# What is this and how do I get rid of it!



## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

In the picture I have included, I have hair like algae growing out of my xmas moss. I wasn't sure if it was staghorn, hair algae, or something else. How do I get rid of said algae?

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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Oh, I drew the black lines next to the hair stuff.

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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

hmm, that is a long strain of algae. It's one of the worst kinds to get rid of because usually it will take half your stuff away when you try to eradicate it.

It's hair from a girl lol - or so it seems in the picture.. I get tons of cat hair and g/f hair stuck in my flame/java moss all the time.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

Vermino said:


> hmm, that is a long strain of algae. It's one of the worst kinds to get rid of because usually it will take half your stuff away when you try to eradicate it.
> 
> It's hair from a girl lol - or so it seems in the picture.. I get tons of cat hair and g/f hair stuck in my flame/java moss all the time.


haha this made my day.
i also have that particular algae in my tank. impossible to get rid off living with 2 daughters


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

I wish it was her hair. Would of made it a lot easier. Funny though.

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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

if you can, take a few more shots of it to get a better example. if you use a toothpick or chopsticks - does it cling like algae does when you twist it?


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## brogan (Jan 16, 2012)

Looks like roots to me...


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## Lukeo85 (Nov 13, 2012)

Possible the start of cladophora. I had a tank that had cladophora. It started just like that a few hair like strands. Then a week or two later boom everywhere. Grab a few strands and rubb them in your fingers and smell. Cladophora has a nasty almost sewage smell to it. This is just an idea. I'm no algae pro. Im just going by my own experiences.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

I had thread algae like you before. API algaefix works great against these but please read up before committing to that. Issue with algaes like hair algae is they can thrive in the same conditions as plants. Overtime, good stable CO2 and flow will allow plants to outcompete, though I never was able to beat it that way (mainly since at the time I had poor understanding of planted tanks). However, algaefix got rid of it and I havent seen it back in the past 4 months.


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Here are more pics.


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## panchovilla1133 (May 23, 2012)

I had a bad hair algae outbreak about a year ago and it did look a bit like your photos when it started. I first noticed it in my rocks that I had covered in java moss. Within two week it choked and killed half my moss. I bought some amano shrimp and they made quick work of the problem. Not sure if thats the same problem you have, Im no pro in this hobby.
I also get cat/girlfriend hair in my tank, and that one thing that my amanos wont touch.


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## fplata (May 20, 2012)

Amanos will take care of your hair/thread algae issue


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

They must be lazy then. There are 10 amanos in there. In fact in the one pic. is an amano molt. Going to have to fire them for being lazy.

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## thinBear (Dec 16, 2011)

maybe cut down the food you give. They always prefer flake food first.


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

I only feed the tank once a week with a algae wafer. There are 150 RCS, 10 Amanos, a couple nerites, and 3 otos.

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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

mpkee007 said:


> I only feed the tank once a week with a algae wafer. There are 150 RCS, 10 Amanos, a couple nerites, and 3 otos.
> 
> Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk.



This kind-of brings back my theory of it's just human hair. The RCS wont much care for hair algae but Amano and sometimes otos love to chow on it.

I still say do the toothpick test and see if it clings like algae when you swirl your toothpick around it. If it doesn't cling quickly, then it's human hair and you have nothing to worry about. 

If it is a type of algae, you can do spot dosing with a q-tip and excel and see if that kills the strain.


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Well it wasn't hair. It's some form of algae. Just got to figure out how to get rid of it permanently. Here's some new clearer pictures.

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## fplata (May 20, 2012)

Hair algae, a few Amano shrimp 


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Lol, just raok'ed most of my amanos last month..... guess I can go get a couple more.

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## fplata (May 20, 2012)

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## stealthypotatoes (Feb 2, 2013)

How do you grow your moss so well? What did you use to take those photos? They look really sharp


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

spirogyra. algae fix can nuke it but it'll kill off your shrimp.


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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Man, moss grows like weeds in my tank. I just took most of the moss off that driftwood. Probably could make a couple softballs with the amount I threw away. Just use my phone to take the pics.

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## mpkee007 (Jan 23, 2013)

Is there something I can use that won't kill the shrimp or if I buy more amanos will the amanos eat it all?

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## fplata (May 20, 2012)

If they are real Amanos, they will eat it all


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