Hair Algae?

[cherabin]

I have these thread/cotton-like material that's found around my hair grass in a newly set-up (4 days old) 2ft tank. I believe hair algae is green but these thread/cotton-like thing is white in colour and hence would like to consult all on what it is?

P.S. Tried many a time to take a picture but seems that both phtotographer (me ) and camera are not up to the task of macro shots.

Beginners Info Sheet
++++++++++++++++++

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 60 x 30 x 38cm
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 55
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : PL
No. of Hours your light is on: 10
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 2-3
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Diffusor
Substrate Used :
How Thick is your base fert : 1"
How thick is your gravel : 1"
Liquid Fertilizers Used : None
Frequency of fertilization : NIL
Tank Temperature :
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Internal
Filter media used : Foam/Biohome
How long has your tank been set up : 4 days


Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------

Carbonate Hardness (kh): 2
Total Hardness (gH):
PH : 7
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------

Flora: Hair grass, Java Fern and Taiwan Moss
Fauna: 1 Neon tetra and 1 Oto


A Million Thanks in advance.

[David]

Off hand I could tell you is to stop feeding your tank.....what you are discribing sure sounds like left over fish food that is caking up in NH...

Based on your datasheet, your lights are on way too long for a 4 day old tank......cut it down to about 6 to 7hrs and increase it over 10 days to 10hrs.

For a KH of 2 and your PH of 7, you are really low on dissolved CO2....I would suggest that you keep your KH between 3 to...perhaps 6 to 8.

[cherabin]

[quote:38ea569fa5="David"]Off hand I could tell you is to stop feeding your tank.....what you are discribing sure sounds like left over fish food that is caking up in NH...

Based on your datasheet, your lights are on way too long for a 4 day old tank......cut it down to about 6 to 7hrs and increase it over 10 days to 10hrs.

For a KH of 2 and your PH of 7, you are really low on dissolved CO2....I would suggest that you keep your KH between 3 to...perhaps 6 to 8.[/quote:38ea569fa5]

Will reduce my photoperiod as adviced. Can i up my KH using baking soda? Cause i remember reading somewhere in the forum that the CO2 relation with pH-KH would no longer stand if either of the 2 variables are altered.

[David]

Yes you can up your KH using baking soda....since you have fishes in your tank, do not raise KH by more than 1 KH point within 24hrs.

KH of 2 is quite low for a planted tank if if you do like to have that KH, your PH should be landing around 6.2 to 6.3

[David]

Errrhh slight correction to my earlier post......reduce the amount you are feeding your fish......in your fish tank.

Just in case Peter comes hammering me again.....

[juggler]

There's some nice algae pictures and information at http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm

[cherabin]

[quote:7e691e8c2b="juggler"]There's some nice algae pictures and information at http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm[/quote:7e691e8c2b]

I had already visited the particular site but can't seem to find any that fits the description of the 'algae' i mentioned earlier. Fuzz algae seems a pretty close match but the 'algae' that's hanging around my hairgrass is cotton-white in colour, doesn't seem to be fitting the adage that algae is green.

To David: I'm not feeding my fishes at all since the day they were introduced to the tank. I had also had 1/4 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate into the water since about 8-9hrs ago. But seems that the KH is maintained at 2 dKH when i just measured. Is it approppiate to add more bicarbonate?

[juggler]

Can the cottony thing be siphoned away or is attached to the Hair Grass? Maybe it is the potting wool or some other debris?

Are they found on other plants/ driftwood/ glass wall/ equipment as well?
Is it spreading badly? If not, maybe wait and see if it goes away after your cycling process.

[cherabin]

[quote:c6b8a5514b="juggler"]Can the cottony thing be siphoned away or is attached to the Hair Grass? Maybe it is the potting wool or some other debris?

Are they found on other plants/ driftwood/ glass wall/ equipment as well?
Is it spreading badly? If not, maybe wait and see if it goes away after your cycling process.[/quote:c6b8a5514b]

Did attempt siphoning them out but seems that they held firmly to the hairgrass. Only found on the hairgrass, will monitor the situation and update you guys.

[David]

yup.....you should add in more baking soda and bump it up slowly.......

Is the white stuff solid white or translucent white?......the only think I could think of is egg cases of some insect or snail.

[cherabin]

[quote:c6c1e71b6f="David"]yup.....you should add in more baking soda and bump it up slowly.......

Is the white stuff solid white or translucent white?......the only think I could think of is egg cases of some insect or snail.[/quote:c6c1e71b6f]

Tranlucent white, seems to be spreading more among the hairgrass now. Really bothering me...

[mr_moon]

Hi there, I suspect I'm in the same scenario.

I'm having suspicious white hair cotton on my DW, and it's spreading. I'm suspecting Fungi... Don't know what to do about it, nothing seems to be eating it~

[Simon]

[quote:c17e377eac="mr_moon"]Hi there, I suspect I'm in the same scenario.

I'm having suspicious white hair cotton on my DW, and it's spreading. I'm suspecting Fungi... Don't know what to do about it, nothing seems to be eating it~ [/quote:c17e377eac]

new dw? you can put the dw into a pail and pour hot water to treat them

[Simon]

why not use shrimps to help reduce the algae problem?

[Weirong]

I think the cotten, white algae is actually hair algae which has died. I had them before a while back while conditioning my 5ft tank. You should be able to brush these off with an old toothbrush quite easily.