Hairy brown algae contrpl

5 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


sagemojo
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:03 pm

Hairy brown algae contrpl

by sagemojo

Switched to a T5 system got a few new plants (fresh water) and now have hairy algae(most call it green, but it's brown to me)out the wazoo. Running lights about 12 hr,/day. Any suggestions ? It's a 90 gal high. Never had this much light(about 5 watts/gal.) I would appreciate any help from you more experienced aquarists.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I got my brown/black hair algae under control by doing more frequent water changes.

Do water changes enough to keep nitrates below 10 ppm and it should stop growing.

Buy a water test kit, or ask have an aquarium store test the water for you. Most do it for free if brought a sample.


kraigt
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:18 pm

by kraigt

Running lights at 12 hours a day - little excessive, is the hair on the tank glass mainly?

if so what sort of fish do you have? when I first started I decreased my light times and place couple zebra snails in the tank, all dissapeared within a week


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

check out www.plantgeek.com and go look at the pics of algae they provide. The stuff that is like 5 kinds down, brush algae, a brown/black furry sort of stuff that's really hard to get off plants and other things is what I had. I actually still have it, but by now most of the affected leaves have been pruned and there's no algae growth (but for a tiny bit of green algae) on the new leaves.

Many people say to cut the light out for a few days, or reduce the time the lights are on to less than 12 hours, but it was mainly getting nitrates down to nearly zero that got mine under control.

There's still a little, but a lot actually turned purple and died. The algae eating fish seem to like to eat it after it dies.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

sure would like to see a picture of the algae or a better description because for one thing, it is not a brown algae (brown algae is caused with low light conditions), so it must be a form of green algae. There are all types of green algae, the reason for requesting pictures or a better description.

The question is, beings the cause of the all of a sudden algae is from the T5 lighting, then you should cut down on the lighting. Instead of 12 hours per day, bring it down to 8 hours. You may want to purchase some snails (olive nerite snails - these are good for in freshwater, they never ever reproduce (only in brackish waters do they breed) or a few otocinclus catfish (though not too many, cause once they devour your algae they will probably starve to death for want of algae - the concept of zucchini supplement is a joke, only algae will suffice); between the otos and the snails, the algae will be scaled back. You may also want to prune the algae so it does not get out of control. (I grow algae (cladphora) naturally in the tank, but this is my own preference for attaining an all natural ecosystem, but even I must prune the algae at times).

So just from the scarce description I attempted to deduce a few ideas that may work for you. Again, a picture or a better description will help. But you can rule out brown algae.

Hope this helps

Hairy brown algae contrpl

5 posts

Display posts from previous: Sort by: