Furry Brown Stuff

[kiwicalifornia]

Hi.. I have a f/water tropical (42 gal), with a small mix of cory catfish, neon tetras, and gourami and an algae eater. I have adequate filtration and full spectrum lightning. My water quality is spot on.. zero ammonia,nitrates, ph etc all in the safe level.

I have 2 live plants, they are both swords. one is a Java sword, Im not exactly sure what the other one is (a bamboo sword??)

Anyways theres a brown algae?? starting to cover the leaves..it looks furry, its covering some ornaments as well....

What is it? whats the cause?, what do i do about it?... I have some anti algae powder but it says not to use in a planted tank..


Cheers very much

[phoenixshade]

Kiwi,

This is called hair, thread, or beard algae. It is one of the toughest algeas to get rid of, because snails won't touch it and neither will most fish. Rosy barbs are an exception, but your tank seems to be stocked pretty much to capacity, and I wouldn't suggest adding more fish.

Do not add any algacides... they will almost certainly kill your plants as well as the algae. You can instead try some of the tips outlined in this post (http://www.aquariumpros.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=15447#post15447). If you follow those tips, you will also find that you can add a LOT more plants, which is additional help in keeping your algae under control. If you are using buffers to control the pH of your aquarium, be sure that they contain no phosphate. Nor should any fertilizer tabs that you use for your swordplants contain phosphate.

Other than that, the only way to remove the algae is to physically remove it from the leaves and decorations (which can prove difficult). Soak your decorations in a 1:10 bleach solution, then rinse them well in hot water before returning them to the tank. This will get rid of it for a while, but let me warn you that you'll have an uphill battle on your hands, and you will need to repeat this eventually. The first two options are better solutions in the long term.

Good luck!

- Wil

[aquak]

Yes, you don't have room for more fish, but if you could arrange for some to be somewhere else for a bit, you could get some rosy barbs and return them when the algae is gone. Maybe you could put the gouramis in another container for a short time. They can manage without filtration as long as it is warm and clean enough. I had rosy barbs and they quickly got rid of a lot of thread algae and it never came back, even after they were long gone. I helped out a bit by removing some larger stones, pulling off what I could and leaving the rest to dry in the sun, but the rosy barbs took care of all that was on the plants, wood, gravel, etc. Most LFSs will take them back. Mine gives half price for them.