Vonz1 Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) Hello! Not sure how to stop this string like algae. I am assuming it is algae. I keep taking it out with tweezers but it keeps growing back. It's a 10 gal aquarium. One betta (Oscar). Been up and running for a month. It has a healthy nutrient substrate. I did add 30 grams of salt when I treated my Betta with ich but then did a couple 40% water changes subsequently. I am running a Fluval 3.0 light which was on 100% lighting intensity for most of the 30 days although I decreased it to 50% peak profile. See lighting profile below. I have a C02 drop checker and its blue which means I am low on CO2 for my plants. Looking for some guidance. Thank you. Water Parameters: pH 7.4-7.6 Nitrates 0ppm Hardness GH 100-200 ppm Nitrite 0ppm Ammonia 0ppm KH/Buffer 50-100 ppm Water Temperature 77.8 F Edited June 9 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoryWithAKatana Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Though it is unsightly, Algae is a natural part of your tank cycle. Algae grows when there is an excess of nutrients in the water, I would blame the substrate. It takes time for your plants to grow enough to reduce the excess nutrients in the water. If you want to cut down on the hair algae may I suggest adding more plants to regulate nutrients. Manual removal also works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Not enough nutrients, not enough CO2 and light is on for too long. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Another thing to consider is, a big driver of algae is water temp for various reasons. I had found the source of my string/hair algae issues and defeated it. With the summer heat starting and tank tempatures rising a few strands of hair algae reappeared. This may also be your case. If it is an all of a sudden appearance I'd be more inclined to 'wait it out' rather than make drastic changes which is almost the norm when struck by algae issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Also a 3.0 on a 10g at 50%~100% is excessive. Im at 21" to substrate in a 36g and my light range has been about 36% (when my aquarium just start) to 41% current day 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggaz Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Light for max 8 hours a day, then make sure your tank is relatively dark. Add plants, and ironically, add a little fertilizer. My tank went from a madmax hair-algae wasteland to a submerged tropical jungle in the space of a week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 (edited) Another idea is I highly recommend adding a generous amount of pollyfill to your filter. When I looked at my water through a microscope I noticed numerous fillments that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. A few days after adding the pollyfill I started noticing not nearly as many errant "hairs" Edited June 15 by JoeQ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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