The Benefit of Hair Algae

[BBradbury]

Hello. Believe it or not, there's a real benefit to having some hair algae in your fish tank. I have a nice growth of it in most of my 10 tanks and it grows over piles of rocks and creates a safe area for my Platy fry. The adults don't like to go into the algae because they can get tangled in it. But, the fry can easily move in and out to grab a little bit of food and not be chased. So, I have a greater number of fry survive the early days of their lives.

B

 

[V227]

The abundant hair algae likely helps reduce the nitrates as well.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello V. Reduced nitrogen from the water filtering ability of the algae is a good point. I must confess, I haven't tested my tap water in more years than I care to recall. I focus on a steady water chemistry by removing and replacing a lot of tank water every week. Where I live in Colorado, we have the benefit of mountain ranges that get a lot of snow, so in the warmer weather, we have a lot of water available. It's cheap, so I can keep 10 large fish tanks from 45 to 300 gallons and change out most of the water weekly and not pay much. And, keep my yard well watered. Here's a shot of a part of the back yard.

B

 

[V227]

Very pretty garden. Water is relatively cheap in Oklahoma too, especially this month.

We've had over 12 inches of rain this June. The yard is so muddy. Lol.