# Very long hair algae



## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Hi all,

I have just noticed that my discus tank has started to get some very long strands ( 4 - 5+") of fine green hair algae. It is manageable but a real pain as usual. 

I cant work out what is the cause. Lighting is low, only T5s for 7.5hrs/day, co2 is at a high level and i am dosing as usual, nothing has changed in the setup recently either. Dosing step 3 and brighty k still, i am thinking of stopping the step ferts and see what happens? Never had this type before and i have had plenty of algae 

Any thoughts?

Many thanks,
James


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## TDI-line (1 Feb 2009)

What's your flow like James?


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Where it occurs not great. It has started on the left of the tenellus lawn & high up by the ferns.. The right of the lawn has good flow because of a separate filter.


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## John Starkey (1 Feb 2009)

Hi James,i suggest you try and get the circulation round the tank more even,if you cant get rid of it then siamese flying foxes absolutley love the stuff,regards john


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

It does seem the likely cause. I have ordered a couple of koralia 1 pumps and will have them on Tuesday, so hopefully that will help. Now just got to get rid of the offending bits, excel doesn't help  Might see if i can "borrow" some foxes from my LFS


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## aaronnorth (1 Feb 2009)

sounds like spyrogyra, which is hard to get rid of seen as it likes similar conditions to plants.


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Its quite possible that it is

Anyone got tips of ridding it?


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## ceg4048 (1 Feb 2009)

From JamesC's Website:

Once it has appeared it can be very hard to clear as it thrives in the same conditions as plants. Pick out as much as possible and do a three day blackout with CO2 turned off and doing large daily water changes. Dose back with macros after the water change. Afterwards I found normal dosing Excel also helped. Rosy barbs will eat it if made hungry. Also try reducing the lighting.
Another method to try is to try lean dosing at around 1/4 to 1/8 Estimative Index levels for a few weeks. I had good success doing this.


Cheers,


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Thanks

I will give all the suggestions a go. I have about 10 days till i pick up my new wilds so fingers crossed i will eradicate it by then.

Rgds,
James


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## aaronnorth (1 Feb 2009)

i had it ages ago, i kept removing it then doing 50% water change straight after every day for about 1 week, it worked but it may not be easy on a tank that size!


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Di you get rid of it 100%?

Its very concentrated at the moment so hopefully i have caught it early..

Wont be getting much work done next week 

James


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## LondonDragon (1 Feb 2009)

I caught it in one particular spot and its not growing anywhere else in the tank, I have tried everything even dosing EC on it directly but it doesn't seem to go away! So i just remove it manually when I can spot it, very annoying though.


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Sounds it, hopefully the better flow and removing it manually will help with a few big WCs. The flow theory also makes sense as it has occurred in areas with low flow only.


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## aaronnorth (1 Feb 2009)

james3200 said:
			
		

> Di you get rid of it 100%?
> 
> Its very concentrated at the moment so hopefully i have caught it early..
> 
> ...



yes, the reason it come on aswell is because i had just rescaped the tank and i disturbed the substrate alot but never folowed up with water changes after to keep the ammonia levels down


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

That is good news. I haven't touched the layout in months so i could probably rule that out. I am hoping its a flow problem. Going to wait a few days and if it continues the tank will get a black out.


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## Mark Evans (1 Feb 2009)

i had it in my moss. damn stuff i can tell thee. wouldnt go anywhere else though.


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## scottturnbull (1 Feb 2009)

Just because it is green and long and thin, doesn't mean it's spirogyra. It might be Ulothrix (which is hard to tell apart from Spirogyra, without a microscope). I had Ulothrix recently. Hassling it before a water change, to get it water-bourne, then syphoning it up, was how I handled it, in the short term.

I did a couple of things, before it vanished completely. I upped the power of my filter. At the same time, I started dosing GH booster. My water is very soft. The Ulothrix vanished completely, almost overnight. The amount of plants was also increased around the time it disappeared.

Obviously if you're water isn't soft, like mine, GH booster probably won't do anything. That leaves increasing the circulation, or increasing the plant load.


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Thanks,

I am hesitant to say its definitely Spirogyra after looking online, unfortunately i do not have a microscope. My water is soft as i use RO and HMA filters for my discus, might add extra HMA filtered water and i think i have some seachem equilibrium. I am going to trim the tenellus its attached to and remove it, its only minor on the ferns. The tank is heavily planted & i think as its got denser it has effected the flow around the tank, especially in the areas its grown.


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## scottturnbull (1 Feb 2009)

Do you have any photos of it?


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## james3200 (1 Feb 2009)

Tank is at my work, il take some tomorrow and post them


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## james3200 (2 Feb 2009)

Managed to get to work today.. (and left already  )

Here are some pictures i have taken of it,










It was longer in some areas, but i trimmed them before i took these.

I have trimmed the affected areas, doing 2 large water changes over the next few days, and i have blacked out the tank.

Fingers crossed i have caught it early

What do you think it is??


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## ceg4048 (2 Feb 2009)

Looks like you run of the mill hair algae to me but can't confirm or deny spyrogyra unless at the microscopic level like JamesC has on his algae page. I'd say CO2 or flow/distribution. As the biomass builds one does tend to get blockage. After the blackout you might want to tweak CO2 or look at distribution methods. I hate to suggest that though seeing as how you're getting uber-expensive fish. Might have to supplement with Excel or consider algae eaters to stay on the safe side. :? 

Cheers,


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## scottturnbull (2 Feb 2009)

That looks a lot like the Ulothrix I had. I didn't have as much at that, just the odd stray hair. If I let things slide, going away for the weekend, for instance, when I got back there would be very long, green hairs spanning the tank. When I was there to hassle it, it turned pale - almost translucent grey - and was short and straggly, like this:





If you send me a sample I'll try and identify it. 

Then again, if you've started the blackout, it's probably best to leave it.


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## james3200 (3 Feb 2009)

Thanks,

I might consider some type of algae eater, not sure on what type though at the moment..

Waiting on the hydor pumps so will have 3 around the tank to help flow, hopefully that will help

If it returns I will try and get some sent to you to confirm what it is, thanks for the help

Rgds,
james


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