Algae ID

[juggler]

Hi all,
This is the kind of algae that sometimes grow on my Hair Grass.


It seems like Brush Algae from the description at Algae FAQ:

This grows in feathery black tufts 2-3 mm long and tends to collect on slower growing leaves like Anubias, some Echinodorus and other wide leaf plants. Also tends to collect on mechanical equipment. This is actually a red alga in the genus Audouinella (other names: Acrochaetium, Rhodochorton, Chantransia).
It cannot easily be removed mechanically. Remove and discard the affected leaves. Equipment can be soaked in a 25% bleach solution, then scrubbed to remove the dead algae. Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus siamensis) are known to eat this algae and can keep it in check. A more drastic measure is treatment with copper.

It shouldn't be hair algae as the FAQ says this is easily removed by a twirling toothbrush.

It doesn't sound like Beard Algae as BBA grows up to 4cm.

Comments?

[chrissia]

That's Brush Algae alright. I have that on my hairgrass too. But not a lot. The algae I'm having problem with is the Black Beard Algae. Keeps coming back.[]

[benny]

I had the impression that this is BBA. And of course there is the green type too.

Cheers,

[juggler]

Benny, I guess this should be BBA.

[wynx]

Well, this BBA algae **** have taken a foothold in my tank. Arggh...

Need to get rid of it....have Otos, malayans shrimps, yamato and SAEs in the tank. Seems with methods of biological warfare(Otos, malayans shrimps, yamato and SAEs), mechanical warefare( physical removal)cannot eliminate this strain of algae for good.



What is the common causes for BBAs? High temp, retarted plant growth, nutrient deficiencies, water flow, overfeeding, excessive phosphate?...what else?
[:]

[wahboy]

hello gang,

i think to combat Brush algae, you have to get the correct CO2 levels. next, keep your nitrate and phosphate ratio correct. 10:1 respectively.

remove all affected plants, clean affected equipments.

change your water more frequently. after your water change, add all ferts except nitrate. this drives the nitrate low, dose nitrate the next day. this will produce fluctuating nitrate levels.
BBA and Brush algae hates this(says Tom Barr from APD). i remember CK Yeo also said that algae needs stable conditions to grow. therefore, these 2 "theories" complement each other if you realise.

IMO, many people with high light tanks under dose nitrate or never dose at all. so the ratio gets wrong, plants suffer even though they are bubbling nicely. try adding nitrate in the form of KNO3. your plants will grow even better. for three months i have been trying the above method, and the Brush algae in my tank seems to be going away.

hope this helps.
wahboy

[PeterGwee]

The 10:1 ratio is not a must actually...what Tom says is that the ratio 10:1 is just what's in the plant tissue. You can have NO3 of 10ppm and .5ppm of PO4. That's fine but the PO4 will be out in 2-4 days and the NO3 will be out in 3-5 days. At 10:1 they should generally run out/decline relatively the same speed. [] ..And one thing is puzzling me..he is recommending me to dose 5ml 2-3X TMG(traces) per week for my 20gallon!!..overdosing the recommended dosage leh? []

[hwchoy]

KF, as I mentioned in the mail, the first pic is not BBA, for want of another name I've been calling it hair algae. BBA is the second pic. The hair algae that I have is actively attacked by the tiger shrimps and SAE, although the problem when they grow at the base of hairgrass is that the creatures couldn't reach the algae.

BBA, seems like nothing will eat.