Hair Algae Help

[21rm]

I have some form of hair algae growing in my tank. Well i think its a hair algae? Its a freshwater tank, and the algae is a recent enough poblem, possibly since after xmas sometime.
Does anyone have any ideas of how best to rid of this? Its growing on plants and a decoration in the tank/

 

[fish_tank0311]

There are some chemical treatments that will get rid of it. Or you can do it the old fashioned way and take out the ornaments etc and scrub them.

 

[Truck]

Size of tank?
Wattage of light and what type of tube?
Filters?


This is normally a combination of too much light and a lack of decent flow around the tank.

 

[21rm]

I think its approx a 150 L tank, it has a curved front so never able to accurately judge the size.
The filter is a fluval 3+ and the light is an aqua-glo 15w

 

[Truck]

Lack of flow is the Issue here, you could do with either a powerhead or a beefier filter, personally I would invest in either a tetratec ex 1200 or a hydor koralia 1 to boost flow around the affected areas, do a 3 day black out then manually remove as much as possible, then add the filter or circulation pump.

 

[21rm]

i actually wouldn't think its a flow issue, cos the fluval is an upgrade for the tank that i got a few months ago. The filter i had previous, was one of them stingray ones, and there is def more flow outta this one, but i will try the blackout suggestion.
I was considering gettin an external filter, obviously there would be less flow then. Is there anything i could do to not let that be a problem?

 

[Truck]

Why would there be less flow, if you get one that is suitable for that tank (anything that puts out between 1200-2000 LPH) then things will clear up, a 3+ only puts out 540 LPH which is about 3x turn over and hour, which isn't brilliant, you should be aiming for about 10X an hour, and also you're probably not getting
3x, more likely 1.5 with media and build up inside.

If you do the black out and then leave it how it is it will come straight back, because you haven't eliminated the cause.

 

[21rm]

What does LPH mean? I actually posted a topic last week about the external filter, and someone mention somethin bout the LPH being bigger would be good, but also that some of them use a spray back thin so that there wouldnt be the overpowerin jet of water that comes out of the internal filter. I suppose i kinda presumed that the jet of water caused greater flow, and i thought that if that was gone there would be less flow, but that obviously nt the case so. So what does the LPH mean?
I have the flow on lower at the min also, which would probably be also contributin to the prob. Just added cory and guppy fry to the tank durin the week, and turned flow lower for them for awhile.

 

[scotty]

i believe it means litres per hour

 

[21rm]

ah, thanks scotty for reply,
and thanks also truck for your replies

 

[IC1]

I've got hair algae growing and just keep removing, I think i'ts a light issue rather than flow, as the plants that are in the direct flow (and wave about alot) of the filter outlet still grow hair algae!!

 

[AdAndrews]

The typical ways to remove hair algae is to:

increase flow(as this will be the issue)

then, kill off whats there by:

lowering photoperiod to 6 hrs.
lowering the light(temporary)
removing as much as possible by hand,

dosing a liquid carbon fert helps

Adam

 

[21rm]

I just checked the filter box and its LPH is 700. will try out the suggestions tho also bout the light time etc,, thanks guys