Is this Hair Algae?

[bigfthing]

Hi All! I like to find out if it is Hair Algae I'm getting on my plants in the attach link please and also if my Elatine Triandra normal with the darken coloration in the 3rd & 4th pacture.
Thanks for your attention!
http://thefthing.blogspot.com/2010/0...e-is-this.html

[barmby]

No hair algae. Looks like brown algae to me. If I am not wrong - it is not a normal situation.

[bigfthing]

Oh oh! so you think if i place Horn Nerite snail can help. Or the algae eater?

[barmby]

I am afraid this might turn into BGA after I look at the pictures again. I don't add snails to my tank. Therefore, I have no comment on snail effectiveness. I keep botia striata to eat snails!

You can try adding Malayan shrimps or some Yamato shrimps. I am not saying it will eradicate the situation. But I hope it does help a little.

[bigfthing]

Alrite I'll try Yamato again! the last batch disappear, must have been eaten up by my Angels!
Do you think it's cause by too mcuh light? I have around 3 WPG.

[fotoudavid]

i think qian hu one of the tank on the shop entrance also like that, very bad.

[bigfthing]

Really that bad ah?!

[barmby]

I ain't sure because I don't see your setup complete. Therefore, unable to give a conclusive answer.

[blue33]

This is the beginning of plant starting to rot. This usually cause by sudden temperature/water parameters change. If the change still persist it may rot all unless temperature/parameters changes stop.

[barmby]

I read from previous thread.. these plants rot like a mess if CO2 and nitrate are insufficient.

[bigfthing]

OK i increase the co2 & observe!

[bigfthing]

I think its Brush Algae?

I have been trying to get rid of them with adding Excel daily. See if it work!

[barmby]

This is BBA , affirmative

[bigfthing]

Could you plaese advise on how to deal with this BBA.

[barmby]

No worries. Limited information was given about your tank. Therefore, a general answer to your woes...

Kill current BBA by spraying Excel onto the affected plants. Just right amount, because Excel is known to melt my blyxa japonica, which is a little sensitive. dose accordingly

Crank up the C02 amount to 20-30 ppm during lighting hours. use PH-KH chart to reference.

Lastly, Placement of the CO2 reactor

[Navanod]

The dreaded BBA...once its in, its very hard to get rid of.
Firstly, make sure you have enough CO2 concentration and that it is well circulated throughout the tank (ie. no dead spots)
For the very big BBA, your only option is to cut and throw away the affected parts. The smaller ones can try to kill with excel. Just adding excel to the tank will not work. You have to turn off your filters for awhile first, let the water stand still and then use a syringe to "inject excel directly at the BBA and let it sit for a few minute before you restart the filters.

It didn't work for me, but some people claims that the BBA turns pink and dies after being hit with excel.
Don't be surprised if you cannot eliminate it, I had to decomm and bleach/boil everything and restart all over again. Now I check all plants very carefully before putting into the tank!

Oh! Don't forget to check other tank components for BBA as well! These things can grow on ANY surface. Sponge filters, rocks, tubings and even your substrate! Remove and bleach them till they turn white or just throw away

[bigfthing]

Alright thanks alot for your advise Barmby! Although i dont know how to see if the co2 is at 20 or 30ppm but i just crank it up to more bubble per second. Placement of co2 reactor??
My this tank is a 380L quite heavy planted tank with Angel fish at 28degree with fan. But due to its temp, only simple maintainence planrs are place with 4xT5 lights of 39 watts each only. 8hrs daily. what else?...

[bigfthing]

Navanod,you are scaring me now! But thanks! i never know its that serious! OMG i better cut up the plant 1st!

[Navanod]

It can get very serious if left unattended. Some claims they managed to keep BBA "under control" in their tanks...its there, but not spreading over everything.
But if left unattended, this can happen

http://guitarfish.org/images/posts/algae/brush.jpg

I copy/paste direct from the site:

Black brush, or BBA, algae can be one of a number of specific genera of “red” algae in the Rhodophyta family. Most of the algae in this family are actually marine, but a few freshwater species exist that particularly target our planted aquariums. This algae may be black, brown, red, or green in coloration, and can quickly coat your plants and hardscape if not kept in check.
Cause:

• Nutrient Imbalance – potentially excess N, P, Fe. Strive for the following nutrient levels: N (10-20ppm), P (0.5-2ppm), K (10-20ppm), Ca (10-30ppm), Mg (2-5ppm), Fe (.1ppm).
• Low pH – Neil Frank observes that African Rift tanks never have BBA. It’s believed that BBA thrives in acidic environments, which is unfortunately what most plants prefer.

Cure:

• Increase CO2 – This will stimulate plant growth, which should help the plants out-compete the algae for resources.
• Excel/H202 treatment – Use a syringe to spot treat problem areas. Then manually remove when BBA turns grey/white.
• Manual removal – Use toothbrush to remove as much as possible.
• Bleach treatment – Dip affected hardscape items/hardy plants in a bleach/water solution using a 1:20 ratio of bleach to water. Before putting them back into the tank, make sure the item is free of bleach odor.
• Maintain proper water change/dosing schedule – weekly / bi-weekly changes.
• Algae Crew – Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE) and Amano shrimp are known to eat this algae.
• Copper (not recommended) – There are commercial algaecides containing copper that will kill BBA, but they will mostly likely also kill your plants.

[blue33]

Try Hydrogen Peroxide, you'll see BBA change colour instantly, fauna starts to come over and whack them up.

The dreaded BBA...once its in, its very hard to get rid of.
Firstly, make sure you have enough CO2 concentration and that it is well circulated throughout the tank (ie. no dead spots)
For the very big BBA, your only option is to cut and throw away the affected parts. The smaller ones can try to kill with excel. Just adding excel to the tank will not work. You have to turn off your filters for awhile first, let the water stand still and then use a syringe to "inject excel directly at the BBA and let it sit for a few minute before you restart the filters.

It didn't work for me, but some people claims that the BBA turns pink and dies after being hit with excel.
Don't be surprised if you cannot eliminate it, I had to decomm and bleach/boil everything and restart all over again. Now I check all plants very carefully before putting into the tank!

Oh! Don't forget to check other tank components for BBA as well! These things can grow on ANY surface. Sponge filters, rocks, tubings and even your substrate! Remove and bleach them till they turn white or just throw away