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"Bill Stock" wrote in message
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Several months ago I somehow introduced some sort of fuzzy algae into my
tank, and since then I have been unable to grow hornwort. The fuzzy
stuff grows on the hornwort and basically overgrows them so I have this
ugly fuzzy mass. If I reduce the light too much, the hornwort dies. I've
increased iron, decreased iron, increased light, decreased light, and
don't know what to do. I've grown hornwort in tanks for 10 years or
more, and I've never seen this before. Is there any way to get rid of
it, or is this tank permanently infested?

Is the algae dark green and slimy or light green and stringy? If it's
dark green and slimy, it's likely BGA. If it's light green and stringy,
it's hair/string algae. This is fairly easy to control by just pulling it
off the HW every few days, before it gets a good hold. Just throw away
any HW that's beyond saving.

I have hair algae up the ying yang in the pond, but I found it fairly
easy to control in the aquarium.




I can't really be sure - I think I have both. At one time I had a lot of
light, and I ended up with long hairy dark green algae growing everywhere.
The stuff growing on the hornwort, however, is light green, and very
difficult to pull off - it's also a pain since I have a lot of (hairy)
hornwort.

It's possible you have both, I know I do. The SA (string algae) is not too
bad by itself, but the BGA is nasty stuff. I found more plants effective
against the SA, as it helps to out compete them for nutrients. Water changes
and mechanical cleaning help with the BGA. Blackouts are another common cure
for BGA. Some people also use antibiotics (Erythromycin) against BGA, as
it's actually a bacteria.

I did a big mechanical cleaning (ornaments, plants, filters, gravel) a
couple of weeks ago and I have been doing more regular water changes. This
seems to be helping to reduce the BGA. If this doesn't help I may try some
Kanamycin on it.