Something is overtaking my tank

[ndfi78]

Running into a bit of an issue and I'm not sure how to handle it. I have this plant (algae?) overtaking my tank and it is really annoying me. I'm not even sure what it is. I've tried running without lights for awhile, but it didn't seem to help that much. Part of that might be because it is a well lit room. 

Manual removal is only partially effective because the stuff sheds pieces everytime you touch it.

Does anyone know what it is and a good way to get rid of it?

[Tony s]

Looks like green hair algae. Does it feel like thin hair, kinda tough. Or does it feel soft and slimy.

do you have parameter numbers for your tank. How long is your light on 

[ndfi78]

I would say it does feel a bit like hair. To be honest, it's been a while since I've checked the parameters. The light is on from 8-12 and 2-8. Reading about green hair algae, seems like more frequent water changes are in order, as well as continued manual removal. 😕 

[Pepere]

Weekly water changes and then dosing tank to same fertilizer and hardness levels if you supplement those.   Manual removal of as much as you can before the water changes..  weekly substrate cleaning,  regular filter cleaning.  If dosing easy iron, back off on that some..  patience and time.. it can take weeks…

As with all Algae, prevention is easier than treatment…

Edited March 10 by Pepere

[Tony s]

Manual removal is step one, an old, clean toothbrush can help. It’s easier to grab it with that than it is by hand. Second step is knowing your parameters, especially your nitrates. You don’t want to be unintentionally feeding the algae. Around 20 is best for control. If you’re not watching the levels,it’s easy for them to creep up on you. Third, your light levels are on a bit long, if you could squeeze it down to less than 8 hours (6 would be preferred) that could help. This is total preference by you. Make the hours the tank is on the same as you’re around to enjoy your tank. The fish don’t actually need the light. Just you and the plants. If you have anything but built in kit lights you could lower the intensity also. If you have built in lights, you can’t, of course. 
 

I only have hair algae in 2 of the 12 tanks currently running, sometimes I have found it easier to eliminate the source of the algae. I had 1 tank that had it embedded in java fern, I chucked it. Hasn’t been back in that tank since. Another tank it likes to grow in hornwort. It’s so fast growing, I remove it, tear off a clean branch and put it back. That one does actually come back, but no big deal.

I think most of the problems with this algae is caused by over feeding the fish, causing excess nitrogen levels. Of course, that’s one of main reasons we get into keeping glass boxes of water. We enjoy our animals. But if you cut back feeding you’ll have less maintenance issues. Rule of thumb, there shouldn’t be any food left after a couple of minutes and they should still act a bit hungry. Harder to do with bottom dwellers. But the sinking food should be gone before an hour is up. As long as they get something to eat, you’re not going to starve your fish. Fish don’t need anywhere as much food as people think, just a tiny amount is enough.

 

the constant monitoring of the nitrate levels will help immensely. The coop test strips are great for nitrates. Very easy to do. Easy things are always easier to be consistent with. You say you haven’t kept up with testing. Coop strips take around a minute to do. Dunk for 3 seconds, wait for one minute. And all your answers are there.

 

the last thing you could do is to add some amano shrimp or cherry shrimp to your tank. That gives you an added little friend and helps to control the hair algae. Win win doing that. 
 

last thing to think about, algae is not at all harmful to your fish. It adds oxygen to your tank, it gives fry a place to hide, it provides a source of food for some fish. But it’s a very fast growing plant and can take over everything quickly. 
 

sorry for the book. There’s a lot to say about algae. Hopefully this helps 😀

[Tony s]

Oh, and algae can be a bit weird. I have 2  15g tanks I break the rules on. One was exposed to direct sunlight (I recently took it down and moved it, its location was annoying my wife). The others light has never been turned off. It works as my daughter’s night light. I have never seen algae in either of those tanks. They won’t even grow algae on the glass. So sometimes, what we think we know, the algae doesn’t pay any attention to 🤣

[ndfi78]

I will definitely drop the light time down! I added 7 amano shrimp to the tank already (all the shop had) but will probably add a few more. It's a 55 gallon with only some guppies and a bristlenose pleco in it. 

[MattyM]

Not sure what kind of light you have, but you can also try lowering the intensity, and cutting the blues down to 2-3% - if possible. 

As a quick fix, you can take something like Excel/Easy Carbon and use a pipette/syringe and spray it right on the algae (just be careful not to over dose the tank, start off with a minimal amount). Shrimp and snails more more likely to eat it when it's dead/dying. I get a little bit of this stuff in my tank every once in awhile, always on the same spot of driftwood (jagged end piece), and manual removal along with a quick blast of Excel once a day for a day or two works.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @ndfi78

It's one of the various filamentous algae types, like hair algae.  Follow @Tony s suggestion to manually remove as much as possible, I too use an old toothbrush.  To keep filamentous algae in check I use one or two Siamese (NOT CHINESE) Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus oblongus) in each of my tanks.  They will eat most filamentous algae (they eat it like spaghetti - funny to watch) as long as they don't get too much fish food. Hope this helps! -Roy