Hair algae

[FrAnK3333]

I have hair algae and hate it. What is it caused by and more importantly how can I get rid of it?

 

[dreadedsnail]

it thrives on nitrates, you can pull it out by hand, but it can come back in a couple of days, try pulling it out as you see it and doing 20% water changes every day for 4 days and then every other day (depending how bad it is) make sure you wash all filters well each change and if its bad change filter materials as it starts to clear up (leave a small bit of the old sponge stuffed in as well to keep a continuous bacteria cycle) be sure your fish can cope with so much water change.

 

[FrAnK3333]

HWat considered a bad nitrate? Mine test out to 5.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Any buddy?

 

[Yenko]

I'm struggling with hair alage in my tank; it's progressing very slowly but the growth patterns of the Hygrophilia in the tank are giving it an advantage; the hygro seems to basically abandon its old leaves in favor of the top three or four sets of leaves.

Edit: My nitrates are about 5 ppm; I've added some nitrate-containing soil tabs that have had a huge effect on my plant growth (Only in the plants that I put them by) and the growth speed of my Hygrophlia has literally tripled in three days (Although in tanks with more lighting it supposedly can grow about 4 times faster than it's growing for me, but that's not an issue because I have a 10 gallon tank...).

 

[iggy01]

HWat considered a bad nitrate? Mine test out to 5.

Nitrates in the range of 5-10 mg/l is often quoted as ideal for a planted tank. You don't have high nitrate.

 

[FoundMoney]

I'm in a similar situation, although "hate" is a strong word. However, it is a bit frusturating to put all that time and money into the tank and then have hair algae growing on the plants. Although there seems to be a bit of it most everywhere, I notice it most on the Vallisneria strands closest to the top. Although it also seems to grow on my struggling dwarf sag. I also do not have very high nitrates, 5 ppm. I'm thinking light is more of a contributing factor than nitrates. I recently increased my lighting and my plants started doing better but so did the algae. How do you get a proper balance?!

 

[FrAnK3333]

I do wtaer changes twice a week and have a emperor 400 on my 20 gallon

 

[Yenko]

I'm in a similar situation, although "hate" is a strong word. However, it is a bit frusturating to put all that time and money into the tank and then have hair algae growing on the plants. Although there seems to be a bit of it most everywhere, I notice it most on the Vallisneria strands closest to the top. Although it also seems to grow on my struggling dwarf sag. I also do not have very high nitrates, 5 ppm. I'm thinking light is more of a contributing factor than nitrates. I recently increased my lighting and my plants started doing better but so did the algae. How do you get a proper balance?!

CO2 enrichment and addition of nitrates are usually required in a tank with high light levels.

 

[handsomeboy]

a few weeks ago all my plants were covered in hair algae, even the hornwort. i was pulling it out by the handful.

but now its almost completely gone, and heres the reason.
1. i bought more plants
2. i increased CO2 injection
3. i reintroduced a controlled snail population back into the tank

much as i hate to admit it, snails (especially garden snails and ramshorns) are the only thing that seems to eat hair algae.

so my worst enemy has come back to help me. go figure. i should prolly change my profile now, but im too lazy

 

[George Farmer]

Try this link.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=60010

 

[FoundMoney]

CO2 enrichment and addition of nitrates are usually required in a tank with high light levels.

What is considered high enough light levels where CO2 and additional nitrates will be required? I'm currently at 2.3 WPG.

 

[Yenko]

2.3 WPG is probably pretty good for a 30 gallon tank. 3 wpg would be very high light. Adding KNO3 to the water (Be careful; you probably only want to add 1 gram a day to a tank that size)