hair alge turning brown....dying?

dreams · 06-10-2006, 09:04 PM

i was having a bit of hair algae issue, but was keeping it under control.....it wasn't getting worse, but wasn't getting better either....it is now starting to turn brown, is it dying off on it's own?

***Rob*** · 06-10-2006, 11:16 PM

usually when it dies it turns yellow or white...
it could actually be growing some other type of algae on it.. i have seen diatoms, and cyano grow on hair algae

gwen_o_lyn · 06-12-2006, 01:39 PM

I've seen brown stiff stuff left over after hair algae. I got an emerald crab and he picked it all off.

fat walrus · 06-13-2006, 06:26 AM

hair algae dying from slow lack of nutrients will turn white or glassy yellow. sudden changes in water parameters can cause quick demise and rapid decay (browning) of hair algae. diatoms and cyano will also be quicker to smother dying hair algae. the sudden changes can include a leveling of nitrogen and phosphate levels or simply the natural state of balance in the aquaria finally coming into its own. just one long time but not always successful hobbyist's observation.

dreams · 06-13-2006, 11:11 AM

well, i have no clue what it is doing, but it is going away....slowly

seems like it is dying, tho....cause you can just pull off the brown stuff

fat walrus · 06-14-2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreams

well, i have no clue what it is doing, but it is going away....slowly

seems like it is dying, tho....cause you can just pull off the brown stuff

sounds like a win-win situation.

ghostbear29 · 06-14-2006, 01:31 AM

well, with mine, the hair is always a dark green and long filamentous. But when it spreads, it gets a light blue hue on its ends and next thing you know, youve got more of the crap. I added more crabs and snails and got back on track with waterchanges. but its been a loooong battle. just now seeing the light with the end of the tunnel. good luck bro.

dreams · 06-14-2006, 01:48 AM

walrus, can't disagree w/ ya there

LOL....i would be your sista, not your bro, ghost

anyways, it is going away....that's cool....hope i don't have another round of it.....weird thing is, i never had the "algae cycle" in my 40g.....so, this took me a little by surprise

dreams · 06-14-2006, 01:53 AM

oh!...i also had a couple cyano spots as well....that is clearing up too.....never dealt with that before either

fat walrus · 06-14-2006, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreams

oh!...i also had a couple cyano spots as well....that is clearing up too.....never dealt with that before either

the cyano will disappear in short time. what did u ever do with other tunze?

dreams · 06-14-2006, 02:19 AM

ya know, i was gunna return it, kept meaning to.....but, today i was actually thinking about hooking it up

i got the other one kinda bouncing off the glass pretty well, with no disruption to the tank.....so, iwas thinking, maybe putting the other one on the other end and see how that goes

fat walrus · 06-14-2006, 02:24 AM

i really don't think u need it unless u want to go sps intensive. keep in mind, at some point, opposing flow will cancel each other. if you want to use other pump, consider controller.