Removing hair algae

[Fishies86]

Is there a way of removing hair algae from plants other than just trying to pull it off?
I can get it off the ornaments etc from the tank using a toothbrush and vinegar or salt, but I don't know how to remove it from the plants.

I'm so fed up of the stuff! If I can't remove it from the plants, I'm going to throw them away and start again I think.

Once I've got rid of it, I need to stop it coming back, but how do I do that?

I'm guessing it's there because I've got a fairly heavily planted tank, high lighting levels, no plant food and no co2? I can't afford to even buy any more co2 or plant food at the moment and I really don't want to do homemade co2.

Is there a way of preventing the hair algae coming back?

[aqua_chem]

What most people call "hair algae" can be one of several different types of algae. If you post pictures, we can give you more useful information.

BUT

High light + no CO2 + no ferts = algae. Any two without a third causes the final. Fact of planted tanks. You're going to keep having algae until you fix the imbalance.

Do you dose excel at all? What kind of lighting (make and type) do you have/how big is your tank?

[Fishies86]

Originally Posted by aqua_chem

What most people call "hair algae" can be one of several different types of algae. If you post pictures, we can give you more useful information.

BUT

High light + no CO2 + no ferts = algae. Any two without a third causes the final. Fact of planted tanks. You're going to keep having algae until you fix the imbalance.

Do you dose excel at all? What kind of lighting (make and type) do you have/how big is your tank?

I don't dose excel. I was using co2, but to be honest I couldn't tell you how much it was. I've got an indicator that just tells me if there's too much (yellow) or not enough (blue), but I could never seem to get it into the green which is supposed to be ideal. My tank is a 10uk gallon. The lights are two 15W bulbs, they're the only ones that will fit in the hood of my tank. They are energy saving bulbs, the colour temp is 6000k. I don't know if that gives you the information you need? Thank you

[aqua_chem]

Hmm. That honestly doesn't sound too much light. Possibly borderline. Some fertilizers would be nice depending on the stocking levels/planted level, but maybe not needed.

Honestly, excel might do wonders for you. I had some hair algae in my 10g for awhile until I started dosing excel. In about a week it turned pink and slowly died. Your plants will like it too.

[Fishies86]

Yeah, I think I will try and get some excel from ebay or something (sucks since of the time living in the uk). I never tried it veggie because I had valis in there and it melts them doesn't it? They've all died now though, so not a problem any more. Thanks for your help

[aqua_chem]

A lot of people say it melts vals, but there are those who have claimed to have grown vals with it. Probably just means that we don't have the full picture yet.