# 10g Algaescape... Help?



## JimM (Aug 26, 2005)

10g cherry shrimp tank has been setup about 3 months now, the ironic thing is I was ignorant of what types of algae cherry shrimp eat.. and actually introdouced this algae as a snack for them... so it began..

details:
28watt aqualight cf fixture, using the included 50/50 bulb (algae grower?)
no co2
dosed with a smidgen each of dry n,p(smaller amount),k, csmb about once a week
no waterchanges
excel when I think of it

planting is mostly xmas moss tied to wood and broken up pieces of slate, the slowest growing stem of sunset hygro I've ever witnessed.. and a whole lot of thread algae:










high res algae shots:








the only methods ive seen suggested to eliminate this algae have been "manual removal" or possibly not shrimp safe nuking methods. I've tried tweezing it out to death and I do get a lot of it, but its impossible to remove the deep embedded parts where the moss is thickest and it quickly grows back.. also tried the toothbrush method with even less success, altho it did give my moss a stylish well brushed look. 

so I guess i'm stuck with fuzzy moss unless I take drastic measures? At first I was afraid it would choke the moss out, but they seem to be somewhat co-existing with each other and even display similar growth patterns.. I guess I could live with it..

any suggestions? comments? algae IDs?

thanks,
Jim


----------



## Dewmazz (Sep 6, 2005)

Have you perhaps tried a blackout maybe? I don't have a lot of experience with hair algae, but the blackout works with a lot of different algae species (I think). It worked for my tank...

You might want to do DIY co2 or excel, and I would suggest doing some water changes.


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Nice scape!

First thing to do is to replace that bulb. 50/50 actinic bulbs don't do much for plants.

Add a bunch of fast growers for a while.

At 4wpg, even on a 10gallon tank, you're going to want to add CO2. Or at least *regular* (daily) additions of the Excel. If you don't do either, then I'd get a lot less light over the tank...


----------



## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Manually remove as much as possible before your water changes. Hair algae is usually pretty easy to beat back.


----------



## JimM (Aug 26, 2005)

the light im using now is only 28w (2.8wpg) but Im guessing 50% of the bulb is sort of uneffective (actinic) so maybe closer to 1.4-2wpg? I was trying to keep this a low light slow growing no co2 tank.. 

First I think I'll try manual removal, wc and Excel OD, ive heard that blackouts have no effect on this type of algae.. if that doesn't work I might replace my bulb with a 40w 10000k and hook up a manifold / 2nd needle valve to my pressurized co2.

Thanks for your comments everyone!


----------

