Drowning in a sea of hair algae!

[eastennessee]

In an effort to compensate for less than desirable lighting (15-20 watts I believe), I have been leaving the light on in my daughters 38 gallon aquarium for about 14-16 hours a day. As a result (duh!) I am having a terrible problem with hair algae. The hair algae is mostly growing from the edges of my sword and java ferns. My question is, how long should I be leaving the light on so that my plants will live and the algae will die? I added a Crypto Lutea yesterday in an effort to steal more nutrients from the algae. In a tank this size, do I have enough plants to do this? The otto's have helped greatly with the green algae on the glass but don't seem to bother with the hairy stuff. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. By the way, my water tests very good, but my ph is slightly high at about 7.8.

 

[Allivymar]

I"m gonna move this to the FW plant forum East; it will get the attention it deserves there.

In the meantime, leaving lights on for longer to compensate for underlighting doesn't work. It does, however, cause the problems you are seeing; algae has a party. Its not how long the plants have light, but the intensity of the lights that is key.

I suggest reducing the lights on time severely to help eradicate the hair algae. You might want to check here for more sugestions: http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

 

[eastennessee]

Thanks Allivymar...For the very informative article and for moving my question! After reading the article I'm thinking the algae is not hair because it is not green but looks black and is about 3/4 on an inch long. Mostly on my leaves. At any rate, cutting back on the light will have to help. Maybe a bristle-nosed cat as well.

 

[Guest]

It sounds like your algae is BBA. BBA like most algae is caused by an nutrient imbalance. In fact I have had the best luck getting rid of BBA by getting the CO2 levels into the 30-35 ppm range.

I would suggest that you read my FAQ to get you started. Second, and this may sound harsh, either forget the planted tank idea or get ready to upgrade the lighting on the tank. You really should have at a minimum of 80 watts of light on that tank to keep most any plants growing. Note I said growing and not alive. It's possible to keep some plants alive at lower light levels but they really don't grow much. For your tank I would recommend a AH Supply 96 watt kit. This will get you a decent amount of light and start you down the road to planted tank success.

As Allivymar pointed out a longer lighting period with insufficient light doesn't do squat. It's all about the power, not the length.

 

[Spoon]

I second the suggestions made by Rex. Go for the light upgrade and read the FAQ.

I haven't completely conquered my Brush Algae but I manage to keep it in check.

I started dosing with seachem's FLourish and Flourish Excel. Best I could figure was that there wasn't enough nutrients (and CO2) for the plants to do their best and outcompete the algae. I also picked up a RO/DI unit from Ebay and I do 15% water changes about once a week. This routine doesn't keep me algae-free but it really helps. If you upgrade the lights and start to balance your nutrients, you should see some progress in 1-2 weeks.

Best of luck

 

[eastennessee]

I have actually had fairly good success with my plants. My sword grows a new leaf almost every week to 10 days (although they are not as big as some) and my Java Fern is reproducing like crazy. As a matter of fact, I wish it would stop because the plant looks so much prettier without all the "babies" on the ends of the leaves. I would love to be able to invest in stronger lighting and better CO2 but the cost is prohibitive at the moment.
Where is your FAQ list Rex? I'm not finding it though it's probably right under my nose. Thanks.

 

[Mr Burns]

the FAQ is here: http://members.dsl-only.net/~rex

 

[Jizoel]

When people say 2watts per gallon, is there some sort of special lights? Or do the normal lights work?

Because the normal lights cost under 2 dollars

 

[Fruitbat]

eastennessee...

One plant you might consider adding that will grow under low-light conditions and will absolutely compete with the algae for nutrients is hornwort (sometimes called foxtail or coontail), Ceratophyllum submersum. It has a couple of points in its disfavor...a) it doesn't produce roots although it can eventually anchor itself into the substrate with modified leaf structures, and b) it is brittle. On the plus side...it does well (as previously mentioned) under relatively low-light conditions and when actively growing is a nutrient sponge!!! It is also quite a pretty plant and its fine leaves make great spawning areas for egg-scatterers and a good hiding place for fish babies.

Another possibility, if you can find them, would be to add the 'true' Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis) which will happily devour most kinds of algae. I recently added two of these little gems to my tank and they've been munching happily on any algae they can find, including some thread algae growing on the leaves of my Aponogeton ulvaceus. The only thing I haven't seen them eat are the small brown patches of diatoms but my Farlowella seems to enjoy those and keeps them pretty much in check.

 

[Bearfan]

Second vote for the SAEs, they will totally get rid of your algae problem.

 

[madasafish]

SAEs do the job, but I'd also recommend Amano shrimp for this set-up. They're very effective at getting rid of hair algae. I'll be getting some in the next couple of weeks to get rid of my hair algae!

 

[eastennessee]

Thanks Fruitbat. It's interesting you should mention hornwort. I had some not too long ago, but because the pieces were getting caught in my filter, I got rid of it. Now that you mention it, I didn't have a bad algea problem until it was gone. Maybe I need to reconsider. Any other plants sutible for my very low lighting? I checked and I have a "stock" 20 watt bulb. Thanks.

 

[Fruitbat]

eastennessee...

Since you're under 1 watt per gallon you're definitely in the low-light category. Your Java Fern, Microsorium pteropus, and your Cryptocoryne lutea should do reasonably well under those lighting conditions but I have my doubts about how long your Amazon Sword, Echinodorus sp., will do in the long run. You never know though...it might surprise you.

Other species of Cryptocoryne might do well in your tank. My 26-gallon is definitely in the low-light range and I have C. wendtii, C. ciliata, C. crispatula var. balansae (mis-identified by my lfs as C. retrospiralis) and Aponogeton ulvaceus as well as Java Fern growing well in it. Anubias species will also do well in low-light situations as will the hornwort I mentioned earlier.

The only problems I have in my tank are with diatoms and some thread algae but I have a horde of algae-eating fish to deal with those. The diatoms are typical problems in low-light tanks.