Green Hair Algar

[Cdodds12]

Any suggestions how I can get rid of green hair algae? I have a 7 gallon tank with a betta in it. I do a 50% water change every week when I vacuum the gravel, but I just can't seem to get rid of it. Two weeks ago I had to tear it all down and scrub it all, but now the algae is back and even worse. Please help!

 

[shellyx]

Any suggestions how I can get rid of green hair algae? I have a 7 gallon tank with a betta in it. I do a 50% water change every week when I vacuum the gravel, but I just can't seem to get rid of it. Two weeks ago I had to tear it all down and scrub it all, but now the algae is back and even worse. Please help!

The only thing that helped me with hair algae in my bettas tank was my Nerite snail it didn't take him long too clear it

 

[Cdodds12]

We had a snail, Gary, but he was very lazy and all he did was poop all over the place and make it worse.

 

[shellyx]

We had a snail, Gary, but he was very lazy and all he did was poop all over the place and make it worse.

Was it an apple? Their poop machine,s lol

 

[Cdodds12]

Sure was!

 

[shellyx]

Sure was!

Thought so! I have 3 & boy can they make a mess, Nerite,s aren't bad & their good with algae I have them.

 

[Cdodds12]

Yeah, I should have learned by now not to listen to the teenagers they have working at pet Valu, but alas, now I have a real mess on my hands.

 

[shellyx]

Yeah, I should have learned by now not to listen to the teenagers they have working at pet Valu, but alas, now I have a real mess on my hands.

I would say try amano shrimp but your betta might think they,re a snack.

 

[Cdodds12]

He would eat the shrimp for sure. He is a real jerk.

 

[tamtam]

Hows your feeding schedule and lighting? Those are 2 common causes of algae in a tank and some adjustments on them may help solve your problem.

If you are over feeding it can help lead to extra nutrients and such in the water which will fuel the algae growth. If your tank gets too much light/sun it will add to it to.

I also second the nerite. Other than that I would just keep wiping it off. I get a pretty healthy algae growth on the part of my tank that gets some direct sunlight. I have to clean it off weekly with an algae scrum or it gets nasty. I really need to find some good blinds for that window.

 

[Cdodds12]

He gets fed twice per day, and a bloodworm for a treat every second day. We don't let it sit around, whatever doesn't get eaten gets sucked up with a turkey baster. The light stays on during the day, but we turn it off at night. We tried leaving the light off for a couple of days, but Finnigan was miserable. There isn't any natural light. I've heard that completely blacking the tank out for a few days with garbage bags might kill it, but i don't really want to move him into his little bowl for that long. It's really gross. I can handle scraping it off the glass. I bought one if those magnet things, it works really well, but it has started growing in the gravel and the filter as well. I will keep an eye out for a nerite, I think my local shop only has apple/mystery snails though.

 

[phishfriend]

You could ask your lfs to order a few for you but If you can't find the snails locally. You can always order then online.

 

[tamtam]

I would honestly try cutting back feeding for a little while. Once a day is honestly more than enough for any fish. Heck you could cut it back to just 3-4 times a week and he would still be perfectly fine with that. They really don't need to eat every single day.

As for the lights you could still cut them back some too. I usually don't turn my lights on until around 10 or so in the mornings and shut them off after supper time. Often there is still light in a room anyways but it cuts down the direct light to the tank and may help.

Just my opinion on what I would do if I were in your shoes.