If you have hair algae

[Yeaulman]

I am still tying to get rid of this stupid hair algae. I am worried that since I got it it will never go away. Can someone please tell me they had it and dont anymore?

Also do you think that the fish that I have (2 calicos, 2 black moors, and a sailfin pleco) in a 48 gallon tank would contribute to it?

 

[yhbae]

From what I hear, it is near impossible to get rid of it, short of bringing down the whole tank and sterilizing it...

I have some in some tanks and now I've learned to live with them...

 

[Yeaulman]

And just remember I cannot add SAE's to my tank as it is coldwater, not tropical.

 

[konrad05]

I think a lot of members have had it, I am one of them. It stayed for about 3-4 weeks, then I stopped caring, made a few changes, bulb, fertilzer and it gradually went away

 

[Discomafia]

plants must've out-competed them for nutrients?

 

[CFC]

The only way to be completely rid of it is to remove all of its causes. The first and most common cause is nitrates, reduce the nitrate level in the tank to below 40ppm and you should see a reduction in algea growth. The second is surface agittation, hair algea thrives in tanks with a lot of surface movement from powerheads and airstones. Switch off all air powered ornaments, airstone's and bubble wands and push filter returns and powerheads a few inches below the surface so that the surface moevment is slow and gentle. NOTE: This is not advisable in heavily stocked tanks or those containing fish with a high oxygen requirement, be sure to check your fish can cope with less aeration beforehand.
The third cause is phosphates in tapwater, use a scavenger resin media which adsorbs phosphates in your filtration or a phosphate free water source such as R/O water for water changes.
The fourth cause is lighting, lighting that is too bright or left on for too long will encourage algea growth, unless your tank contains plants that demand a high light level then keep lighting to a maximum of 3 watts per gallon and the lights on for no more than 12 hours a day, for unplanted tanks lights should be no more than 2 watts per gallon and on for a maximum of 8 hours a day.
In planted tanks the addition of CO2 will encourage plants to use nitrates and other nutrients in the water faster and deprive the hair algea preventing further growth.

 

[Dubby]

And adding filter wool towards the inlet end of your filter seems to help the algae from spreading too quickly.......

 

[yhbae]

The second is surface agittation, hair algea thrives in tanks with a lot of surface movement from powerheads and airstones. Switch off all air powered ornaments, airstone's and bubble wands and push filter returns and powerheads a few inches below the surface so that the surface moevment is slow and gentle. NOTE: This is not advisable in heavily stocked tanks or those containing fish with a high oxygen requirement, be sure to check your fish can cope with less aeration beforehand.

Just for my own education, why is this the case? Do algae need O2 to promote faster growth?

 

[Discomafia]

Yea, I didn't know this either... I have a HOB filter and that must be the cause of my continuing algea, because I've tried using less light, DIY CO2 and cut down on feedings. My tank isn't overstocked, so how would one recommend lowering surface agitation, which is important for my DIY CO2 as well?

 

[Silly me]

surface movement might not cause algae but it does reduce the stored CO2 in the water making it harder for the plant to out compete the algae for nutrience in the water. The main idea in reduceing algae is the give your plants a good head start and keepiong the water in favour of the plants..

If you dont have any plants its easy just to swicth the lights of for a week or two and only turn them on when your in the room to view the fish.. somethime that totals to 3 hour a day of light.

 

[CFC]

The second is surface agittation, hair algea thrives in tanks with a lot of surface movement from powerheads and airstones. Switch off all air powered ornaments, airstone's and bubble wands and push filter returns and powerheads a few inches below the surface so that the surface moevment is slow and gentle. NOTE: This is not advisable in heavily stocked tanks or those containing fish with a high oxygen requirement, be sure to check your fish can cope with less aeration beforehand.

Just for my own education, why is this the case? Do algae need O2 to promote faster growth?

Surface aggitation drives off the natural CO2 which the plants need to grow, algea is not dependent on CO2 like higher form plants and quickly out competes the plants for other nutrients in the water.

Not being familiar with HOB filters I dont know how you could reduce surface aggitation, could you slow the return flow by blocking its path with a sponge?

 

[Discomafia]

Probably could, just want to make sure my fish aren't suffering because of lower oxygen saturation or something?

 

[enchanted]

For reducing agitation with a Hang on Back filter you can do two things:

1. Lower the flow rate if possible.

2. Increase the water level.

By increasing the water level to be above the outlet, if possible, of the HOB then you can effectively cut the surface agitation in half.

I know this can be done with the Penguin 170 and 330, I don't know about others.

 

[Slyspy]

I had loads of hair algae but took some steps and now have a minimal amount.

1) Lots of real plants. My tank is only 30L but has 4 vallis, 2 anubias and 4 java ferns, and now a floating plant the name of which I forget. Takes some trimming but looks great. The anubias is especially prone to algae so I got some floating plants to shade them a bit which seems to have worked. The plants keep my nitrates very low indeed while the floaters help minimalise the bright light which was encouraging algae growth on the anubias while still allowing the larger plants to get the light they need.

2) Reduced the hours of light. I now run the light on a timer for 12 hours a day, with a siesta in the middle. Seems to have helped.

3) Disconnected the airflow. Sure the bubbles looked nice and it sounded pleasant but IMO it was the biggest cause of algae growth thanks to the oxygen input. The glass and plants infront of the air flow had the thickest coat of algae (hair, brown and green types). Turning that off saw a near imdediate slow down of growth.

Its a battle on three fronts my friend!

 

[yhbae]

Surface aggitation drives off the natural CO2 which the plants need to grow, algea is not dependent on CO2 like higher form plants and quickly out competes the plants for other nutrients in the water.

Ok, so this is assuming the tank is a planted one.

In tanks such as mbuna tank (where you will not likely to see any plants), I'd guess having more surface agitation wouldn't help, correct? (hence my original confusion... )