Hair Algae - I can’t figure out why !?! 😀

[Marcelo]

Hi,

I am struggling with these hair algae (is this hair algae?) since 3 weeks. I already tried water changes and I am not sure what to do.

ph 6.8 in the middle of the day and 7.3 in the evening (some time after the CO2 turns off).

nitrate 0.0

nitrite 0.0 

ammonia 0.0

KH 89 

GH 71

CO2 less than 1 bobble per second or maybe 1 per second (started about 1 month ago)

5 drops of BrightWell FlorinMulti per day.

Light was on 8 hours per day.

I am starting my plants so I am not sure if the problem is the fact that I don’t have many plants yet ….. 

Do you have some clue or suggestion? I appreciate very much.

[Keeg]

Looks like hair algae to me. Seems odd to have 0 nitrate, what are you testing your water with? The first thing I would do would be to lower the CO2 if possible, I am not every experienced with CO2 so I dont know that much about it. See if theres any changes, then if it gets better continue, if it gets worse then I would put the CO2 back to where it was and then adjust the light levels if possible for your light or decrease the amount of time the lights are on. Same thing as before to see if any changes, good= continue, bad results= go back to what it was. Lastly, if FlorinMulti is anything like the Co-ops easy green then I would decrease the amount of that as well. 

A temporary solution would be to manually remove the algae with a soft brush like a new tooth brush. Or you can dip your plants but I dont know much about dips all too much either but theres plenty of YouTube videos out there. Hope this helps

 

[JoeQ]

For what its worth im usually free from algea, but with this heat I've been struggling lately..... For now I'm just riding it out without too much worrying or making massive changes. I'm hoping once tank temps drop back to a consistent 74~75 the hair algea will clear on its own. 

 

Edit: also FlorinMulti is not an all in one fertilizer, its only your micros plus potassium. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by JoeQ

[Marcelo]

I am using Tetra Easy Strips to measure but as it is indeed odd, I did bring some water to a local store and they also measured 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites. 
 

in regards to CO2, I am not sure about what to do (reduce or increase) as I saw other posts saying CO2 actually helps to reduce algae 🙂 but thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I need to increase ?

light is a good point ! Maybe reduce to 7 hours or even use that technique of implementing a break (siesta).

let’s see if other colleagues will advise !
 

thank you

 

[Marcelo]

@JoeQ I keep my water in about 82 oF as I have some tetras and neons. I didn’t think about temperature … I will research about this. 

[Marcelo]

Hi Everyone, 

I found a lot of posts like this but - arghhh - so many variables !!

I am lost ☹️

[JoeQ]

Imo, your biggest problem here is 0 nitrates. Without nitrates plants wont grow well, and algea will grow to fill the void. Also contrary to popular belief CO2 is not an algacide, rather it's a growth accelerant for plants. That in turn helps to grow incredibly healthy plants which is how co2 helps fight algea (aiding in plant growth) . Without the nitrates your co2 is only helping to grow healthy algea....

If it were me I'd do this: turn off your co2, you don't seem to have a large enough plant mass (or even advanced plants that require it). Populate with more healthy plants, particularly fast growing plants (algea is easier to fight with a bigger army of healthy plants) get an all in one fertilizer and dose lightly (its better not enough than too much). Get yourself setup with a good maintenance schedule (1x a week water change, bi weekly filter clean). Adjust your flow so that it gets a good majority of your plant leaves moving. Avoid aggressively agitating the surface during the day, and add a bubbler for night, this will help stabilize your co2 levels which is a huge trigger for hair algea. Im sure there are other things id recommend but I can't think of them at the moment. This should get you headed in the right direction tho. Good luck, keep us informed of your progress 

Edited July 2, 2022 by JoeQ

[Marcelo]

Hi @JoeQand @Keeg

Thank you for your advises. Looks like the algae is reducing. I don’t have a way to say what was the main point / solution or  if many of them together helped with this but this is what I did:

- reduced the temperature to 79oF

- I did move my canister inflow and outflow to create more water circulation and make sure all plants had at least a little.

- I kept the CO2 like before (no changes)

- I suspended additional fertilization

- I know the “siesta” is not usually applied for folks with CO2 but I am doing anyway 😆 3,5 hours lights on, 2 hours off and  3,5 on again. As soon as the lights go off, I turn on my O2 for 2 hours …. 
 

thank you for now, I will post again in some days 

 

Marcelo

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

Your KH is higher than your GH. Are you by chance using a water softener system? I thought that GH should be higher than KH. I could be wrong.

 

I had the same type of algea and after months of tweaking fertilizers, adjusting light parameters, cleaning filters I gave up and beat it with seachem excel in about 3 weeks.

 

[Marcelo]

Hi @Tommy Vercettimy GH was higher (about 300) weeks ago but I used some API pillows to decrease it as I was having issues with my fishes. Well, it decreased to much 😆 and now I am slowly increasing again. Every day I put a cup of tap water (Prime first).
 

How much Seachem Excel you have used ? The same dose they say in the product box?? Or less … ? Daily ?

[Tommy Vercetti]

Daily, in my 14 gallon tank using 7.5ml applied directly to the algea (I use a pipette) with the filter turned off for 10 minutes.

[PineSong]

I don't use CO2, so take that into account, but my algae problems went away when I switched to two 4 hour light periods per day with a five hour break between them. With that light schedule (Finnex Stingray on a timer) I am able to grow anubias, swords, java fern, aponogeton ulvaceous and pogostemon stellatus octopus, corkscrew val, dwarf sag, duckweed (lol), salvinia, and frogbit.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/1/2022 at 2:20 PM, Marcelo said:

I am using Tetra Easy Strips to measure but as it is indeed odd, I did bring some water to a local store and they also measured 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites. 
 

in regards to CO2, I am not sure about what to do (reduce or increase) as I saw other posts saying CO2 actually helps to reduce algae 🙂 but thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I need to increase ?

My guess is that because you have a planted tank, 0 nitrates, the light is allowing the algae to do it's thing.

I would recommend reducing light power slightly, try to use that as a main method for fighting the algae. Slowly introduce your fertilizers, but keep in mind that the algae itself is going to fight for that because everything is at 0 right now.

The "safest" way to push things back, especially with green hair algae, would be to blackout the tank for a week, then try to give the plants what they need.

This would kill the algae, let the plants recover, and then they would be able to grow once the algae is off of the leaves.

Keep an eye on new growth, if you're having any.  If the algae is taking over new growth, reduce lighting.

On 7/7/2022 at 3:54 PM, Marcelo said:

- I know the “siesta” is not usually applied for folks with CO2 but I am doing anyway 😆 3,5 hours lights on, 2 hours off and  3,5 on again. As soon as the lights go off, I turn on my O2 for 2 hours …. 

It is though!

1. CO2 comes on (before lights on)
2. Lights come on, CO2 is available for plants at this time.
3. CO2 is used up, then the tank enters siesta
4. Lights resume lighting window, CO2 is again available for the plants.

[Marcelo]

Hi All,

Coming back to give a little update and keep a record of what happened so it could help someone in the future. 
 

I was able to increase nitrates a little bit  (with Easy Green) but it didn’t help. I decided to go with Seachem Excel for now, I have been using it for 2 weeks and it is working. I see a reduction occurring. I loose 2 or 3 shrimps. I also replaced some old bushes of Hair Grass with new ones as a way to have more plants fighting again algae. 
 

My plan is to gradually  stop Excel in about 1 or 2 months.

lets see

Marcelo

[anitstuk]

Seems to me like it is getting better. Keep this up and keep us updated. 🙂 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/5/2022 at 3:51 AM, Marcelo said:

I was able to increase nitrates a little bit  (with Easy Green) but it didn’t help. I decided to go with Seachem Excel for now, I have been using it for 2 weeks and it is working. I see a reduction occurring. I loose 2 or 3 shrimps. I also replaced some old bushes of Hair Grass with new ones as a way to have more plants fighting again algae. 

Good to know.  Do you happen to have moss as well?

[Marcelo]

On 8/20/2022 at 2:28 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Good to know.  Do you happen to have moss as well?

No, I don’t have a moss. 

[Marcelo]

Hi All,

 

And ……… they are back. Even keeping Seachem Excel and not changing anything in terms of parameters , light , etc - they are back.

The said thing is I was very happy with my Hair Grass grow and now, after 3 days, the new leaves are covered. 
 

I will read the full post of @nabokovfan87and see what I can apply here AND will try a 3 days blackout.
 

[Mmiller2001]

Good morning, I will have to keep this brief as I'm prepping for work so forgive my shortness.

You are low on CO2, it's great you are measuring pH drop as that's the best way to measure. You want a 1pH drop from degassed to gassed. Based on your original post, you are looking for a 6.3pH under injection. Most experienced CO2 user know this number is actually between a 1 to 1.5pH drop, and most find a 1.2pH drop is a good place. I would increase CO2 to 6.3. After 6.3, if you push more, you must watch your fish for signs of stress. Also, CO2 is a Macro nutrient, the most important Macro nutrient. It's not an accelerant. Also, stop the siesta, you are injecting CO2 and defeats the entire purpose. Not to mention it's destabilizing the tank.

You must know what you are dosing; at no time can you not have available nutrients in the tank. If nitrates are 0ppm and below 7ppm, you are too low. I would also spread the total dosing over 3 days and only dose with Easy Green when the pH is at it's lowest. 

Increase water changes to 50% per week.

Stop Excel now, it causes more problems than it's worth (dead Shrimp).

Hydrogen Peroxide is way safer when target dosed. Just look up how to do it.

I don't know how many gallons the tank is, but I would triple your dosing if you are getting almost no NO3. Remember, proper fertilization is more than Nitrates. It's NPK and Micros.

I would drop light intensity just a bit, do the above and keep up maintenance. Like you mentioned, increase plant load as much as possible. Try to get to 70% planted.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Mmiller2001