Hair algae or something else?

Hi all,
For the longest time all was good here, but my tank suddenly has developed something that looks to me like hair algae. It could also be something else. It's basically covering all my plants with a tiny sheet of hair, long strands are floating in the tank and there is also a yucky film on the surface. I am not doing anything differently than I was, just changed my filter inserts and don't overfeed. I am afraid my plants and fish are suffering. Any ideas what I can do???
Thanks for any advice!

Algae grows when it has enough food and light, and it grows in just about every aquarium. That's not necessarily bad unless it becomes an infestation like yours has. Does your aquarium have standard lighting or special high intensity lighting? Standard lighting should be left on about 12 hours a day. Does your aquarium get any direct sun light? If so, it's likely to have too much algae.

On the nutrient side of the problem, a large biological load can provide food for algae. This can be caused by too many fish, too much uneaten food, decaying plants, etc. You can reduce algae nutrients by introducing live plants and by regular, partial water changes. The water changes should be 20 or 25 percent once a week, more often if the aquarium is near its maximum biological load.

As I said before, most healthy aquariums will have some algae. If i were dealing with your aquarium, i would remove some of the hair algae by hand, put in some live, floating plants, clean 1/2 of the substrate during a 30 percent water change, and think about a small reduction in the lights-on time. Please let me know if any of that helps.

Hi John,
Thanks for your reply. I will try to reduce the hours of light (regular lighting, no direct sunlight), now more around 14. Shall I turn them off altogether for a day or so? I remember this actually started when I took out one big strand of one of my plants, so maybe that pushed the whole system out of balance (?). So, putting new plants in, as you said, may push it back to normal. I am also using an Iron/CO2 fertilizer. should I continue or stop using that? After some more web-searching, this algae migh actually be something like fuzz or beard algae...

I would not turn off the lights for that long, because it may hurt the live plants. The carbon dioxide and fertilisers are probably responsible for the algae growth.

Thanks, I'll drop the fertilizer then (I have already for a week or so).

I had the same problem. And yes the iron is the cause of this out break. At one point in time there was too much in the system and it started this bloom. I would recommend not even using the iron at all. I stoped using the iron all together and started using seachems flourishes excel and comprehensive. Both work wonders.

And also keep the lights to about 8-10 hours a day and you will slowly see a decrease in that algae. Another thing with this type of algae, if it is hair/thread, once you remove it by hand you have to be careful that you do not loose any of it in the water column as it will attach to anything and grow.

I'm not sure what you tank is like, but if you could add some Japanica Amano Shrimp that would help reduce the problem as they eat that type of algae.

Please let me know if this has helped. Although i "had" hair algae, there is still some on my plants with older leaves, but not enough that it has taken over again. This time I have it under control.

Thanks! I do have the Flourish Excel stuff here, but never tried it; so I will now. And look into amano shrimp...I'll keep you posted.

Just a quick update: hair algae does not grow on new leaves and is vastly reduced on old ones now. No more slimy stuff on the water surface. I have been doing lots and larger water changes and lights on between 6 and 8 hours. I had to cut down the plants, threw one out altogether. Still lot of debris in the water (despite vacuuming) and greenish hairy algae on the older plants. Today I got 4 amano shrimp and will see what they do...

nice going...please keep us all updated, your making a break through and those amano shrimp will really work, you will be surprised.

ALL finally good! The little amanos plus lots of patience (I didn't see them at all for about 4 weeks) made it work. No more algae, two tetras died but now all seems good again. I just got a dwarf gourami who seems to be doing well and so do the remainders...
What a scare!

My hero!

Your aquarium looks great. Earlier i forgot to mention that algae and live plants produce carbon dioxide when there is no light. It's usually not a problem if you have some kind of bubbler on at night. If you were to turn off all the lights for a few days, then you would have a carbon dioxide problem. Maybe I already mentioned it, but over crowding can encourage algae growth because of the ammonia associated with fish respiration and digestion.

Thanks, that's good to know. I never ended up shutting the lights down altogether, just a few hours less. Hope the population size is still ok this way (20 g tank: 4 cherry barbs, 4 amano shrimp, 1 bristlenose pleco, 4 black neon tetras and 1 dwarf gourami). If it does get too crowed I'll move Mr. Gourami into a separate tank...

It could be a bit over crowded, especially since it's only ten gallons. Just a few mistakes can turn a small water volume bad; larger aquariums are more forgiving.

It's 20 gallons, so I hope that's ok. I definitely keep my hands off the iron supplement for the plants, I think that started it all...

Why did I think it was ten gallons? Probably because there are two of them running right beside me. The 20 gallon is a very good size for most aquarium fish, but not for the larger ones. It's also easy to maintain. I have one full of red wag platies and am thinking about getting some Endlers for another one.

Hey

I think i got a same problem.
I guess that is a hair algae then?
It,s a 10 gallon tank with black flourite on the bottom,some dwarf baby tears and java moss,and 9 neon tetra...was 10 but one died after i turn the light off.
The tank about 3 weeks old and this algae thing started grow about a week ago,just right after i put a 10,000 k flourescent light under the hood.I guess my light are being on for too long that is causing the algae grow.Before i going to work i turn the light on,and i working sometimes 12-15 hours.So i guess i need a timer on the lighting
I gonna try to upload a picture too.

Yes i got bad english,i know

And there is the picture...my "algae soup"
Yeah...i trying to be funny

.great picture...

Thanks,i try my best

You actually need only about 10 hours of light because I have a planted tank and is doing fine with just 10. I suggest you do buy a timer because consistency is key to both the fish and the plants. When you do get the timer, To reduce algae you can do a "siesta" time. A "siesta" time is basically when you turn off the lights during the middle of the light period. Say you put on the lights for 10 hours. You can have them on for 5, turn them off for about two, then turn them back on for the remaining five. The reason being is that algae need a continuous amount of light to grow. If that light period is interrupted, the algae won't grow so much. Hope that helped. Sorry if I confuse you. I tend to do this sometimes.

Thanks for your help,it was lighting fast!
I like that "siesta" idea,i just need to make sure the timer will support that too.

You wasn't confuse me,i understand...my english can be confusing
I'm the only dude here who's typing's got accent

Hey!
I got the timer,i set it to 10 hours with a 2 hour "siesta" time.
Great thing,it seems to be working! I still have algae build up on my tank's wall,so need to do something with that.I was wondered put some snails in it but they will be all over in the aquarium and i don't want that.I got a small tank full with snails/about 100 or more /.I think they cool snails,cause i got plants there too and they didn't bother it.
I guess might be better to get a algae eater fish.
I wrote too much again

Thanks for your help again!

To get the algae off the glass, you could just scrape it off with a razor or one of those Mag-Float thingys or if you want to add fish to your aquarium, maybe an otocinclus or some shrimp. Be careful with the shrimp though. They may get eaten without adequate hiding places.

That's good looking java moss. The hair algae growing on it can probably be removed by hand if you're careful. Please keep us updated.

Thank you,that moss looks better now cause sens i made that picture it's started to grow
I tried to take of the algae with hand but,i found it difficult,so i tried something else and that was worked so well
This is how!I was started to make my weekly water change,and i was use for it a thin hose,like what you use for the air pump.With that hose i was able to suck 80% of the algae of the moss,without make any damage on the plant.

Thanks,i gonna try to take off with a razor!

You may also want to try scissors.

Update from my hair algae problem:
-it's worst than ever, my tank got more hair than i had
I will try to put a fish in there which would like to eat that algae...but i was wondered maybe my tank just simply too small for that big moss and 9 neon tetra.Or since this is my first planted tank i must suck with it,and realize to keep a planted tank is far not that easy at all...but i wont give up for sure,i gonna keep doing it,till is not working how i want !
Or i can live it like that,and make a new hobby called ALGAEARIUM!