Blackout For Removing Hair Algae?

[tmoney7]

so i have some hair algae starting to grow everywhere in my tank.  its even over taking my java moss!  i would almost like it if it would stay off of my other plants but that's not going to happen

.  So what i was going to do was put a black bag over my tank and not use any fertilizer for about 2 days hoping that this would get rid of it.  The only thing i am worried about is whether or not my plants will be effected.  my two anubias afzelii have melted and have not grown back the leaves yet so i was worried that this might kill them before they can recover.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Two days shouldn't effect them too much. 
If anything goes wrong, then turn the lights back on and see if they recover. 

 

[tmoney7]

ok just wanted to make sure that they wont totally die on me 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Okay
Hopefully they won't!

 

[Lunar Jetman]

To be honest, I'd try to find the root cause of the algae problem. Hair algae is often caused by low CO2 or low nutrient levels for example so if you don't sort this it's likely to come back. I also think a blackout is a bit excessive for hair algae...
Do you feed your plants or have any idea of CO2 levels?

 

[tmoney7]

i do give my plant liquid fertilizer and i do not know of the co2 levels but i am sure they are low because i do not give any co2 just what comes from the water falling from my HOBF.

right now though its taking over my java moss i i am worried that if i don't take care of it soon that it may kill it, so other than a blackout is there another way to get rid of it quickly and then mess with my co2 and things so it wont come back

 

[Lunar Jetman]

How long are your lights on for?

 

[tmoney7]

usually almost 12 hours because i work from 7am or 8am to 3pm or 4pm so i usually let them stay on a couple hours after i get home

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Well the first thing I'd do is drop that considerably. This is likely to be the cause/main factor in your algae problem. I'd drop down to 6-7 hours first off and then increase a bit if all is well. 12 hours is far too much I'm afraid.

 

[tmoney7]

OK i thought that might be an issue but i hadn't seen anything wrong with it until now.  
 
So i'm still in the midst of doing the blackout and its been 3 days now...NO sign of change in the hair algae at all!  Will this work and should i continue on with it or is there something that i can put in the tank to get rid of it that wont harm anything else?

 

[StevenF]

i do give my plant liquid fertilizer and i do not know of the co2 levels but i am sure they are low because i do not give any co2 just what comes from the water falling from my HOBF.

In my opinion CO2 levels have nothing to do with hair algae. I have seen people on the forums that spend weeks adjusting CO2 flow, water circulation, and water surface agitation and make zero progress in controlling. it. The only thing that worked for me was making sure I had all the elements plant need in the water for plant growth. Once my plants were growing the hair algae meted away in a couple of weeks.

Most fertilizers are missing at least 1 to 3 of the 14 needed nutrients. A small number of fertilizers only have 3 to zero. If you list everything you add to your water I might be able to spot a problem.

 

[Chief Brody]

Well the first thing I'd do is drop that considerably. This is likely to be the cause/main factor in your algae problem. I'd drop down to 6-7 hours first off and then increase a bit if all is well. 12 hours is far too much I'm afraid.

I give em 4 hours while I'm home to see it and that's it. 12 hours will grow all kinds of stuff and the fish don't really like it, maybe sunfish but for the most part they prefer subdued lighting - wouldn't you?

Sent from my SM-G730V using Tapatalk

 

[Byron]

Blackouts rarely work to avoid algae because without finding the cause it will only return, and it may not die off anyway.

I cannot see the image in post #1, so...are you certain this is hair algae? Or maybe its brush algae, which is much more common with too much light. The last thread we had mentioning hair algae turned out to be a form of brush algae.

And I agree with those suggesting this should be less. A timer is advisable, as fish have a circadian rhythm governed by the light period, and plants including algae can respond to this as well. The period of tank light (the "daylight) for the fish and plants) can be any period you want, sow when you are there, provided the tank has a period of several hours of absolute black darkness within each 24-hour period.

 

[Jack Robinson]

I've found blacking out the tank for days is more of a problem than a solution and does significant damage to your plants. It would be helpful if you identified the algae that plagues your tank, or post some photos. There is such a wide variety its hard for members to offer advice without knowing what you're dealing with.

 

[Shay2021]

In my opinion CO2 levels have nothing to do with hair algae. I have seen people on the forums that spend weeks adjusting CO2 flow, water circulation, and water surface agitation and make zero progress in controlling. it. The only thing that worked for me was making sure I had all the elements plant need in the water for plant growth. Once my plants were growing the hair algae meted away in a couple of weeks.

Most fertilizers are missing at least 1 to 3 of the 14 needed nutrients. A small number of fertilizers only have 3 to zero. If you list everything you add to your water I might be able to spot a problem.