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Aquarist Forums => Freshwater General Discussions => Plants => Topic started by: smalltownfan on May 31, 2009, 09:05:19 AM

Title: Next step?
Post by: smalltownfan on May 31, 2009, 09:05:19 AM
Called away unexpectedly for a few days, came back to a sad looking tank. Long strands of some sort of plant (a weed?) and most surfaces covered in fuzzy aglae. Several plants also dying back.
55g - 36x18x18
DIY CO2 - 1 bubble per 3 sec (Pressurized system coming soon)
Lights - T5 3X39, 2X21 - 11 hr timer
Fauna - 10 harlequins, 4 corys, small number of cherry shrimp
78o, PH  7.8, Am 0, Ni .25, Na 5


Other tanks doing fine except for a bloom of hair algae in daughters 27g


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Title: Re: Next step?
Post by: fischkopp on May 31, 2009, 09:58:09 AM
That stringy plant is Utricularia gibba - real nasty stuff IMO. It doesn't do anything bad, it just keeps growing where you don't want it: in moss hairgrass ... Unfortunately, since it is a plant, it thrives like any other plant if you provide light; CO2 etc. Getting rid of it is very difficult because breaks easily into tiny pieces. I had it going so wild in one tank that I decide to take it down and start over, being very very careful that I did not introduce U. gibba again.

I find most problems with hair algae are due to low flow / insufficient circulation, which causes CO2 distribution issues. You also got a lot of light on that tank, so algae won't be very forgiving if any nutrient runs short.

Oh, well. The joy of a planted tank: no algae no fun! :)