# Green hair algae



## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

Many people run lights for only 6hrs. Plants pretty much won’t care. I’d rather dim/ramp the light rather than shorten my viewing time.


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## LuluCocoPopoRoro (Feb 20, 2019)

My lights don’t dim.

I use the ambient light from the windows


So if I lower it to 6 hours I should be fine?


The only other thing I think it cooler be, is high phosphates. My city loads the water with it


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

Tell us more about your setup (as much as you have):

- Light: What type of fixture (PAR estimate at the substrate would be ideal).
- Ambient light, does this mean that there is no direct sunlight?
- CO2 setup (if any) and how you measure CO2 levels in the water if you do inject CO2?
- Current NO3, PO4, GH, KH, pH and TDS readings?
- What you are dosing (product and quantity) and how often?
- Fish load?
- Substrate type and how long has it been in place?
- What is your filter setup?
- Cleaning regimen (filter and water change frequency and amount)?
- Circulation: surface rippling and are all plants gently moving from top to bottom?
- What is your water source and do you use a water softener?


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## Ddrizzle (Jan 30, 2019)

Plants won't suffer, they will just grow slower. Algae is what will suffer.

I had my new tank at 4 hours a day for two months and I incremented it by 30 minutes every week. At 6 hours I started getting dust algae and thread algae.

So now I turned up my co2 and if that doesnt work then it's back down to 5 hours and 30 minutes a day.


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

Yep, need to know what light you have?

Doubt very seriously that city adds phosphate, it may have phosphates but doubt they added extra. 

Usually hair algae is a combination of to much light and a nutrient imbalance. To keep it at bay you need right amount of light and have to supply the 14 elements required by plants in the right amount which is determined by type of plants you have chosen, how densely you planted and amount light your giving them. It’s a balancing act, light, plant uptake and nutrients in equilibrium.


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## LuluCocoPopoRoro (Feb 20, 2019)

I’m using led lights. Don’t know the par level, sorry.

It’s a 10g tank, with an Aquaclear 50, I think.

No co2

Stock is 5 CPD. I added one Ammino shrimp today, and that’s it.

I just added some moss, I have some javafern, but atm it’s just the ryzome.

I dose Flourish Nitrogen once a week. The algae predates that.

I have gravel substrate, and it’s been there the whole time


My city absolutely does add phosphates. It used because the city has lead pipes. Phosphates prevent them from causing issues. I called the city and asked


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

If you had to much phosphates combined with light I would think you would get green spot algae vs hair algae. Moss and java fern can do with much less light. Do you see any leaves coming out of the ryzome or is it dead? Getting some more plants in there couldnt hurt, theres nothing competing with the algae and with that long of light period algae will come. 

I dose phosphates in my tanks because my well water is really low and even with cutting back lights it still grows GSA however the phosphates help allow other things to eat it. 

In my tank I was getting hair algae during the summer until I realized the windows were letting in more light then I had anticipated. Blocked out the windows and was able to get it under control (knocks on wood).


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

LuluCocoPopoRoro said:


> I’m using led lights. Don’t know the par level, sorry.
> 
> It’s a 10g tank, with an Aquaclear 50, I think.
> 
> ...


What brand/model of LED or this a DIY setup. If it’s a DIY your solution might be as simple as going to a lower wattage LED bulb, for most moss/fern etc a 7-9w led is plenty. You might just need some floating plants, which will shade out hair algae’s energy source and also do spot on job of sucking up excess phosphates.

Are moss and fern only plants? 

Fluorish Nit is only one part of fert needed, you need 12 other elements besides it and phosphates already in your tap water. Feeding 5 CPD is not going to keep those nutrient levels at a acceptable level in your tank.

Also if your water supply is that bad you might want to consider to start Mixing or completely switching to bottled drinking water from market for your water changes. 

Speaking of water changes, what is your change schedule and amount per change?

Do you have any PH, KH, GH, phosphate and nitrate reading from both your tanks and tap water. On tap make sure you let water set in bucket/jar/glass for 24hrs before taking PH reading, that will give true PH of your tap water.

And it would be nice to have a picture of tank(s) as it currently stands. And don’t be embarrassed to post it, you should have seen some algae bombs and fish disease infested tanks I had when I started back in mid 80’s. Back then there was no internet to seek help on. 

After 4 years of beating my head against wall I met a biologist/freshwater ecologist/aquaculturist who took me under his wing and showed me that 90% of info the “guru’s” at local pet store were giving me was absolutely false and that pretty much all my problems were caused by me following their advice. Algae outbreaks and fish diseases became a thing of the past after that.


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## aquazone (Jul 9, 2003)

My $0.02. When I switched over lights years ago, my new LED lights were much more brighter and intense. I left the timer at 7 hours, which I had used for 10+ years with my T5 lights. Not good. I grew all kinds of GSA and hair algae. It was insane. SAEs and shrimp tried to combat the hair, but too much. GSA was everywhere. Both coated my glass and plants in no time. I turned the photoperiod down a little over the next few months until I found a spot where plants were happy and grew just fine and the GSA and hair algae completely disappeared. For the record, I now run the lights from 6:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.


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## LuluCocoPopoRoro (Feb 20, 2019)

I’ve never done gh or K1H on my tap water, but last I checked the ph is 8.4 out of the tap. I actually treat my water with prime, and let it sit for a day or two before I add it to my tanks. That generally brings it down closer to 7. I don’t have any phosphates tests, and my LFS doesn’t either. However, I called the city, and confirmed it was high in phosphates.

The lights are a diy light.

My water change is generally about 25/30% every week. If the nitrates are low, I’ll skip the water change.

The leaves on the java fern turned black, but the roots looks good, so did the ryzome. 

I switched my timer so it’s on for much less. 12-9:10.

I’m also adding in some amino shrimp


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

Are these led you have, 13w ea.


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

> - Current NO3, PO4, GH, KH, pH and TDS readings?
> - What you are dosing (product and quantity) and how often?
> - Fish load?


This question was asked some time ago. You need to supply this information. Hair algae in my experience always shows up when a nutrient deficiency is present. If you are short on just 1 of 14 plant nutrients plants either won't grow or grow very slowly. and you will have hair algae. If you have all 14 nutrients hair algae will die off and your plants willl grow faster. And note that we also need to know which products you are adding to the water. Not all fertilizers are the same. 



> both these tanks have low nitrates


Please list the PPM number for NO3. If you don't have enough nitrate you willl get hair algae. Many people run planted tanks at 10ppm NO3 or higher. Also in my experience a low nitrate level cane cause phosphate levels in the water to build up to high levels. This occurs because insufficient nitrogen levels makes it impossible to plants to consume nutrients.

Also provide us a line to your water quality report. You should be able to find in on the web. You state phosphates are added to your tap water. If so the amount is probably listed in the report. It might not be as much as you think and it might not be of any concern. But without a number we will never know. Also please provide us the number some people think 0.5ppm of phosphate is very high. others would see 3ppm as normal. So please give use the numbers.



> f you had to much phosphates combined with light I would think you would get green spot algae vs hair algae.


Green spot algae frequently means you don't have enough phosphate in the water. Green spot algae doesn't like high phosphate levels. My plants will do fine with less than 2 ppm of phosphate. However I need dose 3ppm 3 times a week to avoid this algae. 

It was once thought that too much phosphate caused Algae. but the experience of many people has shown that high phosphate levels do not cause algae.


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

> My water change is generally about 25/30% every week. If the nitrates are low, I’ll skip the water change.


I would not recommend skipping water changes. Water changes are not done to just control nitrates. Often when you are low in one nutrient you are often high in other nutrients. So weekly water changes help keep all nutrient levels stable. 

Also for various reasons some fertilizer manufactures don't include all 14 nutrients. For example calcium is typically present in tap water. so many manufactures don't put it in the fertilizer even though plant need it. So if your tap water has low calcium levels skipping a water change can cause a calcium deficiency to occur.

You can get GH / KH /Po4 tests on line at sites like Amazon.com. API makes these kits.


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