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OK Jamie and I have adopted a 75 gal from a nice young man who had to move out of country.

After a week of it running we had an outbreak of hair algae. I know it wasn't because the tank was dirty. We dumped out all the old gravel because it was snail infested and started a new with regular pea sized gravel.

This algae seems to only grow in our tanks that are on the south end of the house, they get a lot of sunlight.

Most of the plants, to my knowledge and IME with them are slow growers.

It's been running now for about a month, and I just hooked up CO2 into it, and according to the PH drop it's def getting in there.

My question is, what can I do to help fight off this stuff?

In the other tanks that have it it's no big deal, they are all not planted, so every once in a wile we just pull all the decor out and bleach it.

I can't exactly do that with live plants. I have also just started dosing the tank with Flourish and some root tabs..Think that will help the plants win over the algae?

Next step is to add hornwort, but even tho I know how well it works to suck up excess nutrients, I'm just not a big fan of the plant itself. Any others that can be planted and not make a mess that might help?

Thanks

Shannen

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Last edited by Shannen at 25-Feb-2005 10:03

Water wisteria, Hygrophila difformis is a fast consuming plantable option IME.
[link=Algae and photos with how to]http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]
One trick for hair algae that I keep hearing about is to use a new toothbrush (marked obviously) to twist and remove from the plants. Small frequent water changes also tend to come up a lot.

^_^[hr width='40%']"There’s an emptiness inside her. And she’d do anything to fill it in.
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."

Get some hygrophila polysperma. that's a real weed that grows really fast.

Yeah I just transplanted some wisteria from my 40 to it, It looked like a fast grower.

I think I noticed a lttle BGA on it tho..

IMO, dosing ferts right now would be a BAD idea. Unless you're seeing signs of nutrient defficiency, I'd pass on the ferts and dump in some SAEs (certainly large enough for them). I'd assume that because the tank was recently rescaped, the plants haven't had time to take hold again, and with the presence of ferts and sunlight...well, you know. Can you post some pictures as well, if not for the algae ID, at least to get to see what the tank looks like ?

Sure, I just need to charge the cam, I'll get on it tonight.

Actually, The root system is going nuts in this tank.

I pulled an in IDed cool plant out last night to go into my forty as a show plant, and wow it had already started to take over half the tank with roots.

The plant kinda looks like a sword sept much shorter and thiner leaves, it is also more bushy that a sword, plus the main color is a reddish brown. Really cool, I'll try to get some pics of the 40 to show you this plant.

"Actually, The root system is going nuts in this tank."

Well, there goes my theory. Still, SAEs are welcome in any tank, aren't they? :nudge nudge:

Sounds like you pulled up a cryptocorine wendtii brown or a family member. They look like swords and develop a very strong root system. Actually, they are called rhizomes. As long as those roots are thick and white, the plant lives!

Crypts spread along the rhizomes. If you haven't replanted that crypt, you should be able to separate it into a number of smaller plants.

Add the high growth plants to knock down nutrients. Restrict your light to 10 hours per day. Remove as much algae as possible manually just before your water changes. Then, if the stuff still hangs on, close the curtains and turn off the lights for a couple of days.

Tape a piece of background paper or film over the end of the tank that is exposed to the window light.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I have found that by dosing ferts and adding C02 has almost eliminated the algae in my tank. It only takes the lack of one or two trace elements for the plants inability to outcompete the algae. I found by not dosing ferts my algae problem got worse. If your plants are missing some of the trace elements they will struggle. By simply adding algae eaters is really only masking the problem. You need to find the cause and eliminate it.
Cheers, James.

I think I noticed a lttle BGA on it tho..

If you suspect BGA watch your NitrATe levels carefully, maybe remove the wisteria if nitrAtes drop to 30ppm. IME cyno establish itself quickly and be more than difficult to get rid of.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"There’s an emptiness inside her. And she’d do anything to fill it in.
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."[/font]

>>>This algae seems to only grow in our tanks that are on the south end of the house, they get a lot of sunlight.<<<
You've answered your own question. Block the tank(s) from direct sunlight and monitor the results over the span of a few weeks.

In addition, adding fertilizers is only compounding your problem right now. You already have an excess of free nutrient which is permitting the algae to flourish.

Mechanical removal, as already advised, is your best short-term solution, but it's not eliminating the underlying problem.

The addition of any fast-growing stem plant(s), as also suggested above, will contribute to reducing the amount of excess nutrient.

Another consideration for you to think about is adding algae-eating fish and shrimp.

Good luck, and find balance.

-Wayne