# please help me git rid of this



## K. Anderson (Jul 29, 2010)

Can anyone identify this algae and help me to git rid of it please? It vacuums right up when I change water but I am tired of doing it. The tank has been set up just over 6 months and this showed up about a month ago. I clean it up and it is coming back in a week. Please help and thank you


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

If it is soft and the strands are easily broken, then maybe fish that graze on algae, such as guppies, platys, mollys, and swordtails might consume it.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Is it mainly on your driftwood? I had some exact-looking stuff on my new driftwood scape...it didn't really grow too much on the plants. I put some SAE's and they had it cleaned up in 2 days.

If it is primarily on the wood, then it will eventually go away on its own, after it feeds off whatever has been made available in the wood. 

-Dave


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## K. Anderson (Jul 29, 2010)

It just seems to be growing on the plants that are on the surface of the water. The tank has been set up for about 7 months now and this just showed up about a month and a half ago. Every time I remove it it comes right back and it grows like crazy. 

I have 3 ottos and 2 BN plecos and they do not seem to touch it because it just gets bigger and bigger.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi K. Anderson,

+1 for davemonkey's comment, your true SAE are a great "hair like" algae control. I find my Otos and BN do well on diatoms (Otos especially) and "flat" green algae types (except GSA and GDA).


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Any extra info you can give us about the tank will help figure out a possible problem. Algae eaters can be a life saver for this kind of algae but won't correct the underlying problem. What size tank is it, filter, co2, light etc. 

My first guess would be a filtration problem, but without any other information that guess is as good as any.

Keep us updated on any changes you make!


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## K. Anderson (Jul 29, 2010)

It is a 75 with one Eheim 2217 and one Marineland c220 for filtration. All of the water test come out good: ph about 6.4 (and we have REALLY hard water here), ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate about 40ppm. Lights are t5no one colormax and one 6700k on for 5hrs in the morning and 6 hrs in the evening. Co2 is running about 3-4 bps and the drop checker is a nice shade of yellow and none of the fish are showing any signs of stress.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi K. Anderson,

I do Estimative Index dosing with target levels of:


> *EI target ranges*
> CO2 range 25-30 ppm
> NO3 range 5-30 ppm
> K+ range 10-30 ppm
> ...


Your 40 PPM of Nitrates could certainly be part of the problem; I usually target about 20 PPM.

11 hours of light is a lot; I run Power Compacts on a split photoperiod with a total of six (6) hours.

When Tom Barr was here in Seattle in September he discussing using light as the "limiting factor" in our aquariums to control plant growth, nutrient intake, and algae. Here is an interesting article by Tom Barr discussing the points he discussed.


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## K. Anderson (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks, that is alot of good information. I have the lights on at those times because that is when I am generaly home. I think that I will go and pick up some screen material and give that a try.


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