[APD] short fine filament algae problem

["boolybooly" <boolybooly at ntlworld_com>]

Can anyone help? Do you recognise this algae? Any tips ?

I have a 60 gall 3years old tank which I recently replanted and did some fairly big water changes in the process. It has a new algae growing which creates short filaments in the water making it look quite cloudy, what is amazing is that I have an Eheim 2322 filter running with an additional prefilter consisting of a foam cylinder wrapped in filter wool which sleeves around the Eheim intake and even this combined with the Eheims internal mats is not clearing the algae faster than it can form. 

I think the problem is the filaments between 1mm and 10 mm are unicellular and very brittle, they break at the drop of a hat, and so I think I am getting a sorcerers apprentice effect where the filter is catching the filaments only to make them break due to the force of the water stream so they fragment and get through the wool rather than catch and congeal like most other stuff then continue to grow.

I am dropping light levels and trying to remove a covering of very loose jelly like algal mat forming on every surface in the tank which I think may be another form of the same alga. It is dark green but not blue green. It does not stick permanently to plants, it just covers them.

Previously I grew hornwort in the tank but moved over to microphyllum and I think the hornwort has allelopathic abilities which help it kill algae. Maybe I need to put some back in ? 

Richard




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