# Hey John P., I have a question.



## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Hello John,

I saw your picture of Cladophora in the Feb. 2005 post which reads something like 
' Is this "hair algae"? Tom? Anyone'.

** Edit - here is the link to that discussion ***
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=4860&highlight=cladophora

Your picture helped me to finally ID the algae that is giving me problems. I had looked through the Algae Finder on APC but didn't find a positive ID.

I'm more tenacious than most in my searching, so I was wondering if you could post this image up in the Algae Finder section - it would certainly help out the next person.

Thanks for a very informative and helpful thread.
-Jane

PS - I tried to send this as a private PM, but it said your alloted space is full.

Also, for those who followed that thread, the possibility that MTS will eat cladophora was raised. I will put a clump of it in in a jar with a few MTS, and see what happens. I will report in a separate thread.


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

*Sorry, I've been MIA for a while*

Good idea re: posting the image in the algae finder.

I'll also add that Excel works great as a spot tratment, but that once Clado's widespread, nothing seems to fully eradicate it. Spot treating isn't viable when your whole tank is dwarf hairgrass, for example.

I plan to remove my fish and shrimp from my tank and nuke with copious amounts of hydrogen peroxide for days. Maybe even some bleach.

I've mastered preventing all other forms of algae. Clado is the one that always wins if you aren't consistently vigilant and grooming your tank.


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Thanks John.

An update on my very rudimentary experiment with MTS and Cladophora. After housing 5 average sized MTS with a ball of Cladophora in a small container, I do not think they eat it. I used water from the aquarium (for nutrients to remain the same) and MTS from another tank. I kept the container in the light spilled from the side of the aquarium. I see no dent in the Cladophora (MTS will usually keep active and eat as long as there is food around) and after a few days, the MTS are closed up and look like they're pretty inactive. This suggests they're not finding anything edible (ie they're rejecting the Clado as a food source). I also changed a dixie cup full of water every other day (roughly 10% of total container volume) with more water from the tank, so algae could still get nutrients, waste buildup would be reduced. 

So, I am skeptical that MTS eat Cladophora. Too Bad, I was really hoping.

This is a bugger of an algae, and I'm having a tough time keeping after it with manual removal. I introduced a young SAE, a ghost shrimp (in addition to the resident Bumblebee shrimp) and two Cardinia japonica, to help control it once I've removed most by hand. So far, I believe I'm losing the race with this algae. UGH! I may end up removing the whole carpet of lilliopsis in which it seems entrenched.

Thanks for the image and ID help though, John.
-Jane


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

I'm going to remove all animals and plants that I want to keep and nuking with Peroxide. Maybe the weekend after next.


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