Help with a possible hair alage problem.

I am not sure what this is covering my plants. I believe that it is hair alage but I am not 100 percent sure. If it is how does it start and is it a bacterial alage that can be treated. I tried the bleach dip, but it grew right back. If it is the cause of the tap water than I need to do something about that.

From what I can see in the picture, it could be hair algae. Spores of algae travel through the air, so it's nearly impossible to keep them out of an aquarium. The best way to control algae is to starve it. That can involve floating live plants that use up all the nutrients algae need, or it could be that over feeding is supplying too many nutrients. Regular, partial water changes can remove excess nutrients, and conservative feeding of the fish will keep most of the algae nutrients out of the tank. Probably, your best bet is a 20 percent water change every day for about a week, followed by the same thing once a week. Also check to be sure the aquarium is not in direct sun light. If you have a water test kit, check for ammonia. I think the partial water changes will help, but more details about water parameters, biological load, etc. will aid the problem analysis.

Only 2 of the things that you have mentioned can be contributing factors. The tank is in a room with no windows. So no direct sun light there. I feed the fish once or twice a week, so I don't think over feeding can be a factor. The only thing that I can think is the tap water, but the parameters are good according to ph, nitrate, nitrite, so on and so forth. I really don't know what to do. The aquarium is getting no surface disturbance as of the other day except for the co2 escaping. And I am afraid to turn the lights off for a few days in risk off killing the plants and possibly the fish? I have a better picture here...

After looking at the first picture, I thought of one other possibility. Is it possible that the rock or other decorations are not appropriate for aquarium use? If you remove the rock and put a couple drops of vinegar on a clean spot, there should be no chemical reaction. If you get bubbles and fizzing, don't put the rock back into the tank.

Your second posting provided some more clues. First, it's very easy to over feed even with the schedule you have. Any uneaten food will lay there, pollute the aquarium and cause an algae bloom. A more common feeding schedule is twice a day and no more than the fish consume in a couple of minutes. I like to use a quality flake food in the morning and some frozen food like brine shrimp in the evening.

Second, the carbon dioxide system and intense or continuous lighting can encourage algae growth. Since the tropics get about 12 hours of sun a day, many aquarists use 12 on/12 off lighting. Carbon dioxide is great if you have relatively demanding plants, but it can also affect water chemistry. One of your plants looks like an Anubias (probably not the right spelling), which is a slow growing plant that does not require a carbon dioxide supplement. A more lush planting will use up the nutrients and thus help control the algae.

This reply is getting long winded, so let me suggest an experiment: (1) Turn off the CO2 system. (2) Operate the lights 12 hours a day. (3) Feed the fish twice a day. (4) Dump in some cheap floating plants to use up algae nutrients and ammonia. Once things stabilise, you can go for some more expensive, exotic plants. I hope some of these things work.

John I know that I can count on you, since you are the most experinced in here. The problem is that the white rock I did do that test on and no fizz, i actually just added that one about 4 days ago. Another thing is that I just started my co2 back up about a month ago, when I posted before about my plants were lush. And my lights usually are on 12 hours a day. Or more. I usually turn them on at 10:30am ish when I get my lazy butt out of bed and turn them off when I get home from work at around 11pm. The one plant is anubis, just bough about a month ago aswell. The funny thing is, my sagataria started to actually grow after being on the brink of death for so many months, its actually taller than 1 inch.

Now to come to the bad things. There are some other natural rock in there that I have not checked for the fizz test, and they have been in there since day one. Over a year ago. Bad number 2, my aquarium water I know for a fact is high in Phosphates. There I rest my story becuase that is all I know. My tap water in municaple and is probally high in phosphates as well but I have not tested, just the tank. Reverse osmosis is the only other route that I can see?

Thanks for sharing all those ideas with me. I really need an expert sometimes to talk to and this site and you are it. PS, my lights have been off all day today, just a moonlight, I want to see if this has an affect.

If the carbon dioxide system runs 24 hours a day, it can change the pH of the water. That's because live plants produce (exhale) carbon dioxide when the lights are off. The pH in turn affects other water parameters. An undesirable buildup of phosphates or other chemicals could easily take a month or so. Of course, you can buy treatments that lower phosphates, but it's too easy to dump in too much. It's been a long time since chemistry classes, so I don't remember exactly how certain ions react with others. When it comes to practical aquarium keeping, though, I know that most changes, good and bad, occur slowly, and a series of partial water changes works better than almost any other corrective measure.

Probably i already asked you, but do you ride a Kawasaki dirt bike. I once had a Kaw big horn, which was a raunchy, single cylinder 500 cc, two stroke on and off road bike. FUN!

Oh, yes. White rocks COULD possibly be the source of the problem. It wouldn't hurt to give one the vinegar test.

Yeah that c02 only runs when the lights are on. The white rock is fizz free and so are the other rocks. I really think that it has to do with the water. Being municipal water, ya know having all the great things just micronized that we flush down the toliet or down the sink. The other thing that I can think of that I add is water conditioner? could that do it?

And as for the screen name. Yeah you did ask, but I came from ohhh about 5 years ago when I race motocross pretty heavily (every weekend) for 2 years. I raced a 125, and was pretty good, until I broke my ankle coming out of a corner that I was laid out on, and washed the front end out. Since then, I am 21 live on my own, and am a cook that works at the worst possible riding hours. Now i do remember you saying that you have a harley. So does my dad, and I am thinking about getting one so I can ride with him and his friends, which should be some fun. Whenever I make enough money.

Harleys are expensive all right, but they're sure fun to ride.

Most good water conditioners will not have any bad effects on aquarium water. Some, in fact, even claim to remove heavy metals. My own favorite is Stress Coat, but things like Prime and Amquel Plus are also good, so I'm told. If the phosphate problem does not go away in a few weeks, you could try some commercial phosphate remover, but use it conservatively, and check water parameters. You could also try replacing some of the aquarium water with water from a reverse osmosis system. However, if you replace a large percentage with RO water, you'll need to add buffers.

As for municipal water, we all have to live in our own cooties, but at least city water gets tested regularly. Think about fish living in a lake, pond or stream. I don't know of any without a muddy bottom and googleplexes of fish, farm, and people cooties. So long as natural systems don't get overwhelmed, they compensate for all that stuff. The same systems work in an aquarium when we let them.::

Y'all make my stomach turn...

If you'd rather be riding than wrenching... BUY A HONDA!!!

LOL! RIDE RED BABY!!!

Ok, back to the actual task... I have this dreaded hair algae also. In my big tank, and in one of my breeding tanks. Whenever I get off my lazy butt, I'm going to release some baby bristlenose in those tanks and see if that will make a difference... I don't have CO2 or any fancy lights, but they are on constantly...

Also... John, I'm interested in RO water. I tried to ask about it on another forum that I used to hang out on... the smart angelfish forum... you know... not the fun one... I know that it's Reverse Osmosis... What are the benefits? How does it work? You have to use buffers? Maybe if you could do a thread on this, that would be excellent!

Angela, have you ever gone to drsfostersmith.com They have everything on ro and how it works, and the buffers. I really need to do this as well, but i do not have a permanent faucet to hook up to. So i do not know if it a wise descision to do so. Check it out when you get time.

I will check it out.

I've been meaning to go there and get a hatchenflatcher... but I've been low on cash... LOL!