# Is a uv sterilizer a waste of money to fight hair algae?



## Optix (May 31, 2011)

UV only fights free floating algae/parasites

hair algae usually comes w/ ammonia (id check that the clams are alive)


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## algaetank (Oct 14, 2011)

Clams are doing great. All are open. Ammonia is between 0.0 and 0.25ppm. I always thought I was good until 0.50ppm. Have I been wrong? Geese, I better rethink my procedures. Nitrite are 0ppm of course and nitrates are very low. Does anyone know what the clams help with?

Not sure what kind of algae this is. Looks like black/brown fur in a few little tufts on only one plant and a small tuft on the wood. I'd say the tuft spots are no more than a quarter inch in diameter.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I won an algae battle as follows:

- push CO2 as much as possible (i.e. 24/7 up to the limit where it affects inhabitants)
- Excel 3x dose for 15 days
- black out for the first 3 days
- almost every day after teh blackout, I went in an manually removed algae, scraping it and pulling algae covered leaves, etc.
- make sure ferts are at a good level, consistent
-adjust the circulation if necessary and remove any dead spots in the water
- 3/week 50% water changes for about 2 weeks

Using that technique (which is a PITA) the algae slowly went away. About 30% of my plant matter was gone by the end. But, at the end of the 2+ weeks you have a nice algae free tank and you can start working on how to make the tank stay algae-free, which is another matter entirely!


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## algaetank (Oct 14, 2011)

Thanks. Sounds like work, but I didn't expect this hobby to be easy. I've got to get more excel and will try this today. Would you recommend just removing the affected items before I start? Just take a small loss and perform the steps? Should I add the UV sterilizer or is that a waste of money if I follow your steps?


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## Vancat2 (Jun 23, 2010)

Some people swear by them, some people think they are a waste. Mine never did much except add something else to impede filter flow.


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