Green hair algae problem
 

Hi folks,
I've started to have green hair algae on my floating hornwort & floating anacharis in my 55 gallon tank. I've reduced the light from 8 hours to 7 hours. In the section where there are no floating plants due to the HOB filter output I have Anubias...they'e started to grow green hair algae as well. My otos don't touch the stuff.
I've torn off most of the hornwort and anubias and thrown it away, but I don't want to rip out my Anubias...it grows soooo slow.
Any pointers would help.

Thanks,
Ami

The algae on the Anubias is likely brush or beard algae. It almost always appears on this plant if the plant is under direct light. It needs shade from overhanging plants or floating plants.

The other floating plant algae is due to the light. Duration is fine, but what is the intensity (i.e., describe the light)? Any fertilizers being used, and if yes, which? And what other plants aside from Anubias?

Just curious, in your tank pics it looks like you have 2 strip lights (one for each side) over your 55g. In the tank profile, it says 3 bulbs. Just wondering what the lighting is like. Duration is one thing, but intensity can be big too.


Edit: I guess I type slower than byron :P

I got 1 15W on the left side and 2 15W on the right side...its got a glass top. The bulbs are all GE Daylight F15. Its got color temp 6500K and 700 lumens.

I guess I'll have to remove the Anubias to a shady location / calmer location where I can keep floating plants. I used to have some Wisteria floating...all but 3 strands became only twigs with LOTS of algae. Hornwort and Anacharis does a good job as floating plants, but it they seem to grow a lot of hair algae after a while.

I've been using Seachem Comprehensive on a weekly basis (after a water change)....I must admit that I forgot for a couple of weeks in the holiday season.

Did the algae in the floating plants appear subsequent to the Flourish not being added? Or was it there before?

I've been adding Flourish since August last year. The string algae appeared around November of last year. Now that I think about it, the local Persmart, where I get most of my plants has some plants with the green stringy algae. This is probably why they clean out their aquatics plant set up every Thursday. Although I took care to choose plants when they'd come in within 1-2 days, some of the algae may have come by that way...its taken this long to really show up.

Given the info, I would ignore the algae in the floating plants, provided it does not move down onto other plants. For the Anubias issue, as I said it needs shade. Make sure you are consistent with any fertilization, but once a week is enough given the light.

Oh, so green hair algae isn't really a problem... YAY! I'll just keep my hortwort & Anacharis floating like I used to.
Just out of curiousity...if the hair algae does start to come down into the tank, what should I do?

Maybe I should have expanded a bit.;-)

Algae is natural and will appear in any healthy aquarium. An aquarim without some type of algae is unrealistic, and may indicate trouble. With live plants we simply want to keep algae under control so it doesn't cover and smother the plants.

Algae on floating plants is almost always present, simply because the plants are closest to the light. Different types of algae will appear in different tanks. Some is more problematical than others.

Identifying algae is not always easy. Photos below [from Dusko Bojic, to give credit] show hair algae, is this what you have?

Yeah...the 3rd pic nails it. Same plant, except that it is floating. Similar amounts of green string algae are present on the floating hornwort and floating Anacharis.