Hair Algae Help

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jwh0818

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In my 36g bowfront I am battlein hair algae. I have DIY co2 and 3x 13w cfls and a 17w T8. How do I eliminate the algae? Its turning the plants brown
 
Can you post a picture for proper identification? Is it green hair algae or is it brown? How long daily are you running your lights? How many bps are you running on your DIY CO2? Also what ferts are you using and what is your nitrate level.

For now run your lighting only 6 hours till you get the algae under control. Turn up your CO2 if possible and you might want to consider using liquid carbon as well. Something else you might want to consider is only using 2 of your lights for now. Depending on the type algae you have you may be able to spot treat it with hydrogen peroxide 3%.
 
Lights were left on when I went to work so 12 hpurs. I think thats why it burst so much
 

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I dont have a bubble counter yet either but my guess is around 3bps
 

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Sorry I can't see algae in that picture. Sounds like a timer is in your future... lol!
 
Lights were left on when I went to work so 12 hpurs. I think thats why it burst so much

Do you know your Gh by chance? That sword has dark veins and light tissue which indicates a magnesium deficiency.
 
Do you know your Gh by chance? That sword has dark veins and light tissue which indicates a magnesium deficiency.

I dont know the Gh at all. Ill somehow get a test kit for that soon! I do need to start dosing ferts but money has been tight and I dont know a cheaper solution
 
Here is another pic

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The algae is between the cherry barb and the bottom neon on that leave
 
When you try to pull it out does it fell slimy? I almost looks like Spirogyra. If it does feel really slimy when you try to pull it out that's what it is. Spirogyra is a PITA to deal with. It likes high light and nutrient rich water just like plants! I've heard people talk about doing 3 day black outs on their tanks followed by lean dosing ferts. I had to deal with it once in a small tank and it took weekly spot treating with hydrogen peroxide during the weekly WC, running lighting about 5 hours only daily and at a very low level, using liquid carbon still daily, but I did only use about 1/2 the amount of ferts I normally used. It took a couple months to finally get rid of it in that tank. Plus you have to watch using tools in a tank with it and then in a tank free of it as the stuff transfers quite easily. I know cherry barbs are one of the only fish that will eat it.

So what I'd do is lower your photoperiod and lower the actual light amount if possible. Spot treat it with peroxide. And watch it closely.
 
Yes its really slimy. So thats what it seems like unfortunately. Maybe ill try the black out. The fish are fed daily so I know they can go a few days no food. Any tips on total blackout?
 
Just be sure to cover the tank completely where absolutely no light can get in. Also no peeking or you'll break the blackout. I've never tried one on this type of algae so I hope it works.
 
Just be sure to cover the tank completely where absolutely no light can get in. Also no peeking or you'll break the blackout. I've never tried one on this type of algae so I hope it works.

I would spot treat but its literally everywhere
 
Do you know your Gh by chance? That sword has dark veins and light tissue which indicates a magnesium deficiency.

Hello Rivercats you seem very knowledgable about plant health and signs of distress is it possible you can help me figure out what i did to this val along with the rest.....first three are pics of my ozelot sword two top leaves and the base....the base looks healthy but the tips as you can see are not lol....the amazon sword has dark veins also in which i think might be from me carbon filtering the water?? You said mag deficiency could that cause it? And the third in a corkscrew val in which i had problems with since ive bought it ive fertilised I've improved the lighting I've eliminated carbon filtering but the leaves are transparent and its been going down since what does that mean? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
 

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Hello Rivercats you seem very knowledgable about plant health and signs of distress is it possible you can help me figure out what i did to this val along with the rest.....first three are pics of my ozelot sword two top leaves and the base....the base looks healthy but the tips as you can see are not lol....the amazon sword has dark veins also in which i think might be from me carbon filtering the water?? You said mag deficiency could that cause it? And the third in a corkscrew val in which i had problems with since ive bought it ive fertilised I've improved the lighting I've eliminated carbon filtering but the leaves are transparent and its been going down since what does that mean? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

I'll PM you the answers so as not to hijack this thread.
 
Ok thank you....also if you will explain the high jacking part...lol. Im new to AA

Hijacking on a thread is when someone posts a totally new post which should be a new thread under their user name asking questions that has nothing to do with the original thread.
 
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