# Green hair algae



## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

Hi all, I have tried many different solutions, but I am at a loss to how to combat this. I have had less light (running a finnex planted+) but I still manage to find myself pulling on random pieces of hair algae, has anyone had permanent success?


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Yes...what fish have you got in the tank? SAE's are good at shifting it and black mollys love it too. 
How much algae have you got in there? 
Hydrogen peroxide is good for shifting it too. If you can give some more info...water test results, tank size, ferts used, lighting periods, subtrate etc and put a pic up of your tank layout. The more info the better

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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

20G, dosing daily CO2, right now I have cut it to 8 hours of light, it was 10. I'm going to cut it more, or have periods of no light at all. I have tried hydrogen peroxide, no go. I have a bunch of pest snails and livebearers in it, probably 20 guppies, among that 5 adults.


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Is it just on the rocks and are you able to take them out easily? I use 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. I will either drop the water level down to expose the infected area or if i can, just take them out to spray. I leave it on for 15/ 30 mins then scrub off with a nail brush. Works a treat. How often do you feed your fish? 8hrs light is plenty. Regular weekly water changes will help too. You are on the right track though 😊

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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

Colin Wrexham said:


> Is it just on the rocks and are you able to take them out easily? I use 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. I will either drop the water level down to expose the infected area or if i can, just take them out to spray. I leave it on for 15/ 30 mins then scrub off with a nail brush. Works a treat. How often do you feed your fish? 8hrs light is plenty. Regular weekly water changes will help too. You are on the right track though 😊
> 
> Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk


Unfortunately not, does it peel off? Yes, but it doesn't come off easily, I am going to reduce my photo period less and let's see, I feed my fish every 2 days. I might make it every 3 days, that is one issue I do not do, weekly water changes. Mine are every monthly.


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

I feed mine once a week. Water change every week too about 30%. If you get the 3% hydrogen peroxide, you can drop your water right down to expose the infected area and spray. Dont overdo it. I use a nail brush and scrub it off. Leave it for 15-30 mins then refil tank. I think you are over feeding 

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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

I think I might be, I am going to feed once a week and check on the status, thanks.


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Raith said:


> I think I might be, I am going to feed once a week and check on the status, thanks.


Why are you reducing feedings? I would think if anything that would make it worse because most algae will thrive at low nutrient levels. Whenever I've gotten hair algae, I reduced my light intensity and manually removed it daily. An old toothbrush is you best friend.


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

If he is over feeding and its not being eaten that will cause issues. His fish will be dumping more into the water too. 
Have you got your water test results as that would give a good idea as to anything else going on? The other thing i would look for is build ups of algae in your filter pipes, lower flow rates is a good sign. I have just cleared mine and it was full of algae. I would keep dosing the hydrogen peroxide as it really does help.

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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

I've been there man. Hair algae can really suck to remove it entirely. Its a different story if you're getting balls of that stuff every few days, but take a look at your CO2. Ill give you some experiences I have had.

I had a tank which had pretty decent CO2, but probably still was off. Plants grew well, but hair algae came sometime and was really annoying to remove each week off the glass. I bumped the CO2 up and used excel, but that stuff just kept living. Now probably it was lower plant load or low CO2 still, but I decided to do a blackout. No light, destroyed the hair algae. It didn't come back after that, but I also added some floaters so that probably helped. So the essence was, full removal + CO2 + lower light which seemed to do the trick.

Just a month ago, I saw short hair algae on some mini pellia in my newest tank. I literally did nothing other than dial in my CO2 and it seems to have just gone away. Probably would return if i cut CO2 or something, but I kinda like my tank without that stuff. 

Moral of the story, grow healthy plants. Dialing in CO2 is pretty important and is really much more than simply adding it.


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