# Cladophora, hair algae, or something worse



## plantastic37 (Nov 4, 2012)

Can someone help me I.D. this algae? Thanks.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Clado.
Too much light...but...will usually only happen when too little plant growth is present.
When plants are not growing well 45 PAR can be too much.
A picture of the tank can help determine things which may help
to suggest detailed "cures".
Hydrogen Peroxide kills it(and Riccia F.)but should be dosed directly on it via syringe/pipette when the current is turned off for about 20-30 min.
It is suggested it not be used over 1 ml per gallon total in one day. My RCS didn't react/w 1ml but did when I changed to 2ml.
Still they seemed unharmed.


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## Aceman (Aug 16, 2014)

Raymond S. said:


> Clado.
> Too much light...but...will usually only happen when too little plant growth is present.
> When plants are not growing well 45 PAR can be too much.
> A picture of the tank can help determine things which may help
> ...



Will hydrogen peroxide hurt the fish ? I've heard it works well for gha too but I'm scared to hurt my fish an shrimp


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I know there is one but I think two threads on it in the Algae section a few days back.
The 1 ml per gallon is fish safe. But I only have RCS and I don't know if the more sensitive type can be harmed by it. I have one Elassoma and one Otto in the tank where I used it and at 2 ml per gallon it did not bother them.


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## plantastic37 (Nov 4, 2012)

Raymond S. said:


> Clado.
> Too much light...but...will usually only happen when too little plant growth is present.
> When plants are not growing well 45 PAR can be too much.
> A picture of the tank can help determine things which may help
> ...


I had a bad feeling thats what it was. :/

I think it comes from my tap. Our tap comes from detroit river which is fed from lake saint clair and it is inundated with the stuff. They chlorinate the water but I think it survives. Suppose it could have come in on some anubias nana var petite that was purchased from a well known planted tank supply place in the bay area.

It is on everything.  I will post a full tank image.

Bump:


Raymond S. said:


> Clado.
> Too much light...but...will usually only happen when too little plant growth is present.
> When plants are not growing well 45 PAR can be too much.
> A picture of the tank can help determine things which may help
> ...


I had a bad feeling thats what it was. :/

I think it comes from my tap. Our tap comes from detroit river which is fed from lake saint clair and it is inundated with the stuff. They chlorinate the water but I think it survives. Suppose it could have come in on some anubias nana var petite that was purchased from a well known planted tank supply place in the bay area.

It is on everything.  I will post a full tank image.

Tank is Aqueon Evolve 8

Lighting: 12" Fugeray

Substrate: ADA Aquasoil

50% water changes once weekly

Filtration consists of 1 bag of purigen, 1 bag of bio ceramic (fluval), filter floss (rinsed out once a week).

Dosing: 1ml Excel daily

light cycle: is only 6 hours daily

Tank temp: 75F

Goal of tank: Low Maintenance!

I know I definitely need more plants. I have been hesitating because of the algae. It seems I may have to break this down and start over (if I can stomach it) as it seems this algae is almost unbeatable. :/


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## Aceman (Aug 16, 2014)

How often can you dose with hydrogen peroxide ?


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I didn't read all the thread on it but I do remember it saying you can use it for a few days
like it was a med. They used 1 ml per gallon and put it in like it was Excel.
Either it doesn't work all that well when used like Excel when you are using it for Clado or I didn't use it long enough. I did it maybe 5-6 days. When I dosed it directly on the Clado it seemed to work much better.
Really all remedies seem to work best on one kind of algae and maybe some on other kind. I'm fairly sure the thread said which kind but don't remember.
In advanced search look it up with Hydrogen Peroxide as a thread.


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## plantastic37 (Nov 4, 2012)

Should I just start over? This stuff is litterally on every piece of dirt, the driftwood, aqaurium walls, plants, aquasoil. 

The tanks is only 6.5 gallons if that so cant really spot treat since the amount of hydrogen peroxide I can use is very limited.

Thing I am not looking forward to is having to recycle. :/


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Can you remove the shrimp and increase your dosage of h2o2 and excel?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Does it smell bad? Clado is supposed to stink. 

This looks more like diatoms to me mostly due to color and soft looking texture. I've seen stuff like this, not noticed any odor and my grazers seem to eat it. Thought clado was a deeper green with a rough texture. 

Before you zap the tank try rubbing the wood, stirring the substrate and gently wiping it off plant leaves and then make a big water change to see if anything happens.


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## plantastic37 (Nov 4, 2012)

Kathyy said:


> Does it smell bad? Clado is supposed to stink.
> 
> This looks more like diatoms to me mostly due to color and soft looking texture. I've seen stuff like this, not noticed any odor and my grazers seem to eat it. Thought clado was a deeper green with a rough texture.
> 
> Before you zap the tank try rubbing the wood, stirring the substrate and gently wiping it off plant leaves and then make a big water change to see if anything happens.


Yeah it could be. No odor really but I did not put any up to my nose. Seems like diatoms are usually browner and less stringy looking. There is just so much. Its on the substrate even and cant siphon it. :/ i may try some nerites in the tank if I can find em. I hear they will mow down clado.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thus doesn't look like any clado that I've had. Its usually more stringy and less "poofy" then what I see in the pic. And yes Claro has an earthy smell to it


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## Mirkinator (Jan 13, 2014)

Man that light is _really_ close for only dosing with excel and those low light plants. Have you tried to raise it? Maybe 2-3 inches and see?

Also, yeah looks kinda like diatoms. Is this a new tank (<1-2 months old?) Might clear up after a month or two due to high silicates (mine did).

And, the "One-two punch" in this forum does wonders to help clear it. I would try that, raise the lights and see.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

RHIZOCLONIUM???

I have the exact same stuff. I am positive that this is exactly the stuff I have and I THINK it is rhizo.

Because I have gone through hell, back again, back through hell, back again, and hell again, etc... with this crap I will give you everything I have found out in the last 4 months:

I have also had clado at the same time. It is not clado (clado is harder and bonds very strongly to everything). Clado is WAY EASIER to manage than this stuff. It is definitely not hair algae. My best guess was to assume it was rhizo after doing a ton of research. There is little documentation on this crap and I don't know any secrets to get rid of it.

H2O2 will kill it. If it starts to take hold then boy are you in for a treat. I use H2O2 to keep it in check if it starts to get wild. I have spent countless hours grooming this crap off of plants, substrate, hair grass, etc after coming home from work. It will be fine for a while then BAM it's everywhere again. My only solution is to tone down the lights until I get the balls to ramp them up again.

I have noticed that if I have dead plant matter / waste buildup then this stuff will take hold. Coupled with a good amount of light it can take over a good amount of your tank in less than a day. Keep things clean, manually remove it, and spot treat particularly stubborn sections with H2O2. To prevent it just jeep your tank squeaky clean and make sure it does not take hold. Too much light and it might (probably will) bounce back. It will make you pay if you don't keep it in check. I have seen outbreaks starting, left it for a day because I am lazy and cleaning a 75 gallon sucks, and it made me pay when I came home the next day.

Plant growth is key with this (and basically all algae). Mine was TOTALLY IN CHECK when my tank was a ludwigia repens jungle. Then I was like "oh wouldn't it be cool if I took out 50% of my plants and tried to propagate my ludwigia red?" Nope. This stuff came back pretty quickly and my lights are toned down a ton right now to make sure it doesn't take hold. It is threatening to destroy my 1/2 complete DHG carpet (UNACCEPTABLE). If the plants cannot out-compete it then it will run train on your setup.

You are LUCKY that it is in a tank so small. Mine is in my 75 gallon and it blows. BLOWS.

Starting over might be a decent idea. However you will probably run into it again given the underlying problems may still be present and you will use the same plants, tank, hardscape, water, etc...

Please let me know if anyone knows a good way to combat this stuff...


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## plantastic37 (Nov 4, 2012)

Mirkinator said:


> Man that light is _really_ close for only dosing with excel and those low light plants. Have you tried to raise it? Maybe 2-3 inches and see?
> 
> Also, yeah looks kinda like diatoms. Is this a new tank (<1-2 months old?) Might clear up after a month or two due to high silicates (mine did).
> 
> And, the "One-two punch" in this forum does wonders to help clear it. I would try that, raise the lights and see.


Cant raise it, but its a medium light fixture from what I have been told. The fixture that comes with these aqueons is upper end of low light but they go out in 3 months time and have to get a replacement by calling aqueon, they dont sell them. They have given me two fixtures to their credit free of charge.


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