White Algae

[Donny]

I have a white hair like algae growing on my substrate as well as on the wood i have in my tank.
How can i get rid of it ?? Tried taking pics but not coming out clear :mad:

[pofkuiken]

Hi there........

For how long have you noticed the algae????

[Donny]

It has been about a week/ 10 days. Took out all the wood and scrubbed it with a nailbrush to get it off the wood. As far as the black sand (substrate) is concerned, I gave it a gravelvac but it is still there.

[Firefly]

How old is the tank? I noticed some too on some of my wood. I read on the forums that this is a natural fungus that goes away after time.

[pofkuiken]

mmmmmmmm....you say it`s a white hair algae......sure it`s not a bleached green color about 5 to 10mm high and a B*st*rd to get off of thing it`s growing on???

[Donny]

nope a milky white colour and scrubbed off pretty easily

[pofkuiken]

It`s not uneaten food thats grown in to fungi growth.............

[Donny]

Doubt it , have 5 cories , a pleco and 3 clown loaches eating off the bottom of the tank.

[ryanj252]

Hey Donny

Howsit going!?

White algea growing on that grape vine i gave you? Definitely cant be a natural fungi, since i took care of that when i had the wood in my tank.

It sounds like you have staghorn algae:
8267
http://www.otocinclus.com

I just got rid of mine a few days ago. Its really simple. You just need to stop giving the algea light and food and it will die.
-So switch your lights off for about a week (longer maybe, depending on how bad it is)
-Dont dose and ferts and CO2
-Do increased regular water changes to keep nitrate levels down.

That should help. Your plants will suffer alil but they will survive.

[Donny]

Things are going good,The algae is white but its thicker than this and its growing on everything :(.

[ryanj252]

Ya its sometimes pale green, sometimes white, sometimes grey, thinner or thicker.....depending on how much food and light you were giving it, LOL :)

[boebie]

Sounds like a fungus to me, I had it on my new driftwood as well. Should clear up on it's own.

[Donny]

mmm i hope so as i will be giving the tank a clean the weekend again for lack of a better description it looks like "Snot" :)

[ryanj252]

Oh! Snot!! You could've said it looks like mucus! Yes thats a fungus from the rot of the grapevine...you can leave it in the tank..it goes away eventually. About 2 weeks. Just keep the wood in the tank.

[Donny]

LOL,its been in the tank since i got the wood from you but, the fungus/algae only started now in the last week or two .

[ryanj252]

Mmm...thats wierd. Because i had it in my tank, the mucus attack broke out...then died after like a month. Funny that its starting only now...probably something to do with you water chemistry OR the vine still thinks its alive...

[Donny]

ok, will take it out give it a scrub and put it back, as its doesnt seem to bother any of the fish.

[ryanj252]

Maybe the taking out is doing something. I dont know, i kept mine in. Oh, i had a Apple snail chowing on it aswell....

Oh well see what works for you. Dont forget to clean you filter more often

[Donny]

This weekend will be the first time i take the vine out, do water changes and filter cleans once a week.

[boebie]

Hey Donny, not sure if this is related but you are cleaning your filters way too often. You should be cleaning them like every 2 months or so to give the bacterial colony a chance to grow. Also don't clean all the media at the same time, this will be like starting the filter from scratch.

[Donny]

Ok, got two canisters attached to a power that i am using in the 1,2 tank, always just rinse give them a couple of squeeses in old tank water as they seems to get clogged pretty quickly.
Will tell the SO she needs to buy a HOB again.

Thanks

[pofkuiken]

Hi...

And how is the "snot" or white algae doing???

[Fanlie]

How is your nitrate in the tank and how many hour ligthing per day? PH low?

[Donny]

It seems to be getting less, lights on for less time :)