# Hair algae



## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

Hi I have some problem with hair algae using EI how can I fight with it??


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## LondonDragon (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> Hi I have some problem with hair algae using EI how can I fight with it??


Are you performing the 50% weekly water changes?


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

yes every Sunday 50% water change 5 day dosing and Friday and Saturday break


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## LondonDragon (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> yes every Sunday 50% water change 5 day dosing and Friday and Saturday break


Could you provide more details about your tank? volume, lights, how many hours lights on, filtration, dosing regime and amounts.


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

so tank is 60l low tech light 26w,filtration fluval 205 with 3 media types,light was for 10h but now is just for 7h


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## LondonDragon (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> so tank is 60l low tech light 26w,filtration fluval 205 with 3 media types,light was for 10h but now is just for 7h


So far so good, and dosing regime?


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

sunday 50% water and kno3/kh2po4/mgso4
monday micro
tuesday mgso4/kh2po4/kno3
wednesday micro
thursday kno3/kh2po4/mgso4


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## LondonDragon (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> sunday 50% water and kno3/kh2po4/mgso4
> monday micro
> tuesday mgso4/kh2po4/kno3
> wednesday micro
> thursday kno3/kh2po4/mgso4


You trying to build up your post count?  quantities?


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

so kno3 bit less than 3/16 tea spoon 
kh2po4 bit less than 1/16 tea spoon
mgso4 bit less than 1/2 tea spoon

micro about 3ml seachem


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## samc (26 Oct 2009)

what about your co2? thats normally the problem


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## baron von bubba (26 Oct 2009)

samc said:
			
		

> what about your co2? thats normally the problem





			
				alzak said:
			
		

> so tank is 60l *low tech* light 26w,filtration fluval 205 with 3 media types,light was for 10h but now is just for 7h


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## LondonDragon (26 Oct 2009)

I always find it difficult to work with teaspoon measures unless you have a proper set of measuring spoons for the job, always find it best to work in grams as I have a gram scale for the job.

so kno3 bit less than 3/16 tea spoon   	0.94 grams
kh2po4 bit less than 1/16 tea spoon 	0.31 grams
mgso4 bit less than 1/2 tea spoon	2.5 grams

Sounds about right to start with and the 3ml of trace is a good amount also, but you need to be dosing it on a Friday also, or dose 5ml the other days.

What seachem product are you using? Also do you measure the CO2 with a drop checker? or are you using seachem excel for CO2? How much you dose of that?


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

about 2-3 bubble per sec


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## baron von bubba (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> about 2-3 bubble per sec



you said it was low tech, no matter.
do you use a drop checker? BPS means very little.


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## alzak (26 Oct 2009)

low tech mean low light sorry for that I use basic drop checker which I bought with basic hydor CO2 system


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## JamesM (26 Oct 2009)

alzak said:
			
		

> low tech mean low light sorry for that I use basic drop checker which I bought with basic hydor CO2 system


What are you filling the drop checker with?


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## samc (26 Oct 2009)

if i was you i would increase fert dosing (maybe double) and get your co2 as high as you can without harming your fish. when the problem has gone slowly decrease dosing and co2 if nessasary, i would keep it up though


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## hipknoteyes (27 Oct 2009)

I found the best fish for getting rid of hair algae was a SAE - he was a little bit terratorial though


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## LondonDragon (27 Oct 2009)

hipknoteyes said:
			
		

> I found the best fish for getting rid of hair algae was a SAE - he was a little bit terratorial though


Yep and has they get older will also reduce eating the algae.


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## plantbrain (27 Oct 2009)

Anytime I mess up the CO2= algae.

I adjusted it and also inoculated some Spirogyra.
Bloomed nicely.

Plants also grew well.

I have a nice fully planted tank and have been doing the same routine dosing wise./light etc, the plants are doign even better and more biomass. So I decided to inoculate again to see.

Yep, I was able to induce it with a little CO2 "bump" and addition of fresh culture.

The light and nutrients where independent.

I'd suspect if you allowed Caldophora to remain, it would do a simialr thing, but does not gow or sporulate and spread like Spirogyra. Several other greens are good, but require more variables and issues to occur. GSA comes along with poor CO2 as well a bit later.

I adjusted the CO2 for 1 week and reduced it by about 1/4. Then returned it.

I can get rid of the algae with 3 days on/3 days off ......of light/blackouts.
So large water changes, no ferts, then blackout for 3 days.
After, another large water changes, followed by 3 normal days with lower light.
Followed by another BO and water change.

Repeat as often as needed to beat the algae back.

This allows the plants to survive indefinitely, but beats the algae back really harshly.
Works well on most green hair algae.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## hipknoteyes (27 Oct 2009)

> Yep and has they get older will also reduce eating the algae.



Mine was called Bingo (the kids name some of the fish  ) he cured a terible algae problem, but after reading a few more posts I think it might have been Black Bush Algae (I have heard they eat hair algae too though).  He used to chase my Corys but I don't think he actually ever hurt anyone.  He died last winter when we were getting some work done on the house and were stopping with relatives and a stupid electrian left the electric off for about 24 hours.  The temp went down to 8c - he was the only fish to die - I have got loads of shrimps now and the seem to keep more algae under control.


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## alzak (8 Mar 2010)

Hi after set up my tank about 2 months ago is 370l I have from about 5-6 weeks algae problem hair algae and dust on glass I do not have idea how to fight with this 
MgSO4 16g
KNO3 6.5g
KH2PO4 3g 
Seachem Flourisch about 4ml a day 
Easy Carbo 15ml a day 
Pressured CO2 
light 3.6wpg
light now for 6 hours was for 7.5
siamese flying fox 11 of them and 7 amano shrimps

any ideas what I do wrong ??


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## ceg4048 (8 Mar 2010)

alzak said:
			
		

> Hi after set up my tank about 2 months ago is 370l I have from about 5-6 weeks algae problem hair algae and dust on glass I do not have idea how to fight with this
> 
> any ideas what I do wrong ??


Yes, you have too much light. Reduce your lighting by at least 50%. As plantbain mentioned several posts ago, hair algae is a direct result of poor CO2/flow (often in combination with overzealous lighting.)

High light means you must supply high CO2. It is entirely possibly that your lighting is so high and that your flow rate so low that it requires toxic levels of CO2 injection to eliminate the hair algae. To give yourself more margin, reduce the lighting by disabling some bulbs. You can also add more Easycarbo. A 370L tank should ideally have 3700Litres per hour of flow rating.

Once you reduce your lighting you will find that all algae problems will immediately be reduced. You can then play with the CO2 injection rate, review your flow/distribution and experiment with Easycarbo dosages. After a while when you become more experienced you can then start thinking about resuming the previous lighting levels.

Cheers,


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## alzak (9 Mar 2010)

HI
the problem with light is I can not reduce any light as I have HQI with 2x150 w second option is a flow rate at the moment for 370l I use tetratec ex1200 with flow rate 1200l second filter is xp3 with flow rate 1350l and like diffuser I use koralia nano  which is placed on top of glass diffuser to help with better co2 diffusing 
I think the problem is with my flow rate that's why I want to replace my xp3 filter with fx5 or eheim 2078 but can't decide which one is better for me


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