# What causes hair algae?



## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

as above, my 422 is roughly 2 weeks old, im running 4x54wat T5HO and with co2 injection of 5 -7 BPS(drop checker shows green), dosing micro/macro with EI and have a good flowrate (fluval Fx5 + 3000l/hr wavemaker).. 

i have brown hair algae infesting my moss, HC and needle fern.. what could be the cause? 

Edit : forget to add that i have been doing 50WC every 3 days to get rid of tanins leaking from driftwood, is the constant change of new water causing hair algae?


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## Fahnell (Jan 20, 2011)

2 weeks old 
that is the answer. patience and keep up the WC
your system is yet to stabilize


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

Fahnell said:


> 2 weeks old
> that is the answer. patience and keep up the WC
> your system is yet to stabilize


Thanks, i didn't know new tank causes hair algae.:icon_smil


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## Fahnell (Jan 20, 2011)

constant huge wtaer changes can interfere with the water chemistry. so no more than 30-40%
that tannis from the driftwood is in fact GREAT for fighting the algae. so..live it be
and a new tank is yet to get to an equilibrum point. it is normal to experince a few algae. 
a complete cycle cand last up to 6 months. and btw...did you add the fish from the start?..or is no fish yet in the tank? (the right way)


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## timobxsci (Dec 7, 2010)

New tank= new algae ! YAY


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

Fahnell said:


> constant huge wtaer changes can interfere with the water chemistry. so no more than 30-40%
> that tannis from the driftwood is in fact GREAT for fighting the algae. so..live it be
> and a new tank is yet to get to an equilibrum point. it is normal to experince a few algae.
> a complete cycle cand last up to 6 months. and btw...did you add the fish from the start?..or is no fish yet in the tank? (the right way)


Thanks for the advise, will take note.. Yes, im having fish inside already..


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

and that answered my questions right there. i have got the same thing going on is there something that eats it or jest wait ?


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## tlawrenson (Dec 28, 2010)

I was havin a problem with hair algea so I added 6 SAE's, gone in two days and hasnt came back since.


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

great, i shall get some SAE then.. im having some pretty serious problems with hair algae..


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

Lower the light. IE, either cut the photo period or raise the fixture.


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

EvolutionZ said:


> great, i shall get some SAE then.. im having some pretty serious problems with hair algae..


 sounds dumb but im new ... whats "SAE"?


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## RickRS (Dec 31, 2010)

A.Juggalo said:


> sounds dumb but im new ... whats "SAE"?


I'm a newbie here, as well. Pretty sure it "Siamese Algae Eater", the beloved fish for when you have an algae problem


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## RickRS (Dec 31, 2010)

Fahnell said:


> ...tannis from the driftwood is in fact GREAT for fighting the algae...


Really? I got really good stands of brush algae growing on val and swordplants in a 40 gal long that I have with 6 small veiltail goldfish. Was going to try Purigen to combat the tannic water from three "medium size" pieces of driftwood and to help hold the level down on those 6 finned ammonia generators.


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

RickRS said:


> I'm a newbie here, as well. Pretty sure it "Siamese Algae Eater", the beloved fish for when you have an algae problem


 thanks thats what i was thinking ... theres 4 in there and i see them eating it but its still bad on 1 plant im just going to wait i think


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

my brown hair algae is totally infesting my moss.. i am still removing it every other day... sigh..


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

well ive learned a lot so far ... mostly how to cuss at something that you cant fix "right now "


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## ubr0ke (Jul 28, 2010)

too much light is a guarantee.


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## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

ya... i think you should have cycled it.. so you don't have problems


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Fahnell said:


> constant huge wtaer changes can interfere with the water chemistry. so no more than 30-40%
> that tannis from the driftwood is in fact GREAT for fighting the algae. so..live it be
> and a new tank is yet to get to an equilibrum point. it is normal to experince a few algae.
> a complete cycle cand last up to 6 months. and btw...did you add the fish from the start?..or is no fish yet in the tank? (the right way)


I do not think water changes have any negative effects at all in any new tank set up, let alone long term when using CO2/Ferts/Excel etc.

Tannins do NOT reduce algae.
If this was the case, I could simply add peat to cure any and all algae issues folks might have, no???

Why do plants look and grow better after a water changes?
I've never seen any negative responses to water changes, the only case is where folks do not add any ferts back after a water change.

80%?
Just fine.

30% per day? Fine.

Plants' roots and biomass builds up, then the system is more stable........ the best way therefore is to focus on the plants themselves and the algae is rarely an issue, when folks do not take care of the plants......then algae appears, this is a consistent observation, the tannins and water changes are not however. I do them and set up many tanks, never have I seen an issue related to either.

I just redid a client's 250 Gal tank and he got hair algae, even with 300lbs worth of peat filled ADA AS, and then 100lbs or driftwood.

We automated the water changer for daily 125 Gal changes and upped the CO2. The water changes removed the tannins and add CO2 as well.
This algae is much more a response to lots of light and poor CO2.

I wish it was simple to cure algae with peat/tannins.
Honestly, I do.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

EvolutionZ said:


> my brown hair algae is totally infesting my moss.. i am still removing it every other day... sigh..


Are you on the Aquatic Quotient Forums in SG?
You muight try them as well since they are local.

Sounds like a CO2 issue, moss is pretty easy and undemanding with good CO2.

And hair algae does well with slightly less than optimal CO2 for plants, it's a good sign though, you are close, but need to focus on the plants more, be careful with CO2, it'll kill your fish if you add too much, slowly adjust it and then watch and wait for 2-3 days, be patient and do this slow and progressively, make sure there is good surface movement also, this might lose a little CO2, but gains much needed O2 for the fish.

This will make adjusting CO2 much easier and with less risk to the fish.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Buying livestock to "take care of algae problems for you" is a poor way of running a tank. It's best to figure out what the issue is and correct, not just go buy something every time algae shows up, because they aren't going to just go away. Remove one, another _will_ fill in the nitch. Then what? Buy another creature that will eat that algae? You'll have an overstocked tank of clean-up crew before you see the end of it.

This algae ran rampant in my mom's "low light" tank. She started adding a 3/4 dose of Excel daily, and it started going away. What did it in was when she started dosing the tank with a little bit of micros and macros. She's not even consistent with it, but now the plants look great and there is NO algae in sight. All she has for a "clean-up crew" is a couple otos and a couple Amano shrimp, all of which need to be fed.

The proof is right there. Too much light, too little co2/nutrients. Back off the lights, introduce or increase co2, and make sure your plants are receiving all the nutrients they need. And then your problem is solved, and not at a fish's expense.


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

plantbrain said:


> Are you on the Aquatic Quotient Forums in SG?
> You muight try them as well since they are local.
> 
> Sounds like a CO2 issue, moss is pretty easy and undemanding with good CO2.
> ...


Yes i am from AQ in SG.. but the community there is much smaller compared to here.. so co2 is the issue... my drop checker is already showing green (with 4dKh solution) so i thought my co2 is good enough.. i do have a wavemaker to make sure there is enough surface movement.. i shall slowly increase my co2 output then.. Thanks plantbrain!


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> Buying livestock to "take care of algae problems for you" is a poor way of running a tank. It's best to figure out what the issue is and correct, not just go buy something every time algae shows up, because they aren't going to just go away. Remove one, another _will_ fill in the nitch. Then what? Buy another creature that will eat that algae? You'll have an overstocked tank of clean-up crew before you see the end of it.
> 
> This algae ran rampant in my mom's "low light" tank. She started adding a 3/4 dose of Excel daily, and it started going away. What did it in was when she started dosing the tank with a little bit of micros and macros. She's not even consistent with it, but now the plants look great and there is NO algae in sight. All she has for a "clean-up crew" is a couple otos and a couple Amano shrimp, all of which need to be fed.
> 
> The proof is right there. Too much light, too little co2/nutrients. Back off the lights, introduce or increase co2, and make sure your plants are receiving all the nutrients they need. And then your problem is solved, and not at a fish's expense.



Yes i agree with you.. clean-up crew is always my last resort... i understand the term of solving the root of the problem.. i will increase Co2.. my lighting is on 8hrs straight daily, should i reduce it? surprisingly, the hair algae only attacks slow growing plants.. my stem plants are totally clean of hair algae..


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

some good stuff you all thanks and keep it comen if you would like 

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge."
(Benjamin Disraeli )


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## pdavis41 (Jan 23, 2011)

I had hair algae a few weeks ago on a few of the crypts and other potted plants. Finally got my CO2 going well and cut out the densely covered leaves. Haven't had it come back since. I never saw it on my stem plants.


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## EvolutionZ (Jul 21, 2009)

glad to tell you guys that my moss is TOTALLY free of hair algae now! the only algae left is staghorn on my narrow leaf java ferns.. what i did was :

1) 2x overdose of seachem excel, 3x overdose on day 2.
2) increase co2 output from 3 - 4 bps - 5 - 6 bps.
3) introduced 10 amano shrimps and 3 SAE.

I took our my java fern and sprayed it with 1 part excel, 2 parts water and leaving it for 15mins before placing them back.. some staghorn turned red but some are still black though..


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## A.Juggalo (Feb 2, 2011)

my tank is now entirely over run with the hair now i dosed excel per ins and ferts per ins increased co2 & light and it all went to hell so im thinking take out all fish and OD tank and see what happens ?


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## feral13 (Jan 17, 2006)

New Tank Diatom Algae

I have probably setup over 50 tanks and seen it in every one with a month or so. However, I have never seen it flourish like it did in my recent planted tank and its grow-out sibling.

The string\hair form it took threw me off and I thought I was dealing with some type of hair algae. Im still not sure what ables it to do this. I fought it for almost 3 weeks.

Light - My main tank gets blasted with Metal Halides, but the stuff grew with the lights out. Light gets the blame a lot, but take this into consideration. My grow out tank sits inside my stand and had no lights on it and the stuff grew just as bad. Unless my Metal Halides some how blasted through a full tank with 4 inches of substrate then I find it hard to blame light.

CO2 - Nearly killed my prized squeeker catfish by gassing him. I was able to get the CO2 just under tolerable conditions for the fish. The grow-out tank did not have CO2 and the algae grew just the same.

RO - Started at 50% RO mix and then up to a 100% RO mix. I did 2 30% WCs a week. There was no noticeable difference in algae growth.

Excel - Double dosed both tanks. Not sure if it sped up the disappearance, but didnt seem to help.

Cleaner Crew - Amano Shrimp at a little. SaEs didn't seem to care for it. Ottos grazed on it like mad but could not keep it under control.

What did the 2 tanks have in common?

1. New Glass 
2. Same New Substrate

I have seen some argument on this, but I still believe its purely silicates. Silicates are in the new glass tanks, some tap water, carbons and substrates. The Diatoms need very little light and will continue to grow as long as there is an available source of silicates. For many of us, that is from the new tank and the algae will disappear in a week or two. If not, you may have to check your tap water to see if it is replenishing the silicates.

Mine disappeared after 3 weeks. I mechanically removed it off of plants I wanted to keep. I pulled out all my moss and placed it in a bowl of water next to a window. I let the algae stay on place-holder plants hoping that by leaving large portions of the algae in the tank that it would consume its resources faster.


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