# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Hair/Thread algae? CLADOPHORA sp. Algae?

## Blaze88

Hi bros, i came back from malaysia and check on my tank to find these :







So it seems like its CLADOPHORA sp. algae infesting on my poor fissiden meshes  :Mad: 
I have been reading around but there doesnt seem to be a proper solution besides manually removing them, could any bro confirm this and suggest a solution? 

Thanks

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## blue33

Hydrogen Peroxide can kill them. Just use syringe inject on them, after that you can see shrimp comes and enjoy the cook feast. I see lots of dirts around also.  :Opps:

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## blackBRUSHalgae

I always throw in a rosy barb to deal with any form of green filamentous algae.... give it a week or two, and without fail the rosy barb empties every single strand of them!

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## equidorz

Does rosy barb attack CRS?

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## blue33

i believe they will eat anything that can fits into their mouth. Always a hungry fellow. lol

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## Blaze88

> Hydrogen Peroxide can kill them. Just use syringe inject on them, after that you can see shrimp comes and enjoy the cook feast. I see lots of dirts around also.


Hydrogen peroxide as in those from the pharmacy? would it harm my lifestock? 

yeah the shrimp poo which is stuck in there is hard to remove...

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## blue33

yes from the pharmacy. many people asked would it kill the livestock, so far after i dosed there's no casualty and shrimps were beside my syringe when i injected on the algae.  :Grin: . no guarantee on individual usage, try it at your own your risk.  :Laughing:  use a small hose and suck out those dirt, those algae usually appear when your tank has lots of dirt.

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## equidorz

> i believe they will eat anything that can fits into their mouth. Always a hungry fellow. lol


Thank you for your reply. Noted. Looks like rosy barb is out for me then.

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## barmby

Its quite normal. Whatever fits.. everything goes. Even green neon will hunt for shrimplets.

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## blackBRUSHalgae

yep... law of nature... 

but somehow my chocolate gourami and mini puffer would swim like next to a 2 or 3mm shrimplet... but do nothing about it... but they will feast on brine shrimps and boon... weird...

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## blackBRUSHalgae

> i believe they will eat anything that can fits into their mouth. Always a hungry fellow. Lol


totally!!! during the time when mine was just slurping long green filamentous algae... it would pooped bright green stuffs all the time hahahaa...

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## Jungle-mania

I had the same issue before and it is hard to remove them, getting algae eaters are only temporary solution, but still essential. You need to watch the nutrient level in the water, use floating plants to soak up your nutrients too. I think you might be overfeeding your shrimps.

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## tommy

Grow denser mosses will keep the shrimplets safe while they grow bigger and stronger to escape from the fishes. that's work for my shrimplets... surviving and thriving...  :Surprised: )

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## Blaze88

> I had the same issue before and it is hard to remove them, getting algae eaters are only temporary solution, but still essential. You need to watch the nutrient level in the water, use floating plants to soak up your nutrients too. I think you might be overfeeding your shrimps.



I dun think feeding was it, i was away for 3 weeks in which i did not feed the shrimps at all. though my plants grew like mad along with the algae ><.

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## Blaze88

> Grow denser mosses will keep the shrimplets safe while they grow bigger and stronger to escape from the fishes. that's work for my shrimplets... surviving and thriving... )


I've tried tat though, but when you first introduced the fish in, the shrimps would just go about their normal business, until there are a few casualties (nom nom nom) then they will all begin to hide and you can hardly see where your shrimps are =(

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## alvinchan80

Does the hydrogen peroxide work on the Cladophora? Will I be able to get the hydrogen peroxide from Guardian together with the syringe?
I am also having the same problem as you on my fissiden mesh and also they are growing out of my marimo moss ball..

ended up i tried dosing liquid co2 on my mesh until my fissiden looks badly burnt.. now just hope that they will regenerate and grow green again..

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## blue33

Dirt and light is the main culprit, when there's light(in any form) you need to provide CO2, unless your plant is growing in emmersed form which they can take in the CO2 from the open abundance air. Under dirt and light issue all sorts of algae will just come uninvited.

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## blue33

Fish will just find its way for food, especially the delicacy shrimps they can get.  :Grin: 




> I've tried tat though, but when you first introduced the fish in, the shrimps would just go about their normal business, until there are a few casualties (nom nom nom) then they will all begin to hide and you can hardly see where your shrimps are =(

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## alvinchan80

> Dirt and light is the main culprit, when there's light(in any form) you need to provide CO2, unless your plant is growing in emmersed form which they can take in the CO2 from the open abundance air. Under dirt and light issue all sorts of algae will just come uninvited.


Sorry for OT bro Blaze88.

i have a 55w light on my 60x30x30 FivePlan tank with CO2 pumped in at 1.5bps. Cant really tell if there is a lot of dirt but water looks clear and i am doing 2 water changes per week. But the Cladophora seems to be growing everywhere especially extending from the marimo moss ball, out of my inlet sponge & also on a plant that looks like a gujing which is attached to a driftwood.

So can i just go to any pharmacy and purchase hydrogen peroxide and syringe, after that how much must i inject onto the Cladophora and it shouldnt cause any other damage to other fauna & flora right? the hydrogen peroxide will become other components right?

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## blue33

PM me if you want to find out more.  :Smile:

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## Jungle-mania

I agree with blue33 about cleaning out dirt, if you siphon the floorbed of your tank, you should pick up alot of dirt.

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## Blaze88

Just an update: Tried both methods: 

Excel : It does destroy the algae with spot treatment, but also kills the fissiden along with it, treated areas will turn brown and die. I would advice against using it on US fissidens, 

Hydrogen peroxide Treatment: It manage to "kill" the algae as after treatment, the algae turns white, but its still as annoying to see white threads on your fissiden, Damage to fissiden could also be noticed but not as extensive as excel treatment. I guess ill have to wait for my shirmps to clear the dead algae, though they dont seem much intrested. 

Can anyone tell me if they have done bleach treatment before? I feel like taking all my plants and dump it into bleach solution for 5 minutes, wash them and quarentine while i annihilate all the algae in the tank. Garghh

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## Navanod

Bleach is the worst, more so than excel or H2O2. Plants very likely to also go. If you cannot get the excel dosage right (and its the most forgiving of the 3 IMHO) then you'll likely kill off everything with bleach.
Try excel at 20-25% dilution if you're doing direct application to the plant outside the tank, and leave it on/soak for no more than 15mins.

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## Blaze88

Would like to update on the status of the algae, 

I have done a 3day total blackout and dose excel into the tank . There was a visible reduction to the hair algae, those that were still visible were whitish in colour. So i guess this method could work on them. However i am not clear if this would completely remove them or just a temporary solution. 

There were also hair algae in between my xmas moss, i am not sure whether these were killed aswell, will check on them again. 

Hopefully the hair algae wont return once i restart the normal tank lighting hours.

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## jamesneo

> Just an update: Tried both methods: 
> 
> Excel : It does destroy the algae with spot treatment, but also kills the fissiden along with it, treated areas will turn brown and die. I would advice against using it on US fissidens, 
> 
> Hydrogen peroxide Treatment: It manage to "kill" the algae as after treatment, the algae turns white, but its still as annoying to see white threads on your fissiden, Damage to fissiden could also be noticed but not as extensive as excel treatment. I guess ill have to wait for my shirmps to clear the dead algae, though they dont seem much intrested. 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if they have done bleach treatment before? I feel like taking all my plants and dump it into bleach solution for 5 minutes, wash them and quarentine while i annihilate all the algae in the tank. Garghh


Hi,

1) What is the brand that you bought for the hydrogen peroxide from pharmacy? 
2) If i just tell the pharmacy staff about this hydrogen peroxide, would they know what is this?
3) Do you add the peroxide directly into the tank or do you inject with syringe near to affected area.? 
How many XX ml /dosage did you add each time?

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## Jungle-mania

I have used 15 to 1 chlorox solution before, it was effective, but also damaging to the plants. 

James, H202 can be used directly with no dilution with an oral syringe. Any pharmacy has it.

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## jamesneo

> I have used 15 to 1 chlorox solution before, it was effective, but also damaging to the plants. 
> 
> James, H202 can be used directly with no dilution with an oral syringe. Any pharmacy has it.


Alright, thanks. Tomorrow will go to the pharmacy shop to get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

By the way out of curiousity, what is H202 commonly used for? Why is it on sale in the pharmacy instead of LFS?  :Smile:

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## Blaze88

The reason hydrogen peroxide is in the pharmacy is because it can be used to clean wounds, though there are much better alternatives as wound cleaning with h202 can slow down the speed of recovery.

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## nicken

> The reason hydrogen peroxide is in the pharmacy is because it can be used to clean wounds, though there are much better alternatives as wound cleaning with h202 can slow down the speed of recovery.


just curious , why would someone want to slow down the speed of recovery ?  :Smile:

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## Blaze88

Haha, bro, its a side effect. 

h2o2 was used as an antiseptic as they found it to be able to clean wounds well, but it also damages your cells slightly, so recovery is slower compared to the newer antiseptics that we have around. 

The same way it kills your algae and bacteria, it will also damage your cell or kill them. 
It is still in use widely but not as much since we have alternatives.

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## Navanod

> Haha, bro, its a side effect. 
> 
> h2o2 was used as an antiseptic as they found it to be able to clean wounds well, but it also damages your cells slightly, so recovery is slower compared to the newer antiseptics that we have around. 
> 
> The same way it kills your algae and bacteria, it will also damage your cell or kill them. 
> It is still in use widely but not as much since we have alternatives.


Abit OT

Those are the 3% H2O2.
Higher strength of 30% or more is also used to sterilize equipment by vaporizing the H2O2 and letting the item sit in the fumes. 

Of course, high concentration of H2O2 is no longer available off the shelves as its an explosive precursor...similar to some of the fertilizers that were banned.

Can also find H2O2 in hair bleach too

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## jamesneo

> Just an update: Tried both methods: 
> 
> Excel : It does destroy the algae with spot treatment, but also kills the fissiden along with it, treated areas will turn brown and die. I would advice against using it on US fissidens, 
> 
> Hydrogen peroxide Treatment: It manage to "kill" the algae as after treatment, the algae turns white, but its still as annoying to see white threads on your fissiden, Damage to fissiden could also be noticed but not as extensive as excel treatment. I guess ill have to wait for my shirmps to clear the dead algae, though they dont seem much intrested. 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if they have done bleach treatment before? I feel like taking all my plants and dump it into bleach solution for 5 minutes, wash them and quarentine while i annihilate all the algae in the tank. Garghh


Alright, just brought hydrogen peroxide 100ml in glass bottle from pharmacy to try it out. I have a Christmas Moss on mesh with some green hair/thread algae at different location of the mesh. I am quite eager to killing off green hair/thread algae at one go. Thus instead of using syringe method, 
1) Could i just pour the H2O2 to a flat tray container and dip the mesh into it say for 5 sec? 
2) Do i need to dilute the H202 first using this method? eg 70% of H202 and 30% of Water 
3) Will this "burn" the moss? 
3) Any standard practise?
4) Is the H2O2 resusable?

Thanks

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## alvinchan80

> Alright, just brought hydrogen peroxide 100ml in glass bottle from pharmacy to try it out. I have a Christmas Moss on mesh with some green hair/thread algae at different location of the mesh. I am quite eager to killing off green hair/thread algae at one go. Thus instead of using syringe method, 
> 1) Could i just pour the H2O2 to a flat tray container and dip the mesh into it say for 5 sec? 
> 2) Do i need to dilute the H202 first using this method? eg 70% of H202 and 30% of Water 
> 3) Will this "burn" the moss? 
> 3) Any standard practise?
> 4) Is the H2O2 resusable?
> 
> Thanks


dont pour the h2o2 into the container and dip it in.. you might kill the moss as well... tested & proven by myself... my mini pelia was almost wiped out even when i dose too much on them.... (luckily right now they are growing again)
you can actually do a 25% h2o2 and 75% tank water into a spray bottle and just spray on the mesh.. leave it there for 10mins.. den rinse it off... use a toothbrush to lightly scrub away the remaining hair algae/cladophora...

whether you are using excel or h2o2.. better to dilute with tank water... both i have tested to cause burnt results on moss if not use properly...
for h2o2, try to separate what you are going to be using into another bottle so as not to mix other liquid inside....

no standard practise on how you want to use it.. but i learnt it the hard way.. hahahaha

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## jamesneo

> dont pour the h2o2 into the container and dip it in.. you might kill the moss as well... tested & proven by myself... my mini pelia was almost wiped out even when i dose too much on them.... (luckily right now they are growing again)
> you can actually do a 25% h2o2 and 75% tank water into a spray bottle and just spray on the mesh.. leave it there for 10mins.. den rinse it off... use a toothbrush to lightly scrub away the remaining hair algae/cladophora...
> 
> whether you are using excel or h2o2.. better to dilute with tank water... both i have tested to cause burnt results on moss if not use properly...
> for h2o2, try to separate what you are going to be using into another bottle so as not to mix other liquid inside....
> 
> no standard practise on how you want to use it.. but i learnt it the hard way.. hahahaha


Yeah, got myself a 50ml spray bottle after work today. Will try out your method. Thanks Alvin.
Finger cross  :Smile:

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## Kiatster

Wow...the amount of Clado growing in your tank is a nightmare man. The moment i see little strands of it growing out from my moss i already headache. Its one of the toughest to remove, no fish will eat it. I never tried chemical treatments but manual removal in the beginning before it outbreaks managed to somehow work for me, now i don't see any of it.

Read somewhere that battle against this algae needs patience also. hahha. Good luck!

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## blackBRUSHalgae

I really wonder why nobody try a Rosy barb, but rather went for chemicals? They have never failed me in removing any form of green filamentous algae, even hard to reach places. And yes, they are ever so hungry, so it can readily eat way faster than the algae can reproduce. the largest tank I tested was 200L tank with just one rosy barb, all forms of green filamentous algae reduced by more than 50% within 1week, and by 3 weeks time... no traces left...

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## blackBRUSHalgae

> Hi bros, i came back from malaysia and check on my tank to find these :
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks


my 1 feet tank was in this condition. 1 rosy barb and 2 weeks later... all gone.

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## Jungle-mania

Wow! Never heard of it, I tried koi mollies, but they pooped equally as much. I will consider them next time, besides they make great pond fishes.

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## hyun007

One more usage for hydrogen peroxide.
It is also good as a mouthwash.
Mixed 50-50 with water and then gargle.
It is better than the commercial washmouth for bad breathe.
Last of all, when you gargle in your mouth, it help to whiten your teethas well.
Yes, teeth whitening main agent is hydrogen peroxide.

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## hyun007

I love the idea of Rosy barb but it is not feasible for shrimp tank.
They will go for the plant where the shrimplets will be hiding.

I am only able to get the 3% concentration Hydrogen Peroxide.
How long do I have to soak with it to kill the algae?
What are the proportion to use?
Many thanks.

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## stormhawk

Follow the instructions on this blog pertaining to algae and it should fix your hair algae issues one way or another:

http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/

I didn't dose any chemicals, just manually removed as much as I could, and turned off the lights for about 2 days. I added in a powerhead to increase water flow over the area where the hair algae was growing. It significantly reduced most if not all of the remaining hair algae. I still see bits here and there but it doesn't bother me. Algae is part and parcel of a normal fish tank. Sometimes it can be an eyesore but if it is not affecting the tank inhabitants adversely, I'd just live with it, and try to control it the best I can.

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