Scarlet temple taken over by algae?

[Lexi B]

The top growth of some of my scarlet temple plants have been taken over by what appears to be a green hair algae?

None of my other plants, including the slow growing java ferns, anubias, or crypts are having this issue. 

The other temples seem ok. What should I do?

 

(Excuse the guppies. They are camera hogs)

[jadavis99]

Oh my, so sorry. I have used Seachem Excel and Aqueon's similar liquid carbon product with great affect on black beard algae in the past.  Takes about 4 or 5 days dosing every day.

[jadavis99]

P.S> Also you might be able to clip the top 5 inches or so and let the rest regrow.  I have had Crypt Lutea look a lot like that and the Excel worked.

[Irene]

If your other plants are shorter than the scarlet temple, then it could be a lighting issue (since the scarlet temple is closest to the light). My green hair algae was caused by too much light intensity. Once I backed off from 70% to 30% intensity (and used some liquid carbon for spot treatment), the green hair algae completely went away after 7-8 weeks of regular weekly water changes. If you can't control the intensity of your light, you can raise the light higher or try to shorten the amount of time it is on. Best of luck to ya!

[Brian]

I would think the tank isn’t balanced.  I would manually remove as much as you can while slowly dialing back lighting and nutrients.  (I like to always make changes slowly). Remembering, not only fertilizers are adding to nutrients to the plants...  fish food can contribute.

Good Luck 

[Maggie]

I second Irene's suggestion of Easy Carbon spot treatment. It is getting rid of my black beard algae. I use a pipette to apply it, but a dropper would work too. She has a great video on algae control using this treatment and also adjusting light and nutrients.