Thick Green Hair Algae

[EVoyager31]

At a loss in my 20 gallon. I have thick green hair algae covering EVERYTHING and every time I remove it and clean off decor, pull algae off my plants, water change, filter clean, leaving lights off it comes back threefold. 
About to result in using additives like algae fix to see if that will help, though I usually don’t like using chemicals unless absolutely necessary. Any tips before I dump some algaefix in?

[CorydorasEthan]

On 7/28/2022 at 5:15 PM, EVoyager31 said:

At a loss in my 20 gallon. I have thick green hair algae covering EVERYTHING and every time I remove it and clean off decor, pull algae off my plants, water change, filter clean, leaving lights off it comes back threefold. 
About to result in using additives like algae fix to see if that will help, though I usually don’t like using chemicals unless absolutely necessary. Any tips before I dump some algaefix in?

In my experience, Siamese Algae Eaters will eat up green hair algae really quickly. They eliminated the problem in my aquarium in a few weeks. The only problem is once mine became full grown, they started picking on the Corydoras that shared the tank with them. So if you encounter this problem, I would rehome them to a friend's aquarium or something once they have dealt with your algae issues. On the other hand, I have heard many accounts of more amiable SAE's, so it might work out just fine for your aquarium! I hope this helps!

[CKetchum]

Are you dosing Fe in your tank? or using a fertilizer with Fe? You could add more plants to compete for nutrients and/or reduce nutrients as well (like add root feeders and root tabs vs. fertilize the water column). 

[JoeQ]

Tis the season! It's hot out, everybody has algea issues unless they keep their AC cranking, to keep their house in the low 70s. Best thing to do for now is keep pristine water conditions which include keeping a clean filter, removing dead organics, large regular water changes, cutting back on nutrients and light (don't reduce light to the point of being detrimental to your plants). And most cructial of all paitents! The goal is to minimize it, the cooler weather should eradicate it with better plant growth 

Edited July 30, 2022 by JoeQ