Hi,

I've recently discovered a new weed-like plant in my tropical community tank. I originally thought when i saw it it was java moss as we have a handful of that but after pulling some out have realised that it like thread/fish wire! it surrounds some pipes etc where i can get it off but my problem is that it covers plants (such as my much liked amazon sword plants) and sticks to them like glue. it appears to suffocate them and some unknown plants i had in the tank had in fact died. it seems like it turns into a moss afterwards?

does anybody know what i'm dealing with here? i have not bought any fish lately and all the water we use for the tank (we live rurally and no doubt our water is from a local stream) we add water ager or similar.

whatever it is it appears to be killing my plants, the fish seem unaffected. i have taken a photo but don't seem to be able to upload it, is anybody able to tell me how?!

thanks.

i added a photo of this plant/weed as my profile pic as didn't seem to be any other way. cheers.

is it string algae?

To add pictures you need to have a web based photo sharing account, such as Photobucket.com

Or you can email them to me, and I can load them for you if you like.

It is a weed alright. Its a certain type of wiry stringy algae.

Luckily it doesn't attach itself very well and is easily removed.

However it keeps growing and growing if it likes the conditions. I did some nasty water changes and then fertilised it to death

Is that what they call blanketweed? The bane of ponds?

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/plant_survey/aq ... 067f45c44a

this possibly???

string algae eh? i'll do a water change today and use lots of fertiliser (i do both these regularly). i've managed to get rid of most of it just whats attached to the plants is really tricky to get off, it attaches like an extra layer!

whats the best way to remove it from the plants? thanks.

its not the stonewort and i'm not entirely convinced its the string algae after looking at some pics on google. there is that sort of algae in the stream outside but this stuff is very dark green and is spreading like crazy along the top of the tank attaching to pipes etc (now gone) and the plants at the bottom. not nice.

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/here-v ... tml#234774

thats what im thinking of!

cheers mincie, you've described it right in the other post a hairy mess that smells funny when its taken out the tank!

i don't have a problem with the regular algae as i have several fish that love to eat it, this stuff obviously doesn't appeal to them!

i'll get to work trying to peel it off my poor amazon swords this afternoon.

cheers.

Good as, yea i thought it would be good for spawning fish in etc but once it started mixing through my tanks and in the java moss i gt sick of it fast, it still keeps coming bak in a couple of tanks dammit but got rid of most of it!

Applesnails seem to like, but they like neally any greens :lol:

i was thinking of getting some golden apple snails actually but they're $4.50 in my local pet shop, a bit pricey do you reckon?

those apple sails may eat some small fish! (yuk)

would they?! seems that its my fish eating the other small snails at present in my community tank! in my killifish tank the snails don't seem to be dinner!

lol, it's pretty rare for that to actually ever happen, and they'd have to be pretty big to even attempt it. I'm not sure what your experiences are with them jn but when I've kept them they've mostly just kept to themselves (and eaten anything they could get their hands on, too).

Yea ive never actually seen em catch a fish but they sure will clean up any that die, so if fish just disapear they most likely died and the snails had a feast :lol:

$4.50 is a tad pricey but still petshops have to cover costs, keep an eye on trademe they pop up on there from time to time!

golden apple nails are not the best choice for planted tanks...

yeah i've seen some brown apple snails on tm, think they look nice so will get a few of those.

i hope i've got rid of 90-95% of this evil weed today, i tried to get it off the leaves of my amazon swords etc with no luck so have torn the ends of the leaves affected. i think they will live through this ordeal as many of the leaves were unaffected.

i did a 20-25% water change and added heaps of fertilser so hopefully this will encourage this horrid weed to die! i can't believe how it was glued to the leaves of the plants!

it appeared out of no where, quite like duck weed appeared the same but i don't mind that so much, good for the fry to hide.

Yeah there was a thred on here recently that said someone apple snails had made snacks out of some of their fish.. I'm sure you could find it if you try a search! from the menu up above.

If you use flourish excel and do regular water changes to reduce the nutrient it should go away but it takes a few weeks, Apple snails may prefer your plants to algae.

This is the thread I was referring to:

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/-vp243877.html

i'll go to the fish shop for flourish excel cheers.

not concerned about the apple snails, i think they'll be find in my tank.

ive heard that high pH causes this algae, and adding exra carbon dioxide should rectify the problem, is this true?