Brown thread algae?? Need some help...

1216 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by jazzlvr123, Sep 12, 2007

PaNoS

Discussion Starter · Sep 4, 2007

Hey guys, this past week i've been noticing what looks like brown thread/hair algae growing on my plants and rock. It started out on my dwarf hair grass, but now its starting to grow on the rocks and my HC. The toothbrush method works great on the hairgrass and comes off easily, but the HC is pretty fragile so it's not easy to get off. I'm seeing more of it growing now.

I wasn't able to find any info on how to get rid of it. I upped my dosing of Excel to 2.5ml daily and i'll stick to that for this week to see if it helps stop it or slow it down at least. I also upped my CO2 from 1 bubble per five seconds to three. My tank is an ADA Mini S (around 2.5-3g) i dose daily with ADA Brightly K half pump and around 1.5ml Excel. Now i've upped that to 2.5ml daily. My lighting schedule is 18w for 8 hours a day. Any idea how i can get rid of this algae? This tank has been up and running for almost 3 weeks now.
Here's a link to my setup for more info...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/50784-ada-mini-s-setup.html

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Yoshi

· #2 · Sep 9, 2007

I had a phase of that too, I found manual removal & lots of water changes to be the best method of getting rid of the algae. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I think it will naturally die down with regular maintenance.

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PaNoS

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 11, 2007

Yoshi said:
I had a phase of that too, I found manual removal & lots of water changes to be the best method of getting rid of the algae. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I think it will naturally die down with regular maintenance.

That's what i'm trying to do now. I just remove as much of it as i can. I added 3 Amano shrimp on Friday, but their not interested in it. They seem to prefer the green algae growing on the rocks and thats minimal, its the hair algae that's getting out of control. I've been doing a 40% water change every third day. I did one last night and i tried removing as much as i could. We'll see what happens...

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Carissa

· #4 · Sep 11, 2007

I think 18 watts is overkill for that size of a tank. Try downsizing your lighting and see if that helps.

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PaNoS

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 12, 2007

Carissa said:
I think 18 watts is overkill for that size of a tank. Try downsizing your lighting and see if that helps.

I really don't think 18w is over kill for this tank. Especially since i'm growing HC. I'm supplying CO2 also. Most people were telling me that 18w is on the low side and i should be going with 27w. The light that is available for this tank from ADA is a 27w light. I think 18w is just right for this setup IMO. 27w would of been a bit much. I have the light on for 8 hours a day.

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