Hair Algae

[Todd2]

I got hair algae in my tank, how do you get rid of this stuff?

 

[Guest]

Well you can use Siamese Algae Eaters or Amano shrimp to remove it. But you need to address what causes it in the first place.

You did not give any tank specs or water parameters but if you will supply the size of the tank, how many watts of light you have over it, your pH, kH, gH, nitrate, and phosphate levels we can give you more help. Also tell us how much and of what types of fertilizers you are using and how often.

 

[Todd2]

It is a 10g with 1.5 wpg, pH is 7.6, kH is 3 dkH, gH is 9 dgH. I don't have test for nitrate or phosphate. I add a capfull of Plant Gro weekly.

 

[Guest]

Your problem is most likely a nutrient imbalance. You need to either get nitrate and phosphate tests or have your water tested for them. If you buy them I suggest the Red Sea brand test kits. Then once you get those numbers we can help you more. Also you should be dosing potassium. The levels you should be looking for are:

Nitrates 5-10 ppm
Phosphates 0.5-1.0 ppm
Potassium 10-20 ppm
Iron 0.1-0.25 ppm

Also you might want to think about setting up a DIY CO2 rig.

 

[Bearfan]

Love my SAEs in my planted tanks. I had hair algae, got SAEs, have no hair algae. The problem with hair algae is the speed at which it grows and spreads. SAEs clean it up nicely. Here's the profile I wrote on them a while back.

http://69.44.152.177/viewtopic.php?t=5524

 

[Guest]

And the biggest problem is an SAE in a 10 gallon tank.

 

[cashman]

I cut the lights off in my planted tank for 2 days and it did wonders to the algae problem. I didn't feed the tank either. Didn't bother the fish or the plants.

 

[TankGirl]

Absolutely get an idea of your water parameters. Once you increase your lighting you simply must know these things to avoid algae, or you will never get it under control. My tap water contains, on average, 0.5ppm phosphate, which was the culprit in my case. In a 10-gal it is so easy to overstock, and you would be very surprised at the amount of waste a shrimp can produce! At the price of Amano shrimps around here, I would use the money on test kits and start tweaking. If your water out of the tap is not high in phosphate, then upping your water changes can go a long way in keepin the nutrients in the water column down. CO2, even at lower light levels, will enable your plants to utilize the nutrients better and the algae will starve. The Hagen CO2 unit is perfect for a 10-gal.

Good luck! This is something just about everyone goes through, and there are a lot of factors that contribute so don't get discouraged, and be patient (something this hobby is trying to teach me...).