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Are these hair-like algae anything to worry about?

CheckeredRust

Member
Joined
4 Jun 2021
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58
Location
Asia
Some background info, this is a newly planted 21L tank, it has been running for 21 days. I only noticed these algae about a week ago. My light hours was 8 hours daily at full power (it says 9w) for the first 2 weeks, it was until few days ago I reduced the intensity by about half and the hours to 5 hours daily. I have also been doing 50% water changes every 3 days from the start. Will these algae go away in time as the plants establish themselves? Or should I do something to prevent it from potentially getting worse?

So far, this hair like algae can be found mostly on the java moss, surface of the glass and some leaves here and there. They aren't exactly noticeable, I had to really use bright lights, or focus properly to be able to find them. I've attached a couple of macro shots of the said algae below.

Would appreciate any input as I'm very new to this hobby.
 

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It looks like filamentus/hair algae and maybe staghorn algae as well. You can remove most of the hair algae with your hands or wrap it around a toothbrush like spaghetti. Staghorn tends to be stuck more solidly to the plants. Trim back what you can to remove as much as possible. Cut stems and replant the tops etc, do a good clean up and large water change to remove as much algae from the water/substrate as possible. Then work on the cause of the problem.
 
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