hey guys, this has ben growing on my plants and i thought nothing of it, but its getting pretty bad now can anyone tell me what it is and how to get rid of it? is it unhealthy ? i havent lost any fish since it has appeared.... and i know its in my tropical tank but its not about the fish its about the weird stuff growing :s

looks like Staghorn algae

Staghorn algae - individual strands of hair algae but tends to grow in single branching strands like a deer antler and is grey-green. Seems to grow mostly on tank equipment near the surface. Difficult to remove mechanically. Soak affected equipment in a 25% solution of household bleach and water to remove it.


pic ex...

cheers m8 u a star

That stuff is horrible. It can be really hard to get rid of. I had it over a year ago and to this day I still see some rearing it's ugly head. Makes sure your phosphates are not high. Also, if you have lots of light, but no CO2 this can cause the problem too.

I finally dropped the watts in my tank and upped the water changes.
Gotta keep nitrates low. That helped to get rid of most of it.

I hate that stuff.