Attack by string algae, help !!!
I left house for 3 days with family, as I came back my tank is full with string algae. Lighting is left by timer as usual and this have never happen before. Although I have done partial water change and manage to get rid of some but there other on leaves. I will leaving again monthly and need to resolve this occurance so it wont happen again i.e prevention is better then curing. Any advise i'd really appreciate. BTW does rosy barb really help on string algae ???
if can, manually remove as many hairalgae be good. suggest recommend yamato shrimps to clear the rest, they are pretty effective for me.
as for the algae bloom which u mentioned never happen before, probably you try to feed us with further more information.
The Happiest of people don't neccessary have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way
When will there be 25 letters in the alphabets?
hair algae! that's my biggest nightmare too. Had a tough time tackling the problem. You'll most prbably got to be very dilligent to remove any possible strand in your tank manually. Guess yamatoes can help lighten your job alittle but still manual removal is the best. Get your hands on it now, before everything is too late. They grow too fast!
I ended having rescape my tank because of it, so don't follow my footstep. Get work on it now
when i am away from singapore, my tank got infected by hair algae... my friend threw in some yamatos (on my recommendation)
They work hard to clear it. Then again, do not feed the yamatos(or malayan or even cherry) too much if you want them to clear your algae fast.
I have long given up on manual removal. It's an impossible task.
Thanks guys i guess i have to get more yamatosi will try my best removing it manually although i hate doing that but well....I dont know what cause these sudden bloom cos I always watch my tank daily & have been for so many month & never had any strand of string algae b4 except 2 brush algae.
Could it be to the DIY co2 slowing down or could it be to the fact that I left worms in the strainer or maybe its due to lights being block by fast over grown cabomba OR maybe i havent do my partial water change cos its been 2 weeks before I left.
One thing I notice besides the strings algae al over the tank is lost of dirt particles maybe its due to wash my external filter.
Ive done partial water change and washed my filter since and condition is much better except occasional dirt once a while and stuck strings algae stuck on the leaves which is hard to remove except pulling it off yet still hard to do fearing of pulling da plant off the substrates.
The last thing I would do is rescaping the tank cos I know it could take the whole day so for now I will get lotsa yamatos as suggested, thank again.
It's most likely the worms... your fish won't suffer if they aren't fed for a week seriously.
i think the root of your problem is your diy co2. inconsistent supply to your tank. seriously, maybe you want to consider changing to a co2 cylinder if your budget allows
I have hair algae too and there is only so much the yamatos can do, it seems like they almost never eat the hair algae at all... You still have to manually remove majority of the hair algae by hand.
I am currently trying on a fert regime to slow down the algae growth.
Eugene (^_^)
De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas
Hair algae does do well in a high light CO2 enriched tank once induced and the only way to combat against it is simply remove it and then correct the conditions. Make sure you clean it good.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger
Does that means that with high light, and high co2, even with proper fert regime, the hair algae are not going to disappear?Originally Posted by PeterGwee
Hair algae does do well in a high light CO2 enriched tank once induced and the only way to combat against it is simply remove it and then correct the conditions. Make sure you clean it good.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Eugene (^_^)
De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas
Yes, it grows well since its sort of a higher form of algae. You need to eradicate it well and then correct conditions such that they won't get induced again.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger
Damn...I have survived BBA and BGA...nearly robbed me of my hobby...they are a thing of the past now...
But now hair algae.
Will a black out be able to kill the hair algae completely? I tried to feed hair algae to my shrimps... No cherries, CRS, Yamatos or Malayans seem to eat them...
Eugene (^_^)
De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas
Mine seem to be eated by Yamato, cherry and malayan... this is why i am even considering a moss and fern tank soon, because in case of moss being infected by hair algae (which is the worst case), i can rely on the shrimps to do the job.
Blackout might help a tad but removing them manually is the best way. You need to work on the tank to whip it into shape. There is no easy way out for a nice tank. After you remove the algae through sheer elbow grease work, make sure you crank the CO2 and dose the nutrients well.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger
Got this problem few weeks back after changing 1 of the light tube. Those leaves nearer to the light were worst hit. Notice also the co2 were down from 2bps to 1+bps. We I did was, replaced the tube to the old one, adjust co2 back to 2bps and throw in 2 SAE. in 7 days ALL hair algea gone. Because I did 3 things together, cannot conclude the culprit, but hair algea were gone anyway.
Hmm...maybe my hair algae is different from yours...mine is blackish in water, when removed, they are dark green. I remove them by twisting them into a clump before pulling them out...
Eugene (^_^)
De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas
I have got 2 type of hair algae in my tank,
but am managing it quite ok now.one is the
thin floating around hair algae the other think
is also hair but very thick and don't float.
but getting lesser now a very big headache
for sometime now.trying all ways to get rid of
them
Thanks guys for the tips, Ive goggled around and mostly recommended algae eater like Sae, Oto, Pleco, Molly Sailfin and even Rosy barbs. I have 6 oto 2 sae & 1 pleco few cherries & yamatos and so far they maintaining my tank very well I hardly see any algae out of control but since the "bloom" Ive deprive food to the fishes for 3 days now and sae & cherries do eat very little of the string algae but at that rate it could take months
I wonder if anyone have tried using rosy barbs & molly sailfin ?? before I purchase them I would like to know from those who have them. Honestly I hate to have redo my whole tank as I have in da same tank some cherry babies & guppy babies but that will be my last resort if molly & rosy barb doesnt work. Id appreciate any experience with these 2 fish mentioned.
BTW anyone who have florida/american flagfish & can sell them to me Id be willling to get afew or anyone who knows where I could buy them from any LFS, I prefer to go directly to da source, thanks again guys.
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