# Algae and Hairgrass



## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Hi !

The fuzz algae is taking over my hairgrass. I know many people suggest removing the affected leaves when fighting algae. But what can I do with hair grass ? Do I just "mow down" the whole thing ? Will any grow back ?

I plan to clean up the tank as much as I can and then do 3 day blackout and EI dosing after that. Do you guys think this will help ?


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## simpsota (Mar 11, 2006)

I've heard that fuzz algae (the 2-3mm long stuff) may be another life stage of green dust algae and that using the GD treatment method might get rid of it. That may mean letting it run it's course for 3-4 weeks then doing a cleaning and blackout.

I'm fighting it too at the moment in my tanks...


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

simpsota, it doesn't seem to be green dust algae or may be I just didn't notice it before. what bothers me is that I see it infecting new leaves, so I am worried it would take over the tank.

also, pardom my ignorance, could you tell me what GD treatment is ? google search for that term didn't come up with anything good.

Thanks !


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

I used to take a filter brush (a toothbrush works fine too....don't use it to brush your teeth anymore though!) and gently brush the hairgrass. The algae sticks to the bristles and you can get most, if not all, of the algae off like that.

Hairgrass will survive a "mow." It looks pretty awful for a few days, but comes back very nicely if you provide a good fertilizer regiment and have CO2!

You can do a 3 day blackout following a good brushing. After three days, go back with your brush, gently repeat the brushing to remove any algae you may have missed, and do a big water change. You can also try siphoning water out of your tank, and use the "water-end" to suck the algae off in the hairgrass.

Hope this helps!


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks for you expertise, donaldmboyer ! Sounds like I have a plan now !

I tried picking up algae with siphoning tubing, but it seems to hold on to hair grass too tight and won't come off. Perhaps it's the different kind of algae. The one I have looks fuzzy (2 mm or so), grows pretty much on everything - rocks, glass, plants even gravel. Also, I noticed that it kinda travels in the tank - from one plant to another. So, may be method that suggests letting it sit there until it dies off also work. I'll leave it alone after the black out for a few weeks.

> a toothbrush works fine too....don't use it to brush your teeth anymore though!

 yep, got it !


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## simpsota (Mar 11, 2006)

voshod said:


> simpsota, it doesn't seem to be green dust algae or may be I just didn't notice it before. what bothers me is that I see it infecting new leaves, so I am worried it would take over the tank.


I've seen a few folks report that when they treated for green dust algae (I'll call it GDA for short) all the fuzz algae disappeared as well. Some went so far as suggesting that fuzz algae is just another stage in the life cycle of GDA.



voshod said:


> also, pardom my ignorance, could you tell me what GD treatment is ? google search for that term didn't come up with anything good.


Sorry, I meant "GDA treatment". Here's a description and some history. Evidentially lots of people have tried this and it works. You'll find several links reporting similar methods if you do a search on "green dust algae" here...

http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200605/msg00011.html


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## voshod (Mar 22, 2007)

simpsota, thank you !


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