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on the glass i seem to be getting what looks like hair algae. but it only grows on the front pain of glass. i noticed that i get a brownish algae on the back and sides but doesnt grow any hair i geuss you would say. but the front has grown out like hair. it a 29 gal tank medium stocked lightly fed. what i think the problem is that it is directly across from the window

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Window would do it. Best fix would be to try to find some way to block more light coming from the window. Closing the curtain/blinds more or getting thicker ones. Often light only comes in during certain times of the day and you can just close the curtains during that time. I alway seem to have trouble with north facing windows and light coming in early in the morning but otherwise can leave my windows uncovered all day with no problems.

my blinds are closed 24/7 but it still grows. i guess i need to have the hood lights on for less time

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

My hosiptal tank in the basement (with no sunlight exposure) also had hair algae on the front glass. I barely feed the fish in this tank cuz their are sick. But the light was on for 12 hours. Now I cut down the light to 10 hours. No sign of algae 2 weeks after my last cleaning.

yeah ill have to try cuting the light time back a bit

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Algae info

This info should help, read it and ask again if you require more help.

The lighting might not be the major problem my Betta tank was full of it until I got the ferts correct. Also my SAE keeps the tank clean before it starts.

I do get a little dark green algae on some of the Anubias nana but I remove those leaves as they grow reasonably quick.

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

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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hmmm thats good info, ill keep that in mind. the reason i was lead to believe that it was from the window, is that it grew in the spot that is most inline with the window.

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

Very informative link indeed. Now I know exactly what I've got in my 75G. It is the ugly black brush algae, all over the DW and the leaves. I've cleaned up the DW. The one on the leaves will be upto my two SAE.. They've been working hard on it.

is there a specific nutrient that an excess/lack of leads to hair algae?

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

I've been fairly successful in dealing with hair algae in two ways, one is doing more water changes and the second is by actually adding more nutrients and CO2 to help the aquatic plants present in my tank.

I don't know if this is true, as I've never heard any mention of it before, but I read in a book on aquarium plants that by having a break in your lighting can help prevent algae. For example, if you have your lighting on for 10 hours per day, set the timer to light the tank for 5 hours, switch them off for an hour and then back on for 5 hours. The explanation was that algae requires the constant lighting to build up the energy to grow and the break causes them to lose their 'momentum', whereas this won't affect your plants.

Like I say, I've never heard of this before so it may just be an old wives tale. And I guess it's no good if you still have your tank in direct sunlight etc.

Did the book mention about the fish? Will this breaking of light affect their body clock (not sure if fish have jet lag ). My algae problem is so bad that I really want to do anything to get rid of them .

There's not a great deal of in depth info. I got the book free after spending £10 on plants, so it's a small basic guide (Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock by Interpet Publishing if you're interested).

I quote:
"A good methd of reducing or controlling algae growth in the aquarium is to provide a midday 'siesta' period. A 5-6 hour period of lighting, followed by 2-3 hours of no artificial light and then another 5-6 hours of lighting proves effective at reducing algae growth without any adverse effects on fish or plants in the aquarium."

In a caption to a photo it mentions that algae needs long periods of light to thrive and so a siesta will help control this.

However, if you think the problem could be from direct sunlight, switching off your lights isn't going to help. You need to find a way to get the tank away from direct sunlight - that is always going to cause algae no matter what other precautions you take.

Thanks for your reply Waldena.
There's no direct sunlight to any of my tanks.
My other two tanks are free of algae, but the main tank (75G)that I set up 3 months ago has a lot of hair algae.

Things I've done so far:
- Cut down the light to 8 hours
- reduce fertiliser to half of the recommended dose
- Added two SAE. They were tiny when I got them 6 weeks ago. They've more than doubled the size now.
- Clean most of the hair alage from the rocks
woods, and even plants! It's a pain..

Today, I have set the light switch to break 1.5 hour between 2 x 4 hours of lighting.

I will let you know if this really works in a few weeks.. stay tunned.

i didn't get hair algae but i did get a major build up of algae on the tops of my rock, i cut down on the lighting and got some plecos and evertyhing is owrking great, and i hope your tank turns out the same way.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa

I got a BN 9 days ago. With two SAE and a BN, now my 75G is algae free. Especially the BN, it's sucking up algae like a vacuum cleaner. The down side - I have to feed them with algae wafer .