Hair Algae (I think) + leaf holes

[Antipofish]

OK, so this past week I have been mucking around in the tank far more than I would like. What with flow issues, trying out a CO2 reactor (which is still for sale, HINT, lol) trying to sort out the working pressure of my reg (new one should arrive tomorrow with 3bar working pressure; fingers crossed) and seeing what flow options work best for me, the poor old plants must be VERY p'd off with me. In fact I can tell they are ! Because, , I saw some hair algae today on the ends of my Crinum It is fine green hair, so I am assuming thats what it is. AND a few leaves are showing holes in them.

Is this CO2 related ? I have to admit because of the issues I have had, my CO2 has been all over the place.

What should I do ? Leave it and when the CO2 is settled it will go ? Should I remove the leaves with holes in ? Will my flying fox (two juveniles) eat the algae ? Or the two ottos that are in there ? Or should I try to gently remove it from the leaves concerned ? Or remove the leaves entirely ?

And I had managed to avoid algae so far.

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Antipofish

Is this CO2 related ?

I'm afraid it is. Holes in leaves and hair algae are two tell tale signs that all is not well on the CO2 front.

What should I do ? Leave it and when the CO2 is settled it will go ?

Unfortunately it won't go away on it's own when your CO2 stabilises. As it is a form of plant life, once started, it will feed on the very same stuff that you feed your plants e.g. CO2 and ferts.
I would only consider removing the leaves if there is lots of hair algae on them. Manual removal is the best option for this type of algae and if you harass it enough it won't come back when your tanks CO2 levels are sorted

 

[Antipofish]

Hi Antipofish

Is this CO2 related ?

I'm afraid it is. Holes in leaves and hair algae are two tell tale signs that all is not well on the CO2 front.

What should I do ? Leave it and when the CO2 is settled it will go ?

Unfortunately it won't go away on it's own when your CO2 stabilises. As it is a form of plant life, once started, it will feed on the very same stuff that you feed your plants e.g. CO2 and ferts.
I would only consider removing the leaves if there is lots of hair algae on them. Manual removal is the best option for this type of algae and if you harass it enough it won't come back when your tanks CO2 levels are sorted

Thanks CeeJay, so how do i manually remove it ? just rub off with fingers or do i need something else to do it with , like a toothbrush ?

 

[CeeJay]

Hi Antipofish

You can twist a toothbrush around it if there is a lot, or for odd strands here and there, I have used my planting tweezers to just pull it off in the past

 

[darren636]

yep. twist it and remove as many infected leaves as possible without denuding the whole plant. i too have been fiddling constantly the last few months since set up and have had bba, hair algae etc etc. just keep going at it and it will go. been noticing that a clean healthy leaf will soon turn bad if uneaten fish food settles on it. a damaged leaf from bad maintenance soon attracts algae- seems to come from nowhere. just keep it clean as you can. remove what you see and enjoy your tank.