Hair algea

[jrp1588]

I've had my 30 gallon tank running for a while now, about a year, and ever since about a week after setting up the tank, I've had a problem with hair algea. The stuff was growing directly on my plants, so I removed them to another tank and saved the plants. I tried getting a suckerfish to solve this problem, but I decided against a boring old pleco. I think I got a siamese suckermouth catfish or something like that. Anyway, it failed miserably at its job. Do you think a good pleco would totally solve this problem or what. Just for reference, I have fluorescent lighting in my 30gallon tank, and I've never had trouble with algea in a tank with incandescent tubes. Might I have a lighting problem?

 

[greenmaji]

rubbernose pleco's, american flag fish, ammno shrimp are some of the consumers of hair algae, that I can think of off the top of my head.. but its hard to tell what is causing the algae problem unless you give more details about your setup.. ie how many watts of lighting you have, your nutrient levels like how much NO3 and PO4 and such.. by the way you really cant get enough light for a planted tank with incandesent bulbs unless there MH wich is usually overkill unless you have a very big tank..

 

[malkore]

tell us more about the algae...I want to make sure you've ID'd it correctly.

Is it short strands, or very long (like 4" or more)? Color?

You probably have a 20watt bulb over the 30, so low light for sure.

Do you have nitrate or phosphate test kits? can you give us some test results if you do?

And are you dosing any fertilizers?

 

[greenmaji]

Try to use the pictures and discriptions in this artical to make sure you know what algae you have.. and do tell us what it looks like.. it would be very helpfull

 

[jrp1588]

OK, according to that link, I have beard algae. The lamp is indeed a 20watt. I don't get any 4cm strands of algae, the longest is about 1.5cm. (I think my mollies nibble at it a lot) But judging from the pictures, it looks and sounds the most Like beard algae. I had been using a plant fertilizer called "Tetra Flora Pride" a while back, but stopped because it seemed like it wasn't doing anything. As for testing equipment, I don't have any. I'm not hardcore about the plants, I just want a nice natural looking aquarium.

 

[greenmaji]

all aquariums need to be tested..

 

[malkore]

I've found beard algae flourishes when phosphates are high.

 

[jrp1588]

Ok, what should I do to fix that?

 

[greenmaji]

water changes, refraning from dosing anything that contains PO4, be carefull not to overfeed the fish, turn off your filter while your feeding your fish...

 

[jrp1588]

Is a 25% weekly waterchange enough? And I only feed my fish once a day, and I'm fairly sure they eat it all. I turn the filter to its lowest setting when feeding. I'm going to petsmart tomorrow, so I'll just buy a pleco and maybe a few snails, see how that does.

 

[greenmaji]

If 25% is what you have been doing weekly then you need to increse the percentage and or the frequency of the water changes.. feeding once a day what the fish can eat in forty to sixty seconds is all thats nessisary..

 

[jrp1588]

From everything I read, that was the recommended amount. What kind of water changes do you suggest, I'm just 17 and really can't afford to buy dechlorinating stuff all the time.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What kind of dechlor are you using? I bought a 2 liter bottle of prime for $30 and it lasts a LONG time.

 

[jrp1588]

I got a half litre of Tetra aquasafe. Aside from the waterchanges and all that, how do I actually rid myself of this algae?