Very thin stringy green plant/algae - what is it, how do I get rid of it

[fabsroman]

I have some sort of plant/algae growing in my tank. It attaches to plants, grows between plants, and essentially floats in the water. This stuff is essentially as thin as sewing thread, but I have no idea what it is or how to get rid of it. It is bright green when I take it off the plants.

Anybody have any idea what it is, and how I can get rid of it?

 

[petluvr]

Clado maybe?

 

[petluvr]

Does it look like this.

 

[fabsroman]

Does it look like this.

It is actually thinner than that and it grows to lengths of 12 inches and more. I let maintenance on my tank go during tax season and it was like a mat of stringy stuff on the surface of the water that was all attached to the plants from underneath. This stuff attaches to the plants and floats upward in the water and/or along the current until it finds something else to attach to, which is usually another plant. The individual strings are very hard to see with the naked eye until the bunch up. If I run my fingers along the plants, I can feel the strings and try to rip them out.

I'll try to get some pictures of this stuff, but it probably isn't going to be easy to photograph.

 

[247Plants]

Sounds like typical hair algae. Caused by a nutrient imbalance, as you know already.

 

[fabsroman]

Sounds like typical hair algae. Caused by a nutrient imbalance, as you know already.

It looks like air in the water and out of the water. I tried to do a search on algae, but the description I found for hair algae didn't match. I'll do some more research on hair algae specifically.