Re: [AGA Member] Hair algae

[Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>]

Randy Pullen wrote:

> Any suggestions on getting rid of hair algae? Long thin green strands
> are hanging off my plant's leaves as long as an inch or two. I reduced
> the lighting to 2.5 watts for 8 hrs. It is a newly started tank. I was
> running 5 watts per gallon at first. That's when this started.
> Thanks,
> Randy
>
>
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>  
Kibitzing her, hope it helps.  Have you read the Krib archives?
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/
I'm new, but for a year now I've found the Krib planted tank archives 
invaluable for lots of this stuff, including IDing what algae I had.  
Adding CO2, non-phosphate liquid fertilizers (higher-quality such as 
Mastergro, Seachem, Kent etc.), SAE algae-eaters, and adequate lighting 
has made a *huge* difference for my tanks.  For one thing, the DIY yeast 
CO2 took my tap from liquid limestone right down into a nice comfy 
Amazon tetra habitat pH--and a lot easier than I'd expected!  The plants 
are sooo much happier they're outcompeting the black brush algae I used 
to have.
What kind of plants are you trying?  New tank needs fast stem plants.  
My family loves the way hornwort looks, it's scary how fast that stuff 
grows, and side-trick, it puts out chemicals that inhibit algae.  (Query 
to experts:  do these allellochemicals inhibit higher plants too?)  I'm 
also growing Crypts, but I don't expect them to pull their weight on the 
tank break-in.
IMHO, you **might** be able to get away with 5 watts/gallon if you have 
fast-growing stem plants settled in & happy, but you'll have to add a 
LOT of nitrogen and potassium and iron and micronutrients to accomplish 
this (and prune a lot!)   The big deal is to reduce your phosphorus 
content down to minimum compared to nitrogen and potassium.
What little P there is, should come from feeding the fish.  Are you 
feeding them too much?
How many fish are in the tank?  Big messy hard-livin' fish?  Are the 
nitrites/nitrates building up fast (not the primary algae issue--just an 
indicator of wastes getting out of hand) so you should be doing more 
water changes or reduce the fish load?  (Yes, I know, there's probably 
not such a thing as too many water changes.  Aquarist guilt.)
You didn't say much about your other conditions, either.  If you're 
using pH buffers, for instance, most of them have phosphates, which 
feeds the algae so much it can really foul your tank  Some of the 
cheaper plant tablets sold in LFSs are also horrid for leaking 
phosphates into the water. (Check the labels for NPK percentages.  No P, 
please.  Not until you know EXACTLY what you're doing.)  Or you may just 
have too much phosphate coming in from your tapwater--check with water 
company, or try a phosphate test kit on your tapwater too.
Besides the other Krib material, George and Karla Booth's material goes 
in a lot of detail on water chemistry and gives general levels you 
should be aiming for (besides gorgeous pix!).  They also note that if 
you're doing everything right, you may still have some minor amounts of 
certain kinds of algae (removable with toothbrush twirled in it, in fact.)
Funny, how that made me feel better...
http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/



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