Is this hair algae or diatoms?

[Riverside Scaper]

Hi guys,

I’m a bit confused now as I initially thought I had diatoms with my tank being densely planted with decent water circulation and co2 injection. However I’ve been wondering if this could be a type of hair algae? I’ve dealt with hair algae in the past and it has always been the bright green filamentous algae… this stuff is brown and fuzzy looking.

From all the descriptions of diatoms I’ve read, it’s dust like and appears on plants, hardscape and glass. This stuff is just on the plants and carpet/soil substrate.

The tank is about 6 weeks old, 3 of which has been planted densely. It is filtered by two precycled Oase bio master 600 filters with an inline co2 diffuser on each. The outlet of each filter is on each end of the tank giving me a nice clockwise water flow and co2 distribution all over. I dose APT Complete as per the instructions and carry out a daily 80% water change as the tank is still new.

So far I’ve been using a toothbrush to manually remove and siphon away as much of this stuff as I can during my daily water changes.

Can anyone please help ID this algae and how to best tackle it?

 

[MichaelJ]

Hi @Riverside Scaper, Certain types of GHA can appear somewhat brownish... If it's not GHA, then possibly filamentous diatoms - probably a better bet since this a new tank. I would look into the CO2 application, flow and light intensity. This tank is obviously very immature being only 6 weeks old so this is likely to recede as plants grows in and the tank matures. Since your doing massive (80% ??) daily WC's you need to make sure you top off with fertilizer to keep the levels consistent.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Fred13]

Hello,

It seems you are facing filamentous diatoms algae. I am not really sure though. FIlamentous diatoms appear more slippery and brown.
This is very close to what I have experienced in the past. It was the worst algae I have ever encountered.
I don't want to scare you at all since it is treatable.
According to my experience, this algae is highly related to light intensity and to co2 fluctuations.
Your tank is fairly new. Keep the light intensity at the minimum and don't worry if this is enough for the plants because I am assuring you it is.
Add Amano shrimp who love that thing and ensure that your filter has fully cycled.


*Do not use any chemical treatments.
** Help the situation a little bit with mechanical cleaning. 2 water changes/week are enough. Anything more doesn't benefit. This algae comes back fast.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

this stuff is brown and fuzzy looking.

It might be a <"filamentous diatom">, you can tell by the <"way the strands feel">, <"gritty"> if they are diatoms.

cheers Darrel

 

[Riverside Scaper]

I’m currently running 2 ADA Solar RGBs for 6 hours per day. Should I drop this to 4 hours per day?

Or should I just leave everything as is, continue with my water changes and manual removal?

Either way I’ll continue with the water changes and manual removal. I’ve just check and it doesn’t feel gritty, it’s so soft I barely feel anything and if I rub my fingers together it just disappears into a brown liquid.

Also I have some Flourish Excel/Easylife Carbo and some hydrogen peroxide. Should I perhaps hit it with some of that stay away from that?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Should I drop this to 4 hours per day?

No.

Or should I just leave everything as is, continue with my water changes and manual removal?

Try that for starters.

I’ve just check and it doesn’t feel gritty, it’s so soft I barely feel anything and if I rub my fingers together it just disappears into a brown liquid.

Sounds like it might be <"Rhizoclonium">, <"Oedogonium"> would be another possibility, but it is usually pale green.

cheers Darrel

 

[Riverside Scaper]

I’ll keep everything as is and continue with the manual removal and water changes. The very well could be Rhizoclonium. I’ll see how I get on for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the replies, it’s all very much appreciated.

 

[Fred13]

Either way I’ll continue with the water changes and manual removal. I’ve just check and it doesn’t feel gritty, it’s so soft I barely feel anything and if I rub my fingers together it just disappears into a brown liquid.

This is exactly what I had encountered. I am still proposing to reduce your light. In my case that was the problem.
I guess you have a 4ft tank, I wouldn't remove one of the solars but I would probably raise them much higher.
Those LEDs are strong and your tank isn't matured yet.
Furthermore, as the others above suggest, keep up with the mechanical cleaning and the water changes.

 

[MichaelJ]

Should I drop this to 4 hours per day?

No, I wouldn't change the hours, its the intensity that is part of the problems, so I would dial down the light intensity - at least for a while. How much to dial it down is of course the big question. Perhaps start out with a 25% reduction (i.e. if your setting is at 80% now dial it down to 65%). Those solars are 130 W each!... so 25% might not even cut it...

EDIT: Just found the info on your tank. (assuming its the same tank): 2x 130 W for a ~300 Liter tank seems over the top... You really have to nail the CO2 application - including dosing, circulation/flow and fertilization to make it work with lights like that!


Cheers,
Michael

 

[Riverside Scaper]

Lights have been raised to as high as I can take them. So they’ve gone up by about 4-5inches. Other than that, everything else will remain the same and I’ll continue with the manual removal and water changes and just observe.