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There was a few strands of hair algae there and there in my tank, I've tried removing the affected leaves, but it's still there.

I've had hair algae in the past, I had to throw out all the plants and let the ornaments dry in the sun outside.
back then I had a meagre amount of plants, now I have loads more, I don't want to have to do that again as I have 3 vallisernia with several little plantlings!

so how to stop hair algae? I was thinking turn the tank light off for a few days?

Thanks in advance.
R_Boy1

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

Have a look at this and it should help. Not knowing any thing about your tank it is hard to say much else. I believe SAE and Cherry barbs will control it but you have to fix the cause rather than control it.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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I am getting a bit of that stuff myself... I went out and purchased 3 golden mystery snails yesterday at the LFS... I'll let you know how they do with algae control.

I also have this problem of reoccurring hair algae!
I spent hours yesterday reading back posts on this site & looking up products for it.

I came to the conclusion that the most sensible thing to do is to find the CAUSE of the algae (as has been suggested) & to correct those conditions. Then I should go about killing what algae I have & trust that it won't come back again.

From what I understand, (unless I'm wrong) hair algae can be caused from not enough or too many nutrients. In my case, I have well water that has run off in it from ferts on pasture land. I know I have high nitrates & I assume I also have high phosphates, from what I've read about well water.

So what I will do is get some Prime water conditioner, cause it's supposed to get rid of nitrates. Then I will get some stuff that removes phosphates. After that I will work on killing what algae I have. I'm not sure what route I'll take on that. I read some interesting stuff on how Hydrogen Peroxide will kill it when injected right onto the plants while still in the water, but you have to use that in exact amounts or it will kill the fish & plants too.

I don't intend to throw my plants away. I've read that if you take them out of the tank & soak them in a 1/19 parts solution of bleach water for 2 minutes, rinse well, let soak in water with water conditioner in it, it will get rid of algae.

This algae is terrible! The strands break off & then hook onto everything in the tank! It's grown off my filter tube, wood, plants, rocks, glass & now it's in my gravel!

Luckily my hair algae isn't that bad.. yet.
I've only got a few strands there and there on the vallisernia leaves, I'm trying to kill it off by decreasing light hours.. only half an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening with the natural day light in between. here's hoping it'll work.
btw, thanks for your posts guys.
R_Boy1

Come to think of it, I haven't seen any hair algae growing in my tank for a while now. I think my SAE and moonlight gourami ate it.

THe natural daylight might be the cause of it, if it is direct and strong. Lighting it for about ~9+ horus a day, with bursts of 3 hours of light and 1-2 hours breaks in the middle, is said to keep it under control. Also, make sure that fertilizers are not in your system, unless you are dosing them yourself. In that case, make sure there is not more than you need in the tank. With only few hours of light, and regular doses of ferts, the algae will grow. Using the methods mentioned, it is easy to control and eliminate alltogether!

EDIT: Hey Fish Patty, how does Prime remove NitrAtes? Ive never heard of it doing that, and i just checked the website too! Maybe you mean the DeNitrate media? Please elaborate, as i would love to know!

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I don't know how it does it goby. I just know what the dr. smith & foster web site said about it, where I ordered it. I copy & pasted it below.

Seachem Prime Water Conditioner
* Tap water conditioner removes chlorine and chloramine
* Detoxifies ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and heavy metals
* Safely condition water without a pH drop or overactivating protein skimmers

No other aquarium water conditioning product is required to make tap water safe. Prime removes chlorine and chloramine (even in high chloramine levels), and detoxifies ammonia and nitrite. Provides essential ions and stimulates natural slime coat. Prime also detoxifies any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels. When used during cycling, Prime enhances nitrate removal and does not cause a pH drop or overactivate protein skimmers. Great for setting up new aquariums, or when adding or changing water, or to remove nitrate.

The natural daylight is not direct nor strong, I have no ferts or anything like that. The light have been on for 2 and a half hours or so everyday, and the hair algae seems to be decreasing.. gradually.
Once again, thanks for your helpful posts!
R_Boy1

Back in 1999 I had hair algae in the Panda Fun Palace™.

A pair of SAEs nuked it.

If the hair algae is the dark green variety, they'll attack it with gusto. The lighter green variety on the other hand is less likely to tempt them in my experience (i.e., the dreaded "blanket weed". For that, you need Florida Flag Fish. Which destroy it in pretty short order.

As for dealing with water that's eutrophied at source (i.e., contaminated by agricultural runoff) chances are you're looking at an RO unit to be absolutely certain of removing the contaminants.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002