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Re: Is this algae?



Hello again,

Thanks Jamie & Dave for responding to my post!

* Thus spake Jamie Johnson [030325 04:53]:
> It's commonly called staghorn algae or filamentous 
> algae. It grows rather quickly. It can be removed with 
> patience and tweezers or with an old toothbrush using the 
> spaghetti-roll method, but it'll come right back if 
> conditions aren't changed. My experience with it comes 
> from low levels of NO3. No other time have I had it. I've 
> had no PO4, too much PO4, too little Fe, too much Fe, and 
> too much NO3, and those bring on other kinds of algae, but 
> no staghorn. From you email, looks like you dose with 
> nutrients, but you may want to test the levels. Your CO2 
> should help, but this stuff, I feel, is a good indicator 
> something is outta whack. 

> Take a look at the link and see if this is what you have:
> http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/ukraine/37/id28.htm

Jamie, the stuff I have doesn't really look like what's in the image.
Compared to the image, the stuff I have are long (~4-5 inches
long) darker green individual strands that branch quite a bit. 
However, I don't have that much of it in my tank. I can 
imagine that if the stuff I have was allowed to prosper, it could 
end up looking like what's in the image.

* Thus spake Dave Millman [030325 04:53]:
> >I'm using DIY CO2; I haven't checked
> >the pH level lately, but in the evening before the lights go off,
> >I've noticed some pearling so I assume the CO2 level is OK.
> It's pretty hard for us to comment on "OK." You can easily calculate your 
> CO2 from pH and KH.

Dave, true enough :-)  I measured the pH to be about 7.2; KH of 
about 8.4; from the tables at thekrib, this means a C02 level of 
about 15 ppm.

> >I dose with KNO3, K2S04 and KH2P04 twice a week or so.
> 
> Is this the complete list of your ferts? If so, it sounds like you are not 
> dosing a trace fertilizer mix, with stuff like Fe, Mn, Mg, Zn, etc?

At this point that's all I'm adding; I haven't been adding a
trace mix, though I will start doing so.
> 
> That's green hair algae, and the most obnoxious thing about it is that it 
> is the same color and similar density to Java Moss. Before you know it, 
> your Java Moss is really 50% or more algae.
> 
> This is the first algae I defeated through nutrient control. In my case, 
> the tank had nearly no Nitrate and excess Iron. Your mileage may differ.


Is green hair algae synonymous with staghorn algae?

You both said that low Nitrates was apparently a trigger for this
kind of algae.  After your responses I measured the NO3 level to 
be about 5 ppm.  I had already started selectively boosting different 
nutrients to see what effect it would have. I'll boost the NO3 level next.

THank you again very much for your help!

TTYL!
Titus  =8)