Help Me Shake My Hair Algae Problem!

[Tsi_User]

I've had my tank up and running for about 9 months now, all the stats are as follows:

29 gallon tall tank
weekly 35% water changes (upped to 50% last two weeks)
Nutrafin Co2 cannister and bell diffuser, changed mixture every time water is changed
1.9 wpg
5 on 2 off light cycle (lowered to 4 on 2 off last two weeks)
Ammonia/Nitries 0 Nitrates 20-30ppm
Whisper 40 HOB filter
Gravel/flourite substrate
Dosed with a full dose of seachem flourish and half a dose of flourish excel every time the water is changed

Plants include, Amazon sword, ozelot sword, anarchis, java fern, java moss, wide leaf sag, etc..

I love my tank, but for the last three months I haven't been able to ged rid of my hair algae problem. I have tried multiple light cycle/Co2/nutrient dosing combinations but nothing has kicked the problem. The only way I have gotten rid of it so far is to do a 3-6 day blackout. I then go back to trying a different light cycle/Co2/nutrient combination and the algae starts coming back in 3-4 days . I don't have any more money to throw at my tank right now, and I from what I read i should be able to control algae problems with the setup I have. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

Here are some pics of the algae:

And the purdy tank (I am just now happy with the plantings) covered in hair algae (eww)

Thanks in advance -Skip

 

[Dave Spencer]

What are your phosphate levels like? Are your plants healthy looking and growing? Do they pearl?

These type of algae usually require a lot of hard work to remove, mostly from manually taking it out of the tank. Keep all levels of nutrients at what your plants need and, provided they are healthy and pearling they should help to outcompete the algae. Adding a few fast growing stems for the short term should also help the situation.

Spot treating bad areas with Excel and a pipette, with the water at low level and the filter off should see it off fairly rapidly. Just be careful not to overdose it if you have inverts.

Whenever you try different lighting and fert regimes you are creating an instability which algae will always use as an opportunity to establish itself to the detriment of your plants.

I would say your two best plans of attack are a healthy, thriving biomass and some hard work from you. It`s a very nice looking tank and should be well worth the effort. Once you are on top of the algae, stability will be the key. Make sure your DIY CO2 is at its peak all the time. If you find that a siesta in your lighting period is helping to increase the amount of pearling, then your CO2 levels are too low and are only able to recover during the siesta.

Dave.

 

[Tsi_User]

I know what it looks like but I've never really seen plants pearling in my tank

I am not sure about phosphate levels, i don't have a test kit for that.

How exactly does the spot treating work? Im wary of trying this because I have 5 Amano Shrimp in the tank, but if I use it in minimal amounts (no more than what I regularly dose with weekly) I dont' think it would hurt. But how does the excel stay in that certain area of the tank?

I was thinking the best bet would be:
Light 5 hours on 2 hours off
Same Co2
Weekly recommended dose of Seachem Flourish
Weekly small amount of Seachem Flourish Excel
50% weekly water changes
And a handful of Hornwwort just floated on the top of the water until the problem subsides. I have some Anarchis in there but not much.

What sucks is that for the first 5-6 months I had no problems with Algae. When the problem hit, I first tried a light timer, then the Co2, then the Flourish products, but the problem has only gotten worse

 

[Dave Spencer]

I know what it looks like but I've never really seen plants pearling in my tank

At 1.9WPG, good CO2 and fertilisers, you should be seeing plenty of pearling.

I am not sure about phosphate levels, i don't have a test kit for that.

Dosing Flourish means you are only adding micros, so it could be that there is a phosphate deficiency holding your plants back, but I am just speculating.

How exactly does the spot treating work? Im wary of trying this because I have 5 Amano Shrimp in the tank, but if I use it in minimal amounts (no more than what I regularly dose with weekly) I dont' think it would hurt. But how does the excel stay in that certain area of the tank?

With the water at low level during a water change, turn off the filter. Using a pipette like the ones you get in the test kits, carefully drop small amounts of Excel on the worst areas, but only use the recommended dose considering you have shrimp in the tank. The Excel will sit among the algae due to the lack of water flow, and by the time you refill the tank and switch the filter on the algae will be dead. Repeat this every water change until you have got all the areas of algae.

What you really need to get to the bottom of is why the algae appeared in the first place, because you may find it to be a recurring problem. You may want to consider an EI fertiliser regime to rule out a nutrient deficiency, but you will also need to look at your CO2 levels and their stability.

Dave.

 

[Tsi_User]

Is there a certain phosphate product I should be using?

 

[Dave Spencer]

Is there a certain phosphate product I should be using?

I use Potassium Phosphate dry powder as a cheap and easy method of dosing P. Take a look at the pinned EI article and see what you think. If you have your nutrients sorted out, and your CO2 levels stable the problem shouldn`t come back.

EI is all about giving your plants what they need to a controlled level of excess and keeping things stable. With your light levels, EI should work well for you. Once you have bought the powders, you may not need to buy any ferts for a very long time, making it cheaper in the long run.

Maybe it is something you could consider.

Dave.

 

[nry]

I'm thinking unstable CO2 is a possible issue here? The problem with yeast-based systems is maintaining a consistent CO2 output, a single bottle makes this very hard, 2 bottles can work better, e.g. swapping one bottle every Sunday and the other every Wednesday. Until I moved to two bottles I did start getting a degree of hair algae build-up which has now slowed down considerably.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I'm thinking unstable CO2 is a possible issue here?

I must admit, I think that DIY CO2 in 29G will be the most likely problem and running two systems would help the levels of CO2 and their stability considerably. Once you increase the CO2 Tsi, you will also be driving up the plants` requirements for macro and micro nutrients, so you will need a fert regime to match. EI will cover this for you.

Dave.

 

[SuperColey1]

I would've said CO2 is most definately the root cause and also not dosing under 1.9WPG can't help either.

1 cannister of CO2 is not enough for a 29G. Before I went pressurised I had 2 nutafins and got algae. I eventually added another 2LTR DIY and the problem started to disappear but I also had to bin all the dodgy leaves and any plants covered and just keep the algae free ones (which then regrew sent runners etc and are back to their original numbers+ these days)

Your second picture show us that your plants are indeed pearling.

Get yourself a 2Ltr drinks bottle. put a hole in the lid. insert a straight airline hose connector into the hole (make sure is a tight fit) Seal the airline connector with aquarium sealant. wait 2 days.

Put a cup of sugar (not a mug) in the bottle, add 1¼ properly measured teaspoon (not quite a heaped teaspoon) fast action dried yeast in. fill with water to just above where the bottle bends into the neck. shake bottle for a few seconds (with finger over the airline conn) connect to hose. connect hose from this bottle and old kit/bottle to a t-connector then connect to airline going to diffusor. Voila 2 units. Change one on wednesday and one on Sunday (or whichever days suit you)

Airline connectors are usually, blue and in packs containing 2 L shaped, 2 straight and 2 T shaped and cost about £1.50

Andy