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Good luck then.

-Keith

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I am not sure what my KH is, but im sure someone knows a formula to transfer GH to KH, my GH is at slightly less than 160ppm. My Ph is 6.6 in the evening (usually when I test).
This tank was set up in August with gravel and water and the filter from my 25g. It cycled in 2 days, and about a week later I had staghorn algae. I managed to get rid of the staghorn algae by literally ripping it off the java fern it was growing on. It hasnt come back. In my 90g I noticed yesterday that actually the hair algae is starting to dissipate, except on this plants closest to the surface.
My plants did have trouble, as the 25g had rich gravel, but it was not enough to make the 90 rich. I enriched the 90g gravel with Nutrafin plant spikes (once a year ones), and peat granular embedded deep under the biggest root feeders: amazon swords, ludwigia, vallisneria etc.
I have about 40 plants in my 90. I recently bought some Limnophilia in the hopes that it being a fast growing bushy plant like cabomba, it would eat up nutrients that the algae was feeding on. I also QUIT dosing liquid fertilizers entirely and cut down both light hours and feedings to the fish. I am running a Eheim 2217 and a Fluval 204 on this tank and temp is 78F.
I hope this info might help you any.
What truly puzzles me is, my 10g tank, which has been running for almost a year, has hair algae (the black kind) growin en mass as well. I did put some plants from my 90 in there that werent doing so well, but I cleaned them thoroughly before. I dont rule out the spores of the hair algae being moved into it as well though. I have been pulling clumps and clumps of hair algae off the plants in my 10g. I do not fertilize and the plants grow like crazy. It has 4.6 wpg, and is underfiltered by a Aquaclear mini. The temp in this tank is 80F, ph is 7.6 and hardness is <300ppm. But the plants are growing fabulously.


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If you have algae, then your plantrs are not doing as good as they should.

A 90 gal ideally should have a gas tank system, I used DIY for mine for 6 years, I ran 4 bottles(changed every other week 2 at a time) and an efficient reactor.

Eithe rback off the light and go non CO2, or add more CO2.

What is your KH?

pH?=> at the start of the day and the end when the lights go out.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I was told that DIY C02 wouldnt work on such a large tank.
My Plants are growing just fine, its the hair algae thats bothering me.


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You do not need CO2 to have good(but much slower) plant growth.

DIY CO2 is darn near free, so you cannot use the cost as an issue really.

Once you realize the utility with CO2 and it's effect, most change their minds and later get a gas tank.
I held out for about 10 years on my home tanks.

You can go either route here(CO2 or not), then I can give advice. Non CO2 means hands off, balanced tank, lots of easy to grow plants, a richer substrate. CO2 means more water changes, rapid growth, more plant choice.
Both have their merits. One is not better than the other.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I have found that SAEs start to loose interest in hair algae after a certain size....thats my experience anyway.

Bristlenoses and plecs dont like it either.

I cannot afford to set up C02 on my tank at this time.
I cannot figure out what else to do. I have been trying to reduce light, nothing, my SAE's dont seem to touch the stuff, my flying fox picks stuff outta it but doesnt eat it, and my gold nugget, well they dont eat much algae anyway. My Mollies only will touch the Blue Brush Algae, but not the hair algae.
I have added a lot more plants recently, but the algae is really taking over, and not just in my 90g, but also has covered almost every plant in my 10g except my Small sword plant and my dwarf lotus.
My Bristlenose in my 10 doesnt eat it either, no matter how long I deprive him of other food.
Its driving my nuts!!! Also, if I were to pluck off the leaves infected, I would have almost no plants left.
Tom, You seem to be adept at this, any advice is much appreciated!


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FYI, you do not beat algae by limiting nutrients.
You beat algae by providing good nutrients/CO2 for the plants.

Grow the plants.
Once you understand that and use that approach, things will become much easier.

I do not have hair algae and have to induce it to grow in my tanks.

The herbivores suggested do a decent job, Rosey barbs in particular are useful for many cases.

Still, I do not need any herbivores to have an algae free tank. Good conditions for the plants, good routine/management can do it all.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I rented a trio of rosy barbs from my LFS. I had no hair algae in a week and then the little so and so's started to eat my plants. So they went back to the store after that.

They were good active fish but they were also good at instigating violent behaviour from my bristlenose.

YOu get the idea! I have mass growths of hair algae!
How do I combat this foe? What weapons of war do I need to eliminate this heinous enemy?!?
I have been avoiding fertilizer, and trying to minimize the time the light is on.
Is the only solution a SAE? Help!! Im being tangled up in all the ha........alfhsalhdas............
.....
...
ir.....
]:|]:|

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I like the idea of snails, the only problem is, I have loaches, and my Queen loach once tried to eat my apple snail of a golf ball size, so no doubt it would decimate any snail population I have.
I have a massive amount of plants now, lots fast growing, but no luck. My 3 new SAE's seem to making some work on it.


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You may not want to hear this, but snails that came in as eggs on a plant took care of my EXTENSIVE hair algae problem within a day or two. So far they haven't touched healthy plants(look like apple or mystery snails), and they wiped out my brown algae problem at the same time. A lot of snail poo though.....good for the plants. Just my experience. Now my Anachoris is starting to produce tiny bubbles all over it.

-Keith


http://www.ozarkgames.com

Well Today I picked up 3 little bitty SAE's. Im pretty sure they are true SAE's too. They are about an inch long and super skinny. I think they will probably hit 3 inches in a week with how much hair/beard/staghorn algae is in the tank!
I am going to cut back on the fertilizers period for a bit, and see if these little guys can make a dent in the algae.
Thanks for all the help!
I dont have a test for phosphates, and yes I have been dosing Iron, despite having super hard well water, there is little iron in my water, and the plants have been suffering from it. I think the hard water was hurting them too. Ive got the tank stabilized at ph 6.6 with a hardness now of around 120ppm. Much much better than what it was, The fish and plants seem much happier. I think I am going to keep it here for now, and see how it goes for awhile.
I did get root ferts so that should keep the swords and ludwigia growing while I take a break on the liquid dosers.


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SAE, Rosey Barbs, Jordinella floridae, amano shrimp - those are your best bets. Are you dosing iron? If so I'd stop, and you might want to check your phosphate levels.

-Molly
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Ive been there pete. I cut the ferts completely off and threw in some Hornwort to try to out compete the algea for nutrients. It just grew on the Hornwort though so I dont know if it helped or not. I also threw in a SAE and a few Ammano shrimp. I couldnt tell you what did the most good but it is gone now .

I have a False Siamensis Fox, he eats some algae but not much, 2 sailfin mollies, who dont touch the hair algae, 3 ottos, which dont touch the hair algae either, and a Gold Nugget Pleco, who I dont know if he eats it, I dont see him eat anything but Sinking Tablets.
I have a BN plec in my 10g growing, and I havent been able to figure out yet if he eats the hair algae, or just passes it over.
I will try scrubbing stuff. Only problem is it is spreading like wildfire, and some of the plants it is on would take many months to grow the leaves back if I pluck them off.
I use Flourish Fertilizer, and a Locally made Fertilizer called "Aquarium Fertilizer: made by The Best Stuff on Earth". It is nearly the same ingredients as Flourish, but has more Iron in it and a couple more minerals in higher quantitys. Neither fert contains phosphates, but as Im on well water, I wouldnt doubt theres some phosphates in the well water.
If I see that my BN is eating the hair algae, I will transfer him to the 90 once he cleans it up in the 10. I do not have algae at all in my 25 as its lighting level is only .5wpg! Having high light is sure a pain in the rump.
Thanks for helping !


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Sneaky_Pete. I see you have the same problem i had a month or two ago. My tank is 90% free of it right now and has been staying this steady for the last month. Here is what i did- Scrub everything as much and as possible as you can which is infested ith it, also remove leaves of plants with it on. Then for 1 month, only add 25% of the amount of ferilizer you use a day after water changes for 1 day. You should only have to worry about iron(what i did). After that is over restart your regular schedule of fertilizer but only 25% of what you did put in. This worked for me. Do you have any algae eaters in the tank? If you do i think that even though they dont eat the hair algae they still keep the spores from deveoping. I have a clown pleco and he cleans my glass greatly. What fertilizers do you use?