Still have Hair algae

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tomasm87

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
198
Location
Nashville, AR
Still have this algae and after looking around turns out its Fuzz algae. Ive had this problem for two weeks now. I have a liquid test now and after doing the test my Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and Nitrate is 5. This is in my 10 gallon that i have overstocked with 1 Bristle nose Pleco, 6 red cherry shrimp, and 4 Peppered Corys. i have 3 java ferns, 2 Anubias. The fuzz grows on the glass and on some of the plants. I can scrub it off the glass no problems is just grows back pretty quick. What causes it and what can i do and get to either prevent it or control it?

This i in my 10 gallon i have a 29 gallon now that the fish will go in when i get it setup. but i want to know what to do to prevent it from growing in the other tank.
 
I use API leaf zone aquarium plant food once a week. Ive tried taking a picture but my camera cant take a good picture of it.
 
ok managed to take a few good pics of the algae. And turns out i have green algae spots growing as well. Its in the pic buy the heater. You can see the green haze in one pic thats the front glass. it doesnt look that bad except on that angle. but like i said scrubs off easy but grows back quick.
 

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Try runing your lights for a 7 hour period. You can try an use hydrogen perixide on the algea.
 
Use a seringe to spot treat. if you have plants that you can take out you can use a bowl to dip them.
 
How much peroxide? Is it possible to overdose? And how long do i dip the plants? How long do i wait after I treat the algae to do a water change?
 
It is posibble but you would need to dump a bottle. You can dip for 30 seconds to a minute. I woul do this while im doing a WC.
 
If you spot treat use 5 ml and apply it to thr plants that have algea. it will mix with the water you dont have to do nothing else.
 
H2o2 will only treat the algae it won't fix the underlying issue.

If all you are using is API leaf green (or whatever it's called) I would hazard a guess that it's not enough to sustain the growth of the plants.

If you have 2x10w bulbs in your 10g hood then this is medium level lighting.

I would get yourself a comprehensive micronutrient. I use EASYLIFE PROFITO.

It sounds like you need MORE nutrients in your water column to help your plants out compete any algae.

I suffered with BBA, STAGHORN and GSA until I managed to dial in my dosing schedule.

Most nutrient bottles have a dosage based on weekly application for specified amount of gallons/litres etc. I took this specified amount and worked out how much per day I needed to use and then dosed every other day with 2days worth of nutrients.

After a good clean and 5weeks of being monotonous about dosing nutrients I had finally put an end to the problem algae.


Jon
 
I have a planted 10 gal that gets 2-2.5 hours of direct sunlight every morning. It has 3 Oto's, 10 RCS and 3 Endlers. Along with a few stray snails I got from Meijer plants, they keep up and do a good job keeping the tank clean. Careful with the peroxide. To much, even spot treating can be absorbed by local plants and wilt them.
 
If that doesn't work then you could try rooibos tea. I heard its pretty effective though I've never had to use it
 
I cut my lights down to 5 hours a day and I add alittle fert every other day. Still have some algae. But thats probably the algae I missed when I scrubbed glass. Guess we'll wait and see.
 
Went down to 5 hours a day and i add a small amount of fert every other day. Now the algae is gone. There was still some on one of my plants and after 2 days it disappeared. Not sure what did it, but its gone now.
 
Less photoperiod + more dosing = more available nutrients. It's kind of counter intuitive, but in my experiences more algaes are caused by insufficient ferts than excessive.
 
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