Please help! Hair algae going crazy!

[Billbug68]

Yeah I am trying to fill it in. Mine is micro
Sword, don't know if that's the same? I just set it up like this a few weeks ago, then I had this algae bloom and had to trim a bunch out. This stuff is pretty much the same, it propagates by runners underneath the substrate and sends up new leaves, the roots being underneath each leaf. I see new leaves pop up almost daily so I'm hoping if I leave it to grow and stop moving stuff for a few months I should be good! Oh and yeah, I like the simplistic look with only a few types of plants. I might go get a few more pots to help the empty space along. I'm pretty confident I'll have a carpet in a few months! Also my betta loves to swim through the micro sword, fun to watch!

 

[Jscoggins]

If you have bbm you don't have the right balance in your tank ex...to much light-not enough co2...how much co2 are you running? how big is the tank? you said you were doing diy co2..how much? how long have you been running your co2...How much light, what kind of lighting?

See there is a lot of parameters that cause bbm...we need more info. about your tank so we can narrow it down a little...

And just cleaning the tank is not going to fix the problem...you need to find out why you have it, or it will be back next week and next week and next week.......

 

[Billbug68]

If you have bbm you don't have the right balance in your tank ex...to much light-not enough co2...how much co2 are you running? how big is the tank? you said you were doing diy co2..how much? how long have you been running your co2...How much light, what kind of lighting?

See there is a lot of parameters that cause bbm...we need more info. about your tank so we can narrow it down a little...

Yeah, I read that it is caused by an imbalance but I think the recent changes might help. Its a 10 gal btw. I was running 2 13w cfls 5000k horizontally mounted in stock hood. Changed the lighting to 2 13w cfls 6500k mounted vertically in clip on desk lamps. I am running DIY co2 out of a glass diffuser, my mix is 2 cups sugar, 1/4 tablespoon of standard baking yeast. I don't have a drop checker yet, so that's my next step, to monitor the co2 levels, and to stop being lazy and renew my co2 when it's low. As I stated before I just started dosing excel daily. My other ferts are all liquids right now from seachem, 1ml of comprehensive twice a week and I dose 1ml of iron and potassium ever other day. I also use to have filtered daylight hitting the back of the tank from the window it sits in front of(there is a covered patio outside of the window so it never got direct sunlight) but i just put blinds up sunday. The tank also has blackout uv protectant window tint from home depot on the back glass. How's it sound? Just need a drop checker? Do I need to go pressurized? Too much ferts? This is the first week I've run it this way and it seems to be doing great, the BBA is dying off nicely from the excel but I'm worried about my inverts... If my betta doesn't kill em, the excel eventually might... Haha

Edit: so you can see I didn't just "clean" the tank, I made quite a bit of changes that may have been the underlying problems. Ie light spectrum to co2 ratio, fert rationing, bad natural light! Bad! Haha

 

[Jscoggins]

sounds like your on the right track...good luck..just remember when you change everything at one time you will have a hard time figuring out which one fixed the problem..lol..

and as for the question on the press. co2...Imo you wouldn't need press. for a 10 gal..would be over kill..good luck

 

[Billbug68]

sounds like your on the right track...good luck..just remember when you change everything at one time you will have a hard time figuring out which one fixed the problem..lol..

and as for the question on the press. co2...Imo you wouldn't need press. for a 10 gal..would be over kill..good luck

I thought about maybe using a pressurized paintball setup just so I could run a controller and keep everything stable.

Also I just set up my timer so lights come on at 1 in the afternoon and go off at 9. I'm not to concerned about which one was the actual fix, as long as its fixed! thanks for the tips, any other suggestions? Does everything sound about right for what I'm going for with this 10g?

 

[DanS180]

To the OP.. im not sure what your stock is, but I have a 180G planted and I had the same problem with algae hair.. bought some "true flying fox" fish and its virtually all gone now. They apparently feed on the hair just thought id add my experience!

 

[Billbug68]

To the OP.. im not sure what your stock is, but I have a 180G planted and I had the same problem with algae hair.. bought some "true flying fox" fish and its virtually all gone now. They apparently feed on the hair just thought id add my experience!

Hey, thanks! My tank is only 10g, and already at its stock limits... Just looked up the fish and it said they can get up to 6 inches long... So I don't think that is an option for me here. I think I've got it pretty much figured out, I honestly don't see any more hair algae at all. If I did I've heard amano shrimp love the stuff, but unfortunately I'm just not growing anymore, so I won't be adding any more algae eating live stock to the tank. I've already got 3 otos and an unknown amount of RCS. The only visible algae I have now is a little green spot on glass. But I can deal with that! thanks again!

 

[DanS180]

Not a problem!