Hair Algae And Removal

[Chtheo]

Hi All,

Pretty new here so apologies if i have infringed upon any rules! (i dont think i have!)

I have been keeping fish for around 2 years now, and i have a long serving 100l (working volume) Conditioned tap water tank, which has been chugging along just fine for the majority of those 2 years.

About a month ago i started a new tank, and i was experimenting with R/O, a colleague of mine had spoken about it a lot, and says he has had no problems with it in his years of using it. I thought i would give it a go, its a 60l (working volume) tank with 100% remineralised RO. To begin with all that was in the tank was some well soaked Bog wood (soaked for about 3 days, replacing the water each day) i also have a number of plants, i have an (as of yet) unknown grass, Twisted Vallis, Java Fern, Dwarf Baby tears and 6 Moss Balls.

These plants were put in in stages (as and when i found some i liked the look of really)

The first intwhere the moss balls and the grass - everything was fine in the tank...
Then a day or two later the vallis - Everything was fine...
A Week later The Java Fern was added - everything is still fine...
another week later i added the dwarf baby tears, 2 days later i had a massive hair algae outbreak!

The tank had no fish in, so i had been trying to make the conditions for the plants as optimal as possible so that they would establish themselves before adding in fish. i had been supplementing CO2, adding in Ferropol (Daily Iron fertiliser Supplement) As well as this i have fertilizing stubstrate and when the plants went in i placed Ferrotabs under the roots. as well as weekly fertilizing.

Since putting in the baby tears i seem to have gained the algae, so i guess i had some hitch-hiking spores or something on that plant, however the bog wood is covered!

The Equipment i have is:
Filtration:
1100lph (running at 2/3 power) Canister filter with built in 5W UV Sterliser
100lph Internal (used while Canister was out of action)
Lighting:
1 24W T5 Daylight bulb (serra)
1 24W T5 PLant Bulb (Arcadia)
Heating:
200W Inline Heater
Other:
Tetra CO2 Diffuser w/Spray Can

The Canister wasnt hooked up until after the algae appeared (i had problems sourcing the RO and getting the #40## thing to siphon!).

The Lights were on for around 12 hours a day.

what i have done to try and control it is:

Shorten the time the lights are on (down to 8 hours) ,
Stop Fertilizing,
Frequent Water Changes (10% every other day),
Added Red Cherry Shrimp,
Pulled it out by the handfull.

Thats my bag of tricks empty now! I really dont want to have to dismantle the tank and scrub everything clean, it took me forever to get it how i liked it. And i would rather not use medications as they could harm the shrimp/other fish i add in the future.

The tank is (rather unhelpfully) opposite a window, but for the last week i have had the curtains drawn in the room to block out any light that may be causing this. Yet it is still growing! It has just started to spread to my other plants (which are starting to struggle wihtout the fertiliser additives i think)

ANY advice would be greatly recieved, Thank you.

Chris.

P.S Very sorry if this i hard to follow, i have tried to explain everythign in as much detail as possible.

 

[Chtheo]

Anything? I would really like to start solving this this weekend!

Thanks

 

[Akasha72]

Hi Chris,

I've been having problems with hair algae too and I'm still fairly new to fish keeping. By the sound of it you have done everything to get rid of it. I've not tried as much as you but I've basicly been told I won't get rid of it completely and to stop worrying about it.

I've been advised to try Seachem Excel to keep it under control.

Sorry, that's all I can offer in advice

Akasha

 

[stu40]

considering the lack of other posts, i'll offer this.
Remove as much algae by hand
Reducing the lighting period down to 6 hours for the time, won't stop the problem straight away, but will slow it down.
Increase plant mass, cheap, fast growing stems (H.polysperma, Egeria/elodea etc) and floating plants.You can start removing them after sorting the problem if you don't like em.
You're using co2 but the fert you mentioned doesn't contain Nitrogen & Phosporus. Adding co2, means that the plants demand more N & P and they're being starved of it,especially as there's no fish to provide any.
Dying plants will contribute to algae problems.
If you're going to add more plant mass, they'll take a couple of weeks to adjust to your water.Maybe consider daily 50% water changes for the first couple of weeks to combat any spikes due to melting.
Lastly there's Easy life Algexit.It's supposed to help with green algae.I have not used it.I've read reports that it works (one chap at PFK, used it in last months issue).
Normally the advice is to sort the root issues out with algae, instead of adding 'wonder cures' or algae eating livestock.
I'll either be backed up by the above, which'll be nice.Or sh ot down in flames

 

[Akasha72]

I'll either be backed up by the above, which'll be nice.Or sh ot down in flames

Did you mean me? If so, I wouldn't do that. I know nothing when it comes to plants and algae! I know enough about the fish I keep but nothing about others lol.

I just try to help out where I can cos I'm nice like that

 

[big_sw2000]

Go with what was wrote above, but in my tank, i can never get rid of hair algae compleatly. But a little algae dont look so bad lol.
My advice get on ebay and buy some water wisteria. Very easy, undemading plant. Grows quick, can take over, but great at taking all the nutriants that algae use.

Steve

 

[stu40]

I'll either be backed up by the above, which'll be nice.Or sh ot down in flames

oops.That was meant to come out as

" the above, will either be backed up or shot down"

i need more coffee.

 

[Chtheo]

thank you so much for the response guys. i must admit id always thougth ferts with that stuff in was bad, but i've always had fish in tanks pretty close to planting.

i have got a bucket and a brush and im goign to scrub off what i can of the algae, remove the affected plants, and get a proper fert and keep up with the water changes. I dont mind living with a bit of algae, in my main tank i have a BBA Forest growing! but this hair algae has completley overrun the tank. And so far shown no signs of slowing down.

I will follow the advice, and hopefully get it down to manageable levels at least!

Thanks! I'll keep you updated

 

[Aqua Tom]

Prune any algea covered plant leaves, your plants will look a bit bare but will benifit greatly.


Tom

 

[Chtheo]

Hi, thanks for the advice, i know it hadnt been much of an effort but i got so fed up with it as nothign seemed to be slowing down this british racing green menace!

I decided to go scorched earth and pulled the tanbk apart and went mad with a scrubbing brush! the bog wood now has very little (of anything) on it, and has been rehomed in a tank with my 2 bullnose who i fear may have glued themselves to it!

i pulled out all infected plants and pruned any i thought were salvageable. I have started using some redmoor wood for a nicer colouring, and i will replace plants etc as and when.

I have resumed fertilising, i use ferropol daily, and use interpet's flora boost every week (i have used this stuff for ages in my main tank) I also make sure i CO2 daily as well, and i currently have a timed pressurised kit coming in to help with consistency etc. i'm also doing regular water changes roughly 15-20% once a week. I will keep that up for the next month or so, before doing bigger water changes less frequently.

if this sounds stupid please say, im just trying to do what i know works

thanks again!

 

[SO19Firearms]

Sry, didn't see this thread. Hair algae is usually attributed to low CO2, Low Nutrients and possibly ammonia spikes - Which keeps it all nice and broad

I'd generally point the finger at the optimat thing in conjunction with T5 lighting and not using a decent fertiliser with Nitrate and Phosphate...

IMO

 

[Ram8349]

I would just hand remove hair algae.

Although I have heard Gold Barb would eat it.

Red Cherry shrimps won't touch the hair algae. I know it because I have them. They live in the hair algae like if it's mini Java Moss.


Decrease light, increase partial water change, increase CO2 can definitely help.

 

[Discus Pete]

Hi,

I am new to the site today.

Fish would help you a great deal in cycling the water naturally.
I am no expert but if you try a product called SilicatEx. This is from JBL. Look it up on the net. It Worked for me.
All you do is put it into your filter system. It will last for ages. Just wash it out (in used tank water) every week to start with, then once you see results just rinse every few months.

Few quick notes on SilicatEx:

•A special filter material which eliminates silicic acid and phosphate.
•Silicate (silicic acid, SiO₂) causes unattractive diatom algae in the aquarium. Mains water often contains levels of silicates which create problems with diatom algae.
•This filter material permanently absorbs silicate and phosphate, preventing the growth of diatom.
•1 pack (500 g) absorbs 5000 mg/l SiO₂and is sufficient for 200-400 litres.
•For freshwater and saltwater.



good luck.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I get this in my main tank, all I do is annoy it as much as possible with a toothbrush, good for getting it all caught in, remove as much this way as possible and directly dose some liquid carbon to the area with a syringe. Usually works, but I keep doing this for a week after it looks like its gone as even tho you cant see it, there will always be a spore or two at the base of the hair that's the hardest part to kill off.

 

[SO19Firearms]

•A special filter material which eliminates silicic acid and phosphate.

That'd be a good enough reason not to use such a product