# please ID this Algae for me .



## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

Hi all
can anyone please tell me what this Algae is .it grows real fast and no matter how much i pull it off it still keeps coming back .


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

more pics


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## jerime (May 23, 2004)

Thread algae.
Tear apart any trace of this algae from the aquarium.
Check your co2 level, po4 and no3.


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

is there anything i can put in the tank that will kill it off


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

Rhizoclonium.....

Things need to be bad on several fronts for this to get going well.
there is no single parameter that will induce this one, basically you need to focus on growing plants.

It's easy to control if you do this.

Regards, 
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport --learn how them like the weeds that they are


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

every time i put new plants in the tank there covered in the stuff in about 2 days .how can i grow plants if this keeps happening .this stuff grows faster than the plants ](*,)


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## weaver (Jun 13, 2005)

*Estimative Index*

What I'm sure Tom is referring to is your combination of CO2, lighting and ferts. Just go to his website/forum ( http://www.barrreport.com/ ) and do a search for the Estimative Index. Read it a couple of times and try it.


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

is it safe to add ferts while i have this ?


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## jerime (May 23, 2004)

plantbrain said:


> Rhizoclonium.....
> 
> basically you need to focus on growing plants.
> 
> ...


For that to happen, you need to fert whatever the plants need.
tear out the algae and make 50% WC afterwards.
Fert whatever needed.


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

i was adding ferts to the tank but i stopped because the algae was growing faster .so i stopped using the ferts and it seems to have slowed down


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## weaver (Jun 13, 2005)

How about CO2?


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

yes i have that its running at 25ppm


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## JerryB (May 4, 2005)

Oh the joys of thread/hair algea. I had this problem initially when I setup my tank about 2-3 months ago when I was cycling the tank and not adding ferts. The only place it grew was on some fake ornaments my wify made me put in the tank, if you have any fake stuff in your tank I suggest taking that out. It would be nice if you could post some paramiters of your tank to better help find what the problem is. Usually algea is caused by nutrient difficencies.

I'm dealing with Black Beard Algea now so I know the frustrations, but post what you can and that may help.

Also would be nice to know what ferts etc you are using.


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

ok just done some tests and this is what i have 
PH - 6.8
KH - 6.0
CO2 - 29
NITRITE -0 
PHOSPHAT -0.5
NITRATE -20 
the plant food that i have been using is (kent freshwater plant food) and (esha pro phyll ) i do have another make plant food somewhere but at the moment i cant find it i think they where some PMDD i got on line 
hope this helps guys


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

forgot to add .i have 184 watts of light and there on 10 hours a day
also i was doing 50% water changers a day .i have now dropped this back to 50% a week the tank holds about 240L .i think thats about 50.UK gallons and the tank is home to 6 Discus


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

would Flourish Excel help in anyway with this algea ?


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## Maurici (May 31, 2004)

Something strange is going bad with your tank, your parameters seems correct. I see that clearly the boon of Rhizoclonium is due to a heavy (more or less punctual) disequilibrium which apparently is off now, but the growing of plants with an appropriate conditions like you have at the moment must, with time, displace the algae, which would be reduced continuously. If this fact not occur I only can recommend a big manual cleaning of the tank, adding new water (to state the correct parameters avoiding with this a hidden nutrient interference) and many (in excess) quickly plants like Ceratophyllum species. Then, let some weeks to assure the plants work and turning right the good conditions.


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

Thanks for the help so far guys .its funny you should say that Maurici .about six weeks ago i stripped the whole tank down i even bleached the tank for a few days replaced with new sand and plants i even got a RO unit as well .and it still came back .the plants grow very well but when they get to about 4 inches from the top of the tank thats when they start to get this algea growing on them .its never at the bottom of the tank .all the plants pearl like mad as well .i am at a loss now this has been going on for months . i am now at a stage were i feel like giving up on plants and fish . i have never had any problems keeping fish but i cant grow plants to save my life .


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## donkey (Feb 11, 2005)

some more pics of the plants .sorry there not very good ones and the glass needs cleaning but i cant even bring myself to do that now .the pics show more of how much plant mass i have


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