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Hey! I have a pretty well planted 10g aquarium. It has lucky bamboo, two big crypts, Anubias nana, some sprigs of hair grass and tons of Marimo, but I'm having a problem with algae that only exists on the leaves of my anacharis plants.
I have no algae of any sort growing elsewhere in my tank. I have lots of algae eating fish and good water quality I think. This is the very first time since startup over 2 years ago that I have ever encountered Any type if algea- amazingly enough.
So, to describe this stuff... It is growing most on the anacharis that is floating on the surface. That doesn't really suprise me since it is close to the light. It is also growing on the leaves of the big bunch that I have planted in the side of my tank. The really strange thing is that it is not really growing on the parts of the plant thAt are yellowish or dying, but is abundant only on the very brightest greenest leaves. The algae is kind of long and hairy, but it is not soft like I expected, it is very strong. I can't break the algae off of the leaves with my hands or a toothbrush. If I am able to grip it hard enough to remove it the entire leaf is pulled off with it! The stuff is super strong! It is hairy and kind of fluffy looking but definately not whispy looking. In colour it is a very dark, actually a nice colour of green.
Last night I went through and broke off the sections of the plant with the most algae but that was so hard for me because those are the nicest pieces of the plant! I couldn't bear to throw them away so I just put the segments in a Seperate box of water for quarantine...a guess. I also took out all of the dying leaves to reduce nutrient buildup but the reason I had not done that before is that on all of my anacharis plants they have a green part, and also a brown dead looking part but that is where the roots grow from. So I only took out some of it because I won't remove all the roots...
Anyway, can someone please tell me what this algea is and how to conquer it? Thank you!!!
I have no algae of any sort growing elsewhere in my tank. I have lots of algae eating fish and good water quality I think. This is the very first time since startup over 2 years ago that I have ever encountered Any type if algea- amazingly enough.
So, to describe this stuff... It is growing most on the anacharis that is floating on the surface. That doesn't really suprise me since it is close to the light. It is also growing on the leaves of the big bunch that I have planted in the side of my tank. The really strange thing is that it is not really growing on the parts of the plant thAt are yellowish or dying, but is abundant only on the very brightest greenest leaves. The algae is kind of long and hairy, but it is not soft like I expected, it is very strong. I can't break the algae off of the leaves with my hands or a toothbrush. If I am able to grip it hard enough to remove it the entire leaf is pulled off with it! The stuff is super strong! It is hairy and kind of fluffy looking but definately not whispy looking. In colour it is a very dark, actually a nice colour of green.
Last night I went through and broke off the sections of the plant with the most algae but that was so hard for me because those are the nicest pieces of the plant! I couldn't bear to throw them away so I just put the segments in a Seperate box of water for quarantine...a guess. I also took out all of the dying leaves to reduce nutrient buildup but the reason I had not done that before is that on all of my anacharis plants they have a green part, and also a brown dead looking part but that is where the roots grow from. So I only took out some of it because I won't remove all the roots...
Anyway, can someone please tell me what this algea is and how to conquer it? Thank you!!!