# Brown hair algae and dirty looking plants please help



## davidjp1982 (May 14, 2014)

Hi I am getting very confused about different algae types and at the risk of being a "noob" could I ask for some help with the particular issue I have - mainly brown hair like strands of algae particularly on my dwarf hairgrass and also Java moss - also what looks like diatoms on my anubias and the flower looks dirty and brown - even though my tank is a year old could diatoms have come in on the new plants? I cleaned as much of the hairgrass as I could by rubbing it off in tank water before planting. I also have a few spots of green sheet like algae on the driftwood Java moss. I recently changed from 2700k lighting over 12 hours which I understand probably caused the problem I now have 6000k lights over 9 hours. Tank is 15 gallons diy co2 and I dose interpet flora boost 15 mls weekly. I do 20% water change twice weekly. Also use API root tabs. Tested water today 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0-5 nitrates. What I would really like to know is should I remove affected leaves / trim back the worst affected plants or let the tank settle into a better lighting routine? I also seem to have a huge amount of brown "dust" if I ever disturb the driftwood and this is what seems to get trapped in the plants / algae. I am very careful not to overfeed is it possible to have wood decomposing and breaking up? It is over a year old and stopped leaching tannins long ago. Really appreciate any advice as I am pulling my hair out here thanks !


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Without photos, it's difficult to say with any level of certainty, but it surprisingly sounds like the dusting caused during a new tanks cycling. Perhaps there was a hiccup in your filtration and you've experiencing a mini-cycle or sorts.

In a planted tank, it's possible to do a silent cycle since the plants could be taking up the ammonia. Thus the low readings.

Good close up pics would REALLY help. It will only be speculation otherwise.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Hi, I found that when I got rid of my driftwood, my tank was much, much cleaner. No more BBA or dirty plants!


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