How to remove hair algae?

[Nicki Gaga]

There are loads of them on my vallisneria and it's really getting ugly. What causes hair algae and how do I get rid of it?

 

[Fishperson]

1. Parameters
2. What fertilizer do you dose?
3. Tank size?
4. Stocking?
5. Lighting?
6. Better pics?
7. Co2 supplements?

 

[Fishperson]

Looks like black brush algae. Probably needs more co2, but I can't say anything definite without more information.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

It's a little difficult to tell from the picture, but it appears coarse and branch like. I believe it's Staghorn algae.

CO2 will help. Also increased circulation there. I find that it tends to develop in and around the deadspots in a tank. I would try to manually remove as much as possible by clipping away the affected leaves. You can try spot treating with hydrogen peroxide (3% solution). But I'm not sure if vals are as sensitive to h2o2 as they are to excel spot treatment, which the latter can cause melting.

Excess lighting, not enough CO2, improper nutrients, etc... can also play into this.

 

[Nicki Gaga]

Yeah I think it is staghorn algae. So if I have excess light, why are my elodeas rotting?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well as fishperson mentioned, can you give us details on this tank?

1. Parameters
2. What fertilizer do you dose?
3. Tank size?
4. Stocking?
5. Lighting?
6. Better pics?
7. Co2 supplements?

 

[Nicki Gaga]

Parameters - I don't know but I just did a 15% water change today and last week
Fertilisers - JBL Ferropol weekly and JBL Ferropol 24 daily.
Tank size - 24 gallons (30cm high).
Stocking - It's overstocked (5 neon tetras, 3 glowlight tetras, 3 marbled hatchetfish, 2 ancistrus, 2 albino corydoras, 1 otocinclus, 1 neon dwarf rainbowfish, 1 guppy).
Lighting - 36W (1.5wpg).
Picture - I'll try to post another pic. I thought that was good enough already :/.
CO2 supplements - No additional CO2 besides from fish.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Also I see blinds in the background of the tank, are you giving your tank a lot of natural sunlight? The top of the vals could be getting a lot of light as they grow tall toward the light source. Adding natural sunlight can also increase light levels to exacerbate an algae farm. Either or, you might need CO2 to fend off the algae. Liquid carbon, like excel or glut, which is used sometimes in lieu of CO2, can melt vals and ancharis (elodea). However, I've read some reports that you can slowly and incrementally acclimate the two plant species to excel with lite dosing and gradually increasing -- but also staying consistent. IMO, using a liquid carbon is okay, while CO2 (or CO2 + liquid carbon) is best.

 

[Nicki Gaga]

Yeah I give them natural sunlight from the morning to noon (when there's sun) then turn on artificial aquarium light from the afternoon to evening. Is this a good or bad thing?

And I might add a CO2 diffuser to the tank tomorrow. Are you sure this is necessary?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I know that ancharis (elodea) are nitrate hogs. So it would help to know your parameters. Could be why they're not doing so well. Plus, JBL Ferropol 24 and Ferropol are mostly just micros (with some K, potassium). Nitrogen (N) and phosphates (P) are still essential macro nutrients. I suppose the "overstock" nature of the tank, there should be a healthy amount of N. But testing would help know for sure.

Also, 1.5 WPG of what type of lighting? Are there reflectors involved? You might be in a territory of lighting that you'll need CO2. Seeing algae is not a good sign and is indicative to lighting, CO2, and nutrient imbalance. You can also try reducing your light photoperiod or raising the light if you can't get CO2 going.

 

[Nicki Gaga]

Well, there's always a quick build up of fish poop every time after I do a water change. So I know it's quite high. But the next time I go to a fish shop, I'll ask them to test the nitrates.

I use a purple and an orange light. I think one is colour and the other is for plant growth (nature). And no. I don't use reflectors, but are reflectors necessary? I don't know anyone who uses them.

But okay, I'll add a CO2 diffuser tomorrow.

 

[Nicki Gaga]

So which plant fertiliser would you recommend? I'd like to use liquid because it's harder to clean the gravel with root tabs underneath it. But it mostly depends on which kind of fertiliser is more beneficial to plants like elodea, vallisneria, java fern, java moss and anubias.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yes.. some fixtures, like T5HO have reflectors. So WPG become an irrelevant way to measure light output. A better way is to calculate PAR instead of watts.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Read this, when you have time. And good luck in your battle with algae. We're all here to help.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184368

 

[Nicki Gaga]

Thank you