For the past year, but not before, my shrimp tank has been suffering from a major excess of what I call 'fur algae'. It coats every broad leaf and surface in light green fuzz.  There is also hair algae.

What can be done to control this safely, with CRS and Cherry Shrimp in the tank?  

I already have one 7cm Otocinclus.  The tank is 60cm.  Water quality is excellent, with Nitrate and all of its friends reliably at 0.  KH 1.5.  GH 5. 

I should point out that two things changed before this problem began:
- I changed the lights from fluorescent to LED (white with a dash of red and blue in both cases). The LEDs are visually so much better.
- I added a moss ball that was sent to me as an unauthorised freebie from a UK aquarium supplier. I wonder whether it seeded the fur algae?  

Any recommendations for resolving this please, based on successful experience rather than conjecture?

Thanks :)

Edited August 15, 20169 yr by Finley

imbalance of nutrients, and long length of light is contributing to the BBA algae. How long do you leave your lights on for?

Otos don't eat hairy or furry algae in my experience with them. CRS and Cherries are not very good at controlling most algae either.

 

I think you would have better luck with Darwin Algae Eater (DAE).

Young Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE) will also control that, but they are a risk with shrimp.

 

Check your pH.

A drop in pH or low pH, can trigger algae growth.

If it's localazied infestation then you can spot does h2o2 in low concentration

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Perhaps get a dimmer for the LED light and lower your light levels.  Most LEDs I've used work great using the cheap 12-24V dimmers from ebay for $2-$5.