# Hair Algae or BBA?



## Lukmana91 (3 Sep 2015)

The tank:
Light: 54w
SIze: 150 L
CO2: injected but irregular due to regulator malfunction (is getting it sorted out)
FIlter: Eheim Ecco Pro 300
The tank is newly set up and is only around 2 weeks old

I was getting this strips of algae on my monte carlo, some folks have said that it is BBA, but i noticed that the characteristics fits more to Hair algae. 
-noticeable shades of green when i put it close to the light
- can be removed easily with hand
- and the algae actually attaches itself to the substrate instead of the plant itself

What do you think ?

(I deeply apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, it was taken with my phone)


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## greenmac75 (3 Sep 2015)

hair or staghorn, not bba.
check out the algae section, i'm sure George Farmer put a good article up


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## Lukmana91 (3 Sep 2015)

I have found the article, while it does tell me how to get rid of it, it does not really discuss what is causing it. 

Based on the article, the hair algae is beneficial as a food supplement for other livestock, so I'm probably thinking of stocking some RCS after this.


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## dw1305 (3 Sep 2015)

Hi all,
Looks like it is either filamentous diatoms (_Synedra_?) or _Rhizoclonium._

cheers Darrel


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## Martin in Holland (4 Sep 2015)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Looks like it is either filamentous diatoms (_Synedra_?) or _Rhizoclonium._
> 
> cheers Darrel


+1 on diatoms


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## Lukmana91 (4 Sep 2015)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Looks like it is either filamentous diatoms (_Synedra_?) or _Rhizoclonium._
> 
> cheers Darrel



How to remove them?


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## Martin in Holland (4 Sep 2015)

Lukmana91 said:


> How to remove them?


Manually remove as much as you can and add Amano shrimp and Otos to help remove the bits you can't. Also check if you have enough flow, CO2 and not to much light to prevent future algae problems.


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## ian_m (4 Sep 2015)

54W over 180l is a lot of light especially if you are having CO2 issues and especially as a new tank .

To remove it, unfortunately you will have to cut it away including any plants attached to it. However you could try squirting either liquid carbon or hydrogen peroxide using a syringe on it, but can/will damage the plants. Or dip/spray the affected plants with diluted liquid carbon/hydrogen peroxide, however again it can damage the plants.

To stop it coming back, (sort algae) sort your CO2 issues out and half/third the light level for first couple of months by putting plastic sheets under/over the lights or foil rings on the tube. etc anything to lower light level and start at 4 hours a day. Once settled in increase light level and time slowly, any big jump in light level/time will again cause algae.


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## Martin in Holland (4 Sep 2015)

O yeah...I didn't see the amount of light you bombard your tank with before, indeed way to much, just as Ian mentioned.


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## Lukmana91 (4 Sep 2015)

ian_m said:


> 54W over 180l is a lot of light especially if you are having CO2 issues and especially as a new tank .
> 
> To remove it, unfortunately you will have to cut it away including any plants attached to it. However you could try squirting either liquid carbon or hydrogen peroxide using a syringe on it, but can/will damage the plants. Or dip/spray the affected plants with diluted liquid carbon/hydrogen peroxide, however again it can damage the plants.
> 
> To stop it coming back, (sort algae) sort your CO2 issues out and half/third the light level for first couple of months by putting plastic sheets under/over the lights or foil rings on the tube. etc anything to lower light level and start at 4 hours a day. Once settled in increase light level and time slowly, any big jump in light level/time will again cause algae.




will shrimps help?


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## Martin in Holland (5 Sep 2015)

Any shrimp will help, but amano shrimp are best for the job IMO


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## Rabbit229 (6 Oct 2015)

What other fish or creature will get rid of this? I've got some showing as well, it's growing in the hair grass.
I got some Otocinclus Catfish fish. About 10 of them but they are not clearing it


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## Martin in Holland (7 Oct 2015)

You could try SAE, buy them small as they intend to be more active than the bigger once.


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## Rabbit229 (12 Oct 2015)

I popped in 2 of my gold fish last night' black moor and they have almost eaten the lot with no damage to the hair grass


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