Algae bloom??

[Jen]

Ok. So yesterday I did a 30% water change and added 2 plants. now today when I got home from work, the tank is all cloudy, and there are these little white 'hairs' on my glass. Is this the dreaded hair algea that everyone talks about? does anyone know what I can do to get rid of it?

here are my levels
PH - 7.8 (normal)
Ammonia - cant tell... very low
NitrIte... This one is hard to tell. On my test colour card it looks like a colour that could be .5 or 5. It's not dull enough to be .5, and its not bright enough to be 5, but its more purple than the colours in the middle
NirtAte - I lost the spoon to measure one of the chemicals, but considering it's always high I'm going to go with high. in the 25 - 50 range - but it's always like that

 

[WILDER]

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm
http/www.pondcreations.co.uk/algae.htm

 

[blazer666_uk]

I had that too when I first got my tank and added some plants . It's just a fungus growth . I just cleaned it off, let the filter suck up the debris , then cleaned the filter using old tank water. its pretty harmless and my fish ate it too!

 

[Jen]

forgot to mention that the water is cloudy white (imagine pouring a glass of water into the tank), and the hairs are white too.

 

[blazer666_uk]

Is this stuff slimey? check your filter to see if its clogged up (as mine was)

 

[Jen]

the filter is clogged, but the stuff isnt slimy. it scrapes off easily. I just did a water change yesterday, and with the advice of the fish guy, did another change. do tomorrow I will change the filter. I was due to put a whole new one in next week, so a few days early isnt bad

 

[StarOrbs]

Yah I had that problem too, I don't have real plants anymore though because I moved them but I have had the light off and I do about 30% water change every day and seems to do that trick going to do it a couple more times then it should be clear.