Hair algae!! Help please

[Aquazan]

OK so I have these patches of hair algae starting to grown in my tank, and I don't know how to stop it, I want my plants to grow very fast, so I run the lights from 12-10 (10 hours a day) and dose ferts 2X a week, and liquid carbon everyday.

I have tiny spikes of algae growing all over my driftwood. I have two SAE's and they are always picking at algae in the gravel,, but never go for the big visible green patches. WHY!? (I know 100% they are true)

What i am really interested in is knowing if there is any phosphate absorbing media that may work for me, Remember this is a PLANTED TANK (75G).

How does Phos-Zorb work? What other phosphate absorbing medias??

 

[BBradbury]

Algae Problems

OK so I have these patches of hair algae starting to grown in my tank, and I don't know how to stop it, I want my plants to grow very fast, so I run the lights from 12-10 (10 hours a day) and dose ferts 2X a week, and liquid carbon everyday.

I have tiny spikes of algae growing all over my driftwood. I have two SAE's and they are always picking at algae in the gravel,, but never go for the big visible green patches. WHY!? (I know 100% they are true)

What i am really interested in is knowing if there is any phosphate absorbing media that may work for me, Remember this is a PLANTED TANK (75G).

How does Phos-Zorb work? What other phosphate absorbing medias??

Hello Aqua...

I had an algae problem in my tanks when there was too much dissolved food in the water. I gradually reduced the amount I fed my fish and plants and the algae shrank to the point it's no longer visible.

Chemicals are unnecessary. Some can affect your fish and plants and even the good bacteria. You don't need them.

I keep large, planted tanks like you and feed my fish a little variety of frozen just twice a week. I dose my plants with a couple different liquids only twice a week when I top off my tanks.

Fish and plants in the wild get very little food and that's best. The fish forage for the leftovers and keep the tank clean. The complex plants use every bit of dissolved food in the water, so there's nothing left for the more primitive plants, like algae.

Pretty simple really.

B

 

[Cichlid Kid]

In layman's terms, you want to find the right amount of nutrients so the more complex plants can outcompete the algae for food. Reducing the lighting schedule should help too. I had the same problem with black beard algae and after receiving some good advice here in this forum I've managed to halt the spread of this stuff and now I'm in the process of spot treating to kill off what remains.

 

[Rivercats]

You don't need to run your lights that long for good plant growth. I have a 220g planted with metal halides and T5HO's and can only do a high light 6 hour burst with the metal halides. For good growth its about the right light running the proper amount of time with adequate ferts and liquid carbon or CO2.

Some SAE's don't much like algae especially if they are getting plenty of fish food. Try lowering your light time to maybe 8 hours and upping your liquid carbon alittle. Remove as much of the hair algae as you can by hand and spot treat the rest with Excel and see if you have any changes.

Here's a picture of my 220g that runs on high light and liquid carbon with PPS-Pro dosing. If anything gets out of balance hair algae is the first thing I see.