat them. Gsp is almost always right on in his advice though.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bingamon on January 26, 2012 at 3:43pm

Ottos are good but they won't touch the hair algae.. Nor will many snails. It's touch to eat as u found out its tough to pick off. Siamese algae eaters though will tear it up. Almost to the point that's all they will eat. I had a really bad case like you have and by ur pix id say even worse. But pix don't tell the whole story. I got a pair of Siamese algae eaters after having dozens of snails and 5 Ottyo's in my tank and they whipped the hair algae clean in about a week. Another thing you will have to do is take the time the lights are on down . To like half the time you do now for a could of weeks. Last get some hornwort or duckweed. They eat so much and grow so fast algae can't compete. Since then I think I have lost all my Otto or atleast I never see them and one Siamese algae eater. Idk what happened or when cause I couldnt find any bodies I just suddenly had half my fish populartion gone. But I haven't had any hair algae since and I only clean the algea off the glass once a month if even that much.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GSP on January 26, 2012 at 4:05pm

This tank is also suffering from Green Sport Algae. Probably because of the lack of phosphate present. Otos and Nerites do eat the GSA as they scrub away for diatoms.

I see he's also got Hydra (last photo), but I havent found them to be much trouble at all.

I find a good practice for planted tanks is to stock a good variety of algae eaters so that as certain algae species becomes more present int eh aquarium there is one or more species already there to combat it before it's taking hold.