Hair Algae on New Plant!

[theoutdoorsykid]

Got a Madagascar Lace plant last night and noticed this morning that there is hair algae on it. I don't have experience with hair algae, so I need your help. I pulled what I could off of it, but should I pull the whole plant immediately? Will my dalmation mollies, otto cats, mystery snail, or amano shrimp take care of it? Also have Dennison barbs, green cobra guppies, harlequin rasboras, Cory sterbai, and a black ruby barb, but I generally don't think of any of those as algae eaters, but included them in the post just in case they help with hair algae. Thanks for your help!!!!

 

[flitabout]

Do you do excel or glut at all?

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

I use Seachem exel, potassium, iron, & trace. Is that what you mean? Thanks!!!

 

[Super_Blueberry]

You should be able to spot treat with excell and that will take care of it in a couple days

 

[BBradbury]

Hello the...

A very nice looking tank. Don't fret over a little algae. It's natural and a healthy tank has a little. If you're a good water changer, and don't feed the fish and plants too much, it won't grow much. It's really a good supplement to your fishes' diet.

If you want to add a plant that will help control algae, then get some Anacharis. It's cheap and looks good just floating. It gives off a mild chemical that most kinds of algae don't tolerate. I float a lot of this plant in my tanks and have no algae issues.

B

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

Thanks, everyone! And a follow-up question.

Great advice, and I'm flattered to get a compliment on my tank! Thanks!

I'll leave it for my fish to munch on for now and I'll see how that goes. The mollies seem like they might like that kind of thing - I'll watch and see.

Can someone educate me on the use of Excel to curb algae growth? I use a capful every day to give my plants carbon. But it sounds like others use it to inhibit algae? I wasn't aware of this effect, and I don't understand how it would work scientifically, but I'm eager to learn. Or is everyone speaking of a medication named Excel that's different than the Seachem Excel carbon I use? Thanks!!!

 

[Rivercats]

Madagascar Lace plants are prone to algae and if it got some that fast something in your tank is out of balance. The amano shrimp should eat it and if they don't you can easily spot treat with either Excel or Hydrogen Peroxide. I personally like Peroxide for spot treating then use the Excel for your daily dosing.

How much Excel do you use daily? You should go up to 1ml Excel for every 5 gallons of tank water for 2-3 weeks. Then you can up the dose to 1ml Excel for every 2 gallons of tank water. You might find this helps a lot.

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

I have a 29 gallon tank that's medium planted (pics above). Hair algae could have come from the store, no? I think my balance is OK, but good point - I should double check! I use one capful of Excel and one capful of iron every day. I add to that one capful of trace and a capful of potassium on Sun, Wed, Fri. Sound about right? Do you use special hydrogen peroxide, or just the stuff from the drug store. Haven't used that before. Thanks!!!

 

[Rivercats]

I don't use liquid ferts but the liquid carbon Excel I measure. What is a capful? 5ml or 10ml? If it's 5ml then you need to use around 4 and if it's 10ml then you need 2. I don't like using caps as they are not very accurate measurements.

Most hydrogen peroxide sold at the stores are 3%. Just look on the bottle as occasionally some stores do carry a higher percentage which you don't want. And yes the algae can come with a plant but your introducing it into a tank which means it can start spreading.

 

[sodbuster95]

As an additional point, if you are going to dose Excel at those levels, it can get expensive. An alternative is to switch to Metricide 14. Both Excel and Metricide are the same thing - glutaraldehyde. Metricide 14 is approximately twice as concentrated as Excel, though. As such, you'll want to either dose it at half the rate you would Excel or cut it with RO or distilled water at a 1:1 ratio. Doing so will result in approximately the same strength as Excel and, therefore, the same dose.

The upside to Metricide is that it's substantially cheaper. I just bought a gallon for $35 with shipping. That's the equivalent of 2 gallons of Excel at half the price (assuming you buy Excel 500ml at a time).

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

I don't use liquid ferts but the liquid carbon Excel I measure. What is a capful? 5ml or 10ml? If it's 5ml then you need to use around 4 and if it's 10ml then you need 2. I don't like using caps as they are not very accurate measurements.

A capful is 5 ml. So you think I should up my daily dosage of Excel from 5ml/day to 20ml/day? Happy to try it! Would love more growth. Probably should ease into the new dosage though, right?

 

[Rivercats]

Since a capful is 5ml then go up to 2 capfuls for a week, then go up to 3 capfuls for a couple weeks, then finally work up to 4 capfuls. Always watch your stock. I've never had any problems using 1ml liquid carbon to every 1 gallon water but some delicate shrimp I'm sure would not tolerate that.

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

You people are awesome.

That's the equivalent of 2 gallons of Excel at half the price (assuming you buy Excel 500ml at a time).

Great tip, sodbuster95! Thanks!

Since a capful is 5ml then go up to 2 capfuls for a week, then go up to 3 capfuls for a couple weeks, then finally work up to 4 capfuls. Always watch your stock. I've never had any problems using 1ml liquid carbon to every 1 gallon water but some delicate shrimp I'm sure would not tolerate that.

Rivercats - your planted tanks look gorgeous, so I'm listening hard to what you have to say! Just to make sure I understood correctly, you are saying to go to 10ml per day for one week, then 15ml per day the following week, then 20ml per day from then on out? Is that why your tank looks so gorgeous? Do you use a C02 pump or liquid?

Thanks!!!

 

[BBradbury]

Using Excel

Great advice, and I'm flattered to get a compliment on my tank! Thanks!

I'll leave it for my fish to munch on for now and I'll see how that goes. The mollies seem like they might like that kind of thing - I'll watch and see.

Can someone educate me on the use of Excel to curb algae growth? I use a capful every day to give my plants carbon. But it sounds like others use it to inhibit algae? I wasn't aware of this effect, and I don't understand how it would work scientifically, but I'm eager to learn. Or is everyone speaking of a medication named Excel that's different than the Seachem Excel carbon I use? Thanks!!!

Hello again the...

Some of these products contain traces of "Gluteraldehyde". The Seachem products contain 1 percent or a bit more. It's an industrial form of carbon used with other chemicals to sterilize medical instruments. Some of the more primitive plants, like algae don't tolerate it. So, it's used in higher doses to kill it. Some aquatic plants can be damaged if you're not careful. Java fern, most of the mosses and some of the Vallisneria plants don't do very well with it.

B

 

[Rivercats]

Great tip, sodbuster95! Thanks!



Rivercats - your planted tanks look gorgeous, so I'm listening hard to what you have to say! Just to make sure I understood correctly, you are saying to go to 10ml per day for one week, then 15ml per day the following week, then 20ml per day from then on out? Is that why your tank looks so gorgeous? Do you use a C02 pump or liquid?

Thanks!!!

Thanks1 I ran my very high light 220g for over a year on only high dosing liquid carbon. Now I use both CO2 and liquid carbon in that tank.

Do 10ml for a week or two, watch stock and if all do well after a week you can then up it to 15ml for a week or two, watch stock again, then up to 20ml. One other thing is if you tank ever clouds up shortly after dosing higher amounts of liquid carbon and is clear the next day your tank has reached the maximum amount of liquid carbon it can use so you will have to back down on the amount. That is true overdosing when the tank clouds.

I've been using Metricide 14 for years and if you check around you can find it for quite cheap including shipping. You can get a gallon shipped for about $20 to $27 shipped. I buy in 4 per case and pay only $18 per gallon including the shipping.

 

[theoutdoorsykid]

Rivercats, thanks for all of the awesome advice - I truly appreciate it! Hopefully in a few months I can post some pics of my plants truly flourishing. Cheers!