# Hair Algae -How to Fertilize? CO2?



## artemis (Oct 21, 2004)

That's black beard algae, not hair algae, and it's one of the toughest algaes to eradicate because almost nothing eats it (except Siamese Algae Eaters). Excel does a good job of killing it, though; try upping your daily dose of Excel, and also filling a syringe and squirting Excel directly on the thickest patches of algae. That should help.


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## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

Lynn 

You need to know that brand new automated co2 is not 400

The day you go co2 in a tank that size is the day you never look back. I just did it like this exactly 

Order aquatek mini co2 regulator from amazon I paid 80 I think 
Get co2 proof tubing and a check valve must be co2 proof tubing not regular 
Go to sporting store buy 12-20 oz paintball cylinder ranging 30-60
Buy digital timer from radioshack for 20
Get a ceramic co2 atomizer 

It costs seven dollars to fill up your tank every two mos at either the sports store selling the cylinder or any welding supply place. 

You clip off all the leaves with bba and have clean leaves regrow from stimulated plants. Its a tank pruning, stimulates regrowth and strength. You can ponder any method under the moon and thats what it will come down to after they don't work. 

You simply must gas it and this is the cheapest way. Forget DIY

It appears your substrate isn't maximized for plants or carbon must do paintball co2
Dosing ferts in the water to carbon starved plants equals more algae
You would benefit strongly from an oversized uv sterilizer during your reset phase. Not a correctly sized uv, a grossly oversized one. 
The non co2 setups did something preparatory to the substrate. Good luck dealing with the vast array of web fix offers  but it you want to love that tank in six months:

Clip every leaf off with bba before doing a large water change and installing co2 paintball and hopefully uv 

Re clip them where it regrows, there's bba mass in that system the fight takes a few rounds. Don't use any ferts other than simple ei macros and micros, on a simple weekly dosing schedule, that you get from someone here pre measured in the fs forum. Step up water changes. 

The co2 makes your plants actually fight to win and the uv offsets exportive water change work you'll need to be doing for a while now if no uv. Borrow someones pond uv sterilizer they aren't using, check the lfs clubs and pond association sites in your city, you often can borrow one to see if you want to invest in one. The co2 and hand removal will work alternatively.


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## artemis (Oct 21, 2004)

OP, check out the current thread titled "BBA Black Beard Algae Suggestions/Help" in the Algae subforum - it offers a lot of suggestions on how to deal with this problem (and they don't all mandate moving to an injectable CO2 setup).


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## Lynnmarie234 (Jun 18, 2014)

*Thanks!*

Thank you Brandon and artemis! Knowing what it is is a great help! And thank you for the CO2 info Brandon - and the UV suggestion, I will check those out - as well as read up on the other forum page for BBA. Thanks again!!


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## Phil G (Apr 23, 2014)

I was running CO2, liquid ferts, and root tabs, and at one point had BBA as bad as yours. I slowly dropped the CO2 to zero, stopped all ferts, and lowered the lighting, until the BBA went away, then slowly restarted everything. The BBA is gone, may work for you.. Phil


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

I have never had BBA but whenever I get anything approaching a spike in algae I just leave the lights off for a day or two, and/or just reduce the photoperiod. Believe it or not that helps to prevent things from spiraling out of control.


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## cowmilkcandy (Feb 6, 2014)

i'm pretty sure you have too much light.


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

Always start by reducing light intensity/duration.


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