# Silky stringy algae ?



## k3ch0ng (14 Sep 2020)

Any ideas what this ? Seems to be everywhere and clogs up the filter  seems impossible to get rid of.


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## Tim Harrison (14 Sep 2020)

Hard to tell from the image, can you take a better one in focus?
Is it branching or non branching, looks like it might be branching, so could be Cladophora.
Either way, the usual applies. Clean the filter, and ensure your CO2 flow and distribution are on point. Do a substantial water change etc...
It also might help us to help you if you give us the vital statistics of your tank


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## k3ch0ng (14 Sep 2020)

Tim Harrison said:


> Hard to tell from the image, can you take a better one in focus?
> Is it branching or non branching, looks like it might be branching, so could be Cladophora.
> Either way, the usual applies. Clean the filter, and ensure your CO2 flow and distribution are on point. Do a substantial water change etc...
> It also might help us to help you if you give us the vital statistics of your tank



Thanks


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## tiger15 (14 Sep 2020)

I think it is spirogyra, long threads like human hair that can be foot long. I have it in my window sill planted shrimp bowl that receives direct  sun light.  It thrives in the same conditions as for healthy plants and the lush green can be attractive in small quantity.   Shrimp and snails don’t eat it, and probably no algae eaters  will.  It’s easy to remove physically as it comes off in strands that don't  stick but can entangle plants.   I do a physical removal every few weeks but it returns to reconquer.  

I read that API Algaefix is effective against spirogyra but I don’t dare to try as the label says it will kill shrimp.  I haven’t tried Excel or peroxide either even though proper dosage is said to be safe for shrimp.


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## k3ch0ng (14 Sep 2020)

tiger15 said:


> I think it is spirogyra, long threads like human hair that can be foot long. I have it in my window sill planted shrimp bowl that receives direct  sun light.  It thrives in the same conditions as for healthy plants and the lush green can be attractive in small quantity.   Shrimp and snails don’t eat it, and probably no algae eaters  will.  It’s easy to remove physically as it comes off in strands that don't  stick but can entangle plants.   I do a physical removal every few weeks but it returns to reconquer.
> 
> I read that API Algaefix is effective against spirogyra but I don’t dare to try as the label says it will kill shrimp.  I haven’t tried Excel or peroxide either even though proper dosage is said to be safe for shrimp.



Yup have the same problem.  Its tangled into roots of the other plants and  smothers the smaller ones. From what I can find in google its best to dump all the plants and start anew.


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## tiger15 (14 Sep 2020)

k3ch0ng said:


> Yup have the same problem.  Its tangled into roots of the other plants and  smothers the smaller ones. From what I can find in google its best to dump all the plants and start anew.


But if you don’t change the fundamental, it will return.  I have sunlight and no CO2.  Pond people have to deal with it often as they can’t reduce sunlight.  What’s your growing conditions.


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## zozo (14 Sep 2020)

What comes in handy nowadays are the small and relative cheap pocket microscopes that fit your mobile phone camera. 

Whit this you can have a close look and make a picture to more or less trying to identify the algae... Spirogyra is easily determined it's build up in a string looking like a spiral. (Hence the name)





Cladophora has a branched grow form.




Oedognium




Are very common, but there are quite some other filamentous growing algae you could guess for looking at it with the naked eye... 

Have a look here. 
https://www.algae.info/Algaecomplete.aspx


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## tiger15 (14 Sep 2020)

Good web site to ID algae and suggestion for a pocket microscope.  I’m getting one with 1600x magnification, perhaps overkill but I can do other research. The last time I saw spirogyra in a microscope was in high school biology lab.  I recall it is actually a unicellular algae in chained colony


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## dw1305 (14 Sep 2020)

Hi all, 





Tim Harrison said:


> so could be Cladophora.


That would be my guess, partially based on colour. _Cladophora_ is <"quite tough"> and difficult to pull apart, it also often feels a bit "gritty" when you roll it around in your fingers.

_Spirogyra_ feels quite slimy, even if you can't <"see the chloroplasts">.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (14 Sep 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, That would be my guess, partially based on colour. _Cladophora_ is <"quite tough"> and difficult to pull apart, it also often feels a bit "gritty" when you roll it around in your fingers.
> 
> 
> cheers Darrel



And it has a distinct stronger smell after rolling it....


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