# Hair algae keeps coming back plz help asap



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Hope there's no fish in there. Likely the Cow ingredient is dumping lots of Ammonia in there.
When I first became a member here I asked a question...I have a horse racing track near me. Can I get some of that manure and place it under regular gravel for the ferts ?
Several people said NO!!!!!


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## bsherwood (Nov 22, 2007)

Manure-NO! Ray is correct. massive ammonia explosion. and depending on percentage of poop it maybe that was for a very long time.
You can kill hair algae with H202. go dark, big water changes and see if it comes back.

I fear you are dumping and starting over....but let us know. There is enough BS on these forums to fertilize all of our tanks....lol


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## nanomania (Jul 19, 2011)

I have 250+ fishes and have no deaths yet, alao have shrimps..any here in india are doing it and have never had problem. Also we dont add fishes for a month. I did a 15day no light cycle and 15day light with plants cycle. Also have assasin snails. The manure used is very less. Many use vermicompost also along with cocopeat. Iv also used cocopeat, forgot to mention that. For a week im not gona dose anything. Iv decreased light cycle to 2hrs in morning and 3hrs in the eve


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

I'd say lighting is your problem. What are you running for lights?


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

I recall of some people using dog feces (not as "nutritious" as cow manure, but was readily available) and other yard scraps/compost in/as their substrate. They would let it compost or bake for a while then use it in their tanks, but they would let it run in the tank for a month or so because it does create ammonia (tank water and house would smell for a while as well). After it stopped leeching ammonia, it would be safe for fish and you would have a highly enriched substrate for plants (probably would still be recommended to cap the "compost" substrate).

I'm no algae expert, but take a look at this site
James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide


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## nanomania (Jul 19, 2011)

tuffgong said:


> I'd say lighting is your problem. What are you running for lights?


Light is actually pretty low ( in fact planning to increase)... its 1w x 100 led and 3w x 19 led. I still feel its coz of dosing, since there is dirt already, iv been dosing extra. Well iv been keeping 3 dirt tanks, never dosed, but i use to grow only hardy green plants. This time i went for all red plants, so thought pps pro wud be best, but it dint do any good as of now (if thats the cause). 50% wc everyweek and many doing 2ice a week, thats not possible for me. I have other tanks running only on dirt, green plants, no issue at all. Im not dosing anything.


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## nanomania (Jul 19, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> I recall of some people using dog feces (not as "nutritious" as cow manure, but was readily available) and other yard scraps/compost in/as their substrate. They would let it compost or bake for a while then use it in their tanks, but they would let it run in the tank for a month or so because it does create ammonia (tank water and house would smell for a while as well). After it stopped leeching ammonia, it would be safe for fish and you would have a highly enriched substrate for plants (probably would still be recommended to cap the "compost" substrate).
> 
> I'm no algae expert, but take a look at this site
> James' Planted Tank - Algae Guide


Yup, the reqdy mix we get is properly treated, never stinks.

If flow is the issue, then as in my outdoor tanks, has no flow at all, everything grown in it, no algae too. Its under indirect sunlight.

I have done a target h2o2, and have stopped dosing.

Thats ok?


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## Straight shooter (Nov 26, 2015)

nanomania said:


> Thats ok?


Do you have access to test kits? It'd be interesting to know nitrate levels. This would give an idea of whether or not you should be adding ferts, or whether the substrate is still leaching nutrients into the water column. 

Also test ammonia if you can, just to make sure your sub isn't leaching more than the nitrifying bacteria can handle. 

Sometimes stopping ferts can lead to worsening algae levels. Algae isn't commonly caused by excess nutrients in the water. You don't want huge excess though, just moderate excess, so again the nitrate test would help a little here.


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

What do you have for plants? If you don't have enough plants and fast growing stem plants you have nothing to sink your nutrients into ...except algae.


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## nanomania (Jul 19, 2011)

Straight shooter said:


> Do you have access to test kits? It'd be interesting to know nitrate levels. This would give an idea of whether or not you should be adding ferts, or whether the substrate is still leaching nutrients into the water column.
> 
> Also test ammonia if you can, just to make sure your sub isn't leaching more than the nitrifying bacteria can handle.
> 
> Sometimes stopping ferts can lead to worsening algae levels. Algae isn't commonly caused by excess nutrients in the water. You don't want huge excess though, just moderate excess, so again the nitrate test would help a little here.


No, i dont have testkits. i stopped dosing, and did a 80% wc, things are looking ok since 2 days though. Ammo or nh4 im sure its not there, coz i wudnt be able to keep 100+ neon tetras and 200 endlers. Fishes are all doing great. Also co2 im using in diy using 2 bottles. Im plannin to increase the lights, since my plants are all high light demanding.


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## nanomania (Jul 19, 2011)

ichy said:


> What do you have for plants? If you don't have enough plants and fast growing stem plants you have nothing to sink your nutrients into ...except algae.


I had added many red plants, almost 30% melted. Now iv stopped adding ferts. lets see wat happens, well now i feel that dirt provides ferst and i added extra using pps pro, which i shudnt have added. Now im waiting. upgrading lights too.


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