Algae (?) Help please.

Chesherca

Glad you didn't take that the wrong way - I really have only been paying attention for the last week or so, so sorry if my answer was wrong on your behalf - I was just trying to keep your thread 'bumped' for others who know more to see, lol!

Didn't realize it's been running 6w with no issues - BUT the plants are new, and. . . aren't the LED's new, too? So there have been recent changes. . . I'm not brilliant with lighting - ESPECIALLY when it comes to LED lights. If you're correct, and it's the curtains being open that are the issue, and if there is no direct sunlight falling on the tank, I can tell you that MY lighting was the same - 12 - 10pm. When I began to have issues with hair algae, I found myself unwilling to live in a shady house for the sake of the tank, so I changed my lighting routine to 7 hours instead of 10. This wasn't a huge issue for me, because I don't have as much time during the day to enjoy my tank, and I can view it well enough to check on things with only the sunlight, so I'd rather keep the lights up later into the evenings. When I shifted the schedule from 10 hours to 7, the algae pretty much dissipated. I had to clean it off a bit, as the algae that was established didn't vanish - but it stopped growing and spreading immediately. Once I cleaned it off, it didn't return. Your moss isn't rooted yet, so I'm not sure how you'd go about this, lol!

Good luck! I hope you're right and it's as easy as the curtains. Algae can be a tricky opponent! Happy battling!

Nilet699

No!! I was super happy God knows you've kept up with the puffer tank as well as me! Especially since its been up...you just didnt have a little of the background THANKYOU.

Shaded house bothers me none........clearly it does the mrs, but tough cookies! I'll live all summer long gladly with closed curtains....... all about the tanks

So, options to fix my was beautiful tank;
reduced lighting?
Leave the tank lights off tomorrow?
Leave everything running as it is and hope that it disappears by itself?
Throw some peroxide in? i kid....
Additives? (would like to avoid these really, not a fan of chems)
anything else? I'm willing to look at any and all solutions.

FishyFishy89

I have amano shrimp in my betta's tank. They lurv the hair algae.
Amanos are supposedly algae eating shrimpies. So I'd attempt to give them a try if you can.

Nilet699

Would they survive a group of 5 Dwarf Puffer though?
I tried 2 cherry shrimp in there and not entirely sure if they are still alive tbh......

JDM

Well, it's white... that doesn't make sense to me that something that is not green or brown can be brought on by light at all.

That doesn't mean that I am correct... I thought the sand was fungus spots after all

Jeff.

FishyFishy89

The OP said the white part you're seeing is the sand substrate. The OP had stirred it up.

JDM

The "algae" growths look white to me, I'm already off the sand thing now, just looking at what's on the moss.

Jeff.

Nilet699

looking at it - the lights are now off - (so in my mind lol) the growth on plants is a greyish colour i think...

And yes jeff, you did, but that was entirely my fault for not pointing it out sorry!

Chesherca

Some types of hair algae do have the habit (because they're so fine) of appearing to be white or greyish under the lights. I think you should go back to having the curtains closed, obviously - AND - if it were me, I'd also reduce the lighting. Cut it back a few hours until the problem is taken care of. I've found that it's easier to remove the algae altogether, so if its possible, I'd at least give a try to remove the algae manually - it'll be tricky with moss, but try. Then you just sit back and wait and watch. If, after all of these have been done, it comes back - then you know your balance is off somewhere else - either the nutrients, or the lighting in a different way, etc. and you start from scratch :)

Nilet699

I'll leave the lights off entirely tomorrow then, or no more than 4/5 hours on, and see if it looks any less by thursday.
If not, well im off again somehow, so i will strip the moss out and spend the $3 to replace the whole lot....
the curtains will obviously remain closed - she got a stern telling off and bullied - ''do you want to kill the puffers?'' ''no? then leave them shut!'' she was sad, but she got the point.....
I will also pull the wood out tomorrow afternoon and try to clean it off manually before i think about replacing it, i would rather deal with it than just replace it, but i also dont want ANYTHING bad in my puffer tank! don't want my lil babies getting stressed/bad water/Anything!