Hair algae and Val

[Jen]

I have some hair algae in my tank, and it only seems to like my Val and crypts. I cut off the Val it is attached to, but everytime I look in the tank, it seems to have taken over another leaf.

Would I be smart to just remove all the val and be done with it? I'm not too worried about the crypt as its only a few leaves, and I can rub it off.

Any ideas as to how I can remove the stuff for good?

Thanks


**edit**
Actually... to be honest, I don't know what kind of aglae it is. That's just what I call it. lol. It tends to be less than 1 inch (I've never seen it that long). From the looks of it, it is a greyish green colour but it's hard to tell since my water is kinda cloudy and when I take the leaf out it 'disapears'. I guess it just falls onto the leaf as there is nothing to make it float anymore. When I feel the leaf under water it feels gritty? Does that make sence?

 

[iggy01]

If you decide to remove the Val, it might be worth getting some fast growing stem plants to replace it with. You need as many plants in there as possible.

It's difficult to get a high level of CO2 on a 90 gal using DIY. I think you'll probably struggle to get it any higher than 24 mg/l, unless you added another bottle. Ideally you would want 30 mg/l to minimize the algae. The only other option would be to use Flourish Excel as an additional carbon source.

What's ferts do you use and how often?

 

[Jen]

I'm actually getting upwards of 35 mg/l with my current recipe. pH is always 6.6, and kH is 5 = 38mg/l.

I use Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel once a week after a water change.

 

[iggy01]

I thought Excel was meant to be dosed daily? Not that it matters though because you obviously have enough CO2.

Are your phosphate and nitrate levels ok too?

 

[George Farmer]

Are your phosphate and nitrate levels ok too?

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Good point Iggy - could be deficiencies, your CO2 and micros should be fine which leaves only macros i.e. nitrate, phosphate and possibly potassium.

If I remember rightly Jen then you have fairly high lighting levels, this combined with your CO2 may quickly cause the plants to strip your water of these vital nutrients.

 

[Jen]

I know my nitrates are next to 0 (for the first time ever, and now its a bad thing). No clue on the Phosphates though.

What should they be up around?

 

[iggy01]

Ideally you want to keep your nitrates between 5 - 30 mg/l. I rarely let mine drop below 10 mg/l. Phosphates are a bit contentious, but I would say definitely no lower than 0.5.

As gf said, high lighting combined with a decent CO2 level will cause your tank to use up nutrients at a greater rate. It might be worth looking into buying some KNO3 to increase nitrate levels. See if you can get a phosphate reading too.

You will then be an ideal candidate for Zig to convert to the Estimative Index.