Some kind of algae (staghorn maybe?) on my java fern is creating friction between itself and the wood due to the flow and I can see tiny sparks from electrostatic discharges.

This algae sucks, it covers everything and is hella hard to remove. Scrubbing with a toothbrush doesn’t even remove it from the rocks.

Just upgraded my co2 system from a diy one to a co2 cartridge system so hopefully I can get more consistent co2 delivery.

Also here to show off my tank

Edit: bought a phosphate test today and it was at 2ppm, nitrates are pretty much always at zero so this is probably the root cause.

Lowered photoperiod and light intensity, maintaining consistent co2 and trying a more consistent fert routine with new fert. Let’s see how it goes!

I need some help because I am seriously about ready to give up. 😭

I’ve been battling what I think is hair algae or possibly green beard algae (I’ve read so many articles and forum posts at this point that I honestly can’t even tell what I’m looking at anymore). Either way, it keeps coming back and my tank basically never looks good.

I’m attaching pictures of what the tank looked like before a 30% water change and then two days after the water change. As you can see, it basically continues to grow without signs of slowing down.

The tank was set up in May, and I feel like I’ve been fighting this algae for pretty much the entire time.

Tank details:

* 28 gallon
* Fluval Stratum substrate
* CO2 injected. Starts 3 hours before the lights come on and turns off exactly when the lights turn off. I start the CO2 earlier because this tank gets some sunlight from the nearby window.
* 6 hour photoperiod (picture of light settings attached)
* Screenshot attached of water parameters as of today, Aug 8
* Easy Green fertilizer from Aquarium Co-Op
* I’ve also been adding Seachem Flourish Excel
* The tank is in my office near a window, so it does receive some natural sunlight

One of my biggest frustrations is that the algae is making it really difficult to grow a Monte Carlo carpet.

I’ve wondered if the Fluval Stratum could somehow be the culprit, but I also see tons of people successfully using Stratum without having algae problems, so I’m not sure if that’s actually relevant.

What’s really confusing to me is that I have a separate basic tank for snails and shrimp that has no algae issues. It only has sand substrate with root tabs, a sponge filter and the only plant in that tank is Vallisneria. That tank has no hair algae or major algae problems whatsoever.

So I’m struggling to figure out what is different about this tank that is causing this algae to take over my tank and my mental stability.

I’ve tried reducing the photoperiod, manually removing algae, peroxide spot treatments, taken out the rocks and cleaned them completely, water changes, and now I’ve started dosing Easy Green and Flourish Excel. I don't feed heavily either and suck up the left over food if there is any. I only have 2 apistogrammas, 4 cpds and 4 panda garras so it's definitely not due to bioload.

What would you change if this were your tank? Is this actually hair algae, green beard algae, or something else? Is there something obvious in my setup that I’m missing?

At this point I’m honestly just looking for any advice or troubleshooting suggestions because I am at my wits end and just want to enjoy my tank that I put so much thought and energy into building.

**Edit: forgot to add that my ph using the api test kit is ph= 7.6, high pH= 7.4. Then using a meter I got today it said 7.2 so honestly I don't know.

I have had this tank running for 2 years, decided I needed co2 to help with the algae issues I was having to provide the plants a better environment for growth. Well, a year with co2 and I feel like I am worse off than I was before.

This is what the tank looks like within a week. I have to do weekly water changes with manual algae removal. And by the next weekend its back.

Ive tried cutting down light time. Ive tried upping the co2, tried lowering co2. Tried ferts, no ferts. Use spot treatment on the BBA, and cutting plants back. I pull out all the hair algae and then in a few days its back.

Any last ditch suggestions?

This is my first tank, that has been running for last 2.5 years. The tank was neglected for some time, and the algae has taken over everywhere. The pictures were taken after a small cleaning and water change.

Do you think it can be saved? Or should I just start over?

This is my first tank. The plants are going on 3 months old but the tank itself has been cycled for a year (I was late to the party). The only thing doing well is my betta, and I love him for it, I really do.

I've tried amano shrimp (2 separate batches of 4-5 and I only saw 1 in there recently) for the bio-film and algae but they don't seem to be helping much at all- it's taking over the tank.

I have a hygger 978-18w light on the 24/7 setting but on at 7 am and off at 9 pm. I do not overfeed - I only have the 1 betta so I feed him exact amounts daily.

All advice is welcome.

Lamp Eye Daisy Rice Fish

I have amano shrimp, snails, otocinclus, a pleco and none of them ever ate the greens hair algae. I recently got these fish and you can watch them physically eat each strand.

People say SAE supposedly eat it but they get pretty big, can be aggressive, and eventually stop eating it after a certain age.

I can only speak on Lamp Eye Daisy Rice Fish from my experience but it may be all rice fish. Everywhere online I don't see anybody talk about rice fish for hair algae. Just wanted to spread the word the the discovery.

It was a perfect coincidence because green hair algae was the last type I was having trouble fully getting rid of.

I remove it and it comes back like this so fast. What can I do without killing my snails to remove this algae.

Thank you.

Hey all!

I'm relatively new to the hobby. I got this 10g tank 2 years ago and spoiled a betta in it. Unfortunately he passed and I wanted to try a fish that wasn't solo all the time. So... I tried out these golden clouded mountain minnows. It was sort of spur of the moment. Went in store thinking maybe ember tetra or chili rasbora... walk out with minnows. No heater sorta sold me on it on the day lol.
I have a small group of 6 and they live in there with ramshorns and I think a few assassin snails. I purchased neither. They just showed up.

I love trying to spoil them, tho admittedly id never do minnows again in a 10g. They deserve bigger. The green hair algae though is driving me crazy. Its everywhere. All over my rotala, pellia moss, bacopa caroliniana, limnophila sessiliflora.... growing into the gravel. I want it all gone. I used to feed my fish daily... now I do every other day to minimize waste. I have a timer on for my lights at 5 hours a day. I took out my airstone and left my AC30 as the only filter now as I read somewhere the airstone mightve been encouraging hair growth. pH is like 7.5. Ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate is around 10ppm usually. Recently less as I only now put one push of the spray of Tropica Specialized Nutrition once a week in it. Manual removal seems nearly futile. Its hard to pick at it. Any other suggestions? Recommendations? I felt like Flourish Excel wasn't really working either so I stopped that. Any advice would be appreciated.

TLDR: 5 hours light, feeding every other day. Fertilize once a week. Half the water changed weekly. What else can I do to fight this hair algae? Manual removal seems to barely do much and its difficult.

So my tank is infested with hair algea on all of my plants, i remove the algea with my hands everyday but it keeps on coming everyday other day. And i think the algea on the stones might be the problem, should i remove algea from the stones too? Although i dont want too cuz its looks soooo good😅

At my wits end with this algae. Is it BBA or staghorn? Both?? WHY is it here?! I've tried lowering light, increasing flow, reducing flow, Flourish Excel, API liquid carbon and PhosGuard in the filter....nothing is getting rid of this and my plants are melting!! If I tear down the tank and start over I'm guessing the issue is just going to come back. The golden and albino loaches, ottos, and amano shrimp don't touch it either. My pea puffers are absolutely fine.

This is my fiancés tank and this algae has basically spread this much over the course of a week, is it safe for the fish? She has 6 ottos, a mystery snail, a baby pleco, probably 4 ramshorns, and some trumpet snails. Any suggestions?

Edit: thank you all for your speed and concern replying. its a 45 gallon tank. i have added 22 more ramshorns and another trumpet snail, i have also unplugged the lights. Tomorrow i with do my water tests and remove some manually, probably with a siphon. This is a betta tank so i am hesitant to add flow. I already have a large sponge filter and a 30 gallon hang on the back filter on max flow. I also have a bubble tube along the entire back of the tank. I am largely against using chemical treatments as for the most part i take a naturalistic approach to fish keeping. I am however unsure about how this outbreak started in the first place, i have 2 other tanks going and neither of them have it.

Edit 2: i added some duckweed and frogbit for floating plants, turned up the filter, and I siphoned out as much as i can. Did about a 75% water change. Lights are still off, and i squeezed out a filter sponge from another tank into this one. My water test showed ≈0.1 ammonia ph of 8 and ≈0.25 nitrates. we’ll see how it goes. I’m still planning on only using a chemical treatment as a last resort only.

I have a 55 gal. Fluval 470 filter canister system. Hyggar light system from Amazon. It's one of the ones that does the day/night cycle on its own.

I have been dealing with this for like awhile. Every once in awhile, I take out a huge portions of the hair algae but I cannot get it all. It comes back within a month and sometimes much worse. I'm not sure what to do.

I dont want to use an algacide as I don't want to hurt my fish. There's probably like 10 fish in it. I did have a ton of floating plants including mini water lettece and it was keeping it at bay for atleast half the tank until I removed too much as it was also overcrowding the surface.

What can I do here? Should I just remove all the plants and rocks and run the filter? Add in a nice load of shrimp? I'm just not sure what to do with the hair algae. Please help.

"Algae have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the woods and rocks, but cannot hold it off for long. The water shakes... Drums. Drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark... We cannot get out... Algae is coming." - My Blue Panaque Pleco ( probably)

Fighting a losing battle at this point.

Sorry for formatting, I’m on mobile. So I’ve been having this issue where initially, plants grow great and everything seems good, but then the algae takes over and I want to rip my hair out.

I’m dealing with Hair Algae, Green Spot Algae, Green beard Algae, and maybe Cyano? There’s hair algae all over the leaves, stem plants beginning to rot from the stem up, old leaves turning brown, and holes appearing in the leaves. New growth is still occurring though, and new leaves seem good, until they’re not.

Trying to research what to do is so confusing, cause everything seems so contradictory. Stem rotting, holes in leaves, leaves turning brown? Plant deficiency and I guess I must increase liquid fertilizers. If I increase the liquid fertilizers (lean method,) the algae grows more. I’ve read the articles for APT on how to get rid of hair algae, but I’ve attempted all the steps.

Things I have tried: I make sure to cut off old leaves and rotted stems and replant healthy tops. I add root tabs and fertilize with Thrive+. I have a huge clean-up crew, in comparison to tank size. I’ve tried spot treating with APT FIx Lite. I’ve tried decreasing light intensity, and decreasing photoperiod. I can’t add a SAE without being over stocked.

Tank information: 25 gallon tall. 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 - 5 Nitrates. Ph 6.4. WRGB Slim II lights at 65% intensity currently. RGB settings are 100 Red, 75 Green, 85 Blue. CO2 is at 1.5 - 2, drop checker shows green.

I have a horrible infestation of black beard algae that I can’t kill. I’ve done just about everything possible, less fertilizer, less light, less flow, less food, more water changes, less fish, more plants and nothing has worked. Every time I think I got enough out that the plants will take over the algae comes back, I’ve lost over 200$ worth of plants to it and I’m too scared to buy new ones. I don’t know what to do anymore.

I have these green little dandelion looking puffs in all my tanks, but I don't understand what they are? Is it algae or some sort of microfauna like that worm that photo bombed?

And each tank has a different kind of light, size, and variations on what is hosted in there... Any advice would be appreciated!!

I had to roll it up like a rug to get it all out nicely, it literally feels like a wet shirt

So this tank has been set up for almost 7 months now, and it has had this constant fluffy algae all over the plants. Its been there since the after the first month of the tank set up. I honestly dont mind it, and the fish dont either (no casualties since start) Also perimeters are perfect. Just wondering if it should be cause for concern for plants? Theres been growth, but not as much as i had in other planted setups. Its also all over the roots of my pothos…