Excel The Best Way To Remove Hair Algae

[atmmachine816]

I bleached one of my plants and the algae turned white, does this mean I killed it

 

[Slyspy]

To be honest with you I'm not sure whether shrimp eat hair algae. Mine didn't seem to. They do eat all the general detritus though, so I'd recommend them for any fresh water fish tank (unless you have big fish that will eat them).

For the first months my tanks both had hair algae growing on the slow growing plants. The smaller one also had BGA. But now that they are established tanks (at least two, maybe three years) I have no algae except that which grows on the glass, very little and easy to remove during the weekly clean.

My solution? Chuck in alot of Hornwort and wait.

Since the tanks were new the main plants, even the slow growing anubias, grew fast, but not fast enough to use up all the nutrients present in the tanks, However, over time, the hornwort leeched the nutrients and grew like wildfire, In fact it grew so quickly that it outcompeted the other plants before it out competed the algae, so I had to thin it out just to keep the rest alive! Eventually though a balance was reached - the plants became established and now use all the nutrients themselves. I have no algae problem and, because the larger plants are no dominant, even the hornwort has become thin and a bit straggly.

I would advise avoiding the use of any of the quick "fixes" which, in some cases, do more harm than good. Instead try to establish a natual balance in your tank.

My tips:

1) Regular water changes.

2) Regular clipping and pruning. This encourages plant growth.

3) Hornwort! Uses up nutrients, if floating may reduce light levels damaging algae growth.

4) Use a shorter light/dark schedule. My tank lights are on for four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening. This way I get to see my fish, but during the day the tank is in darkness.

5) You may like to try with different strengths of lighting if all else fails.

6) Fertilize lightly. Encourage plant growth without making the algae problem worse.

7) No direct sunlight. At all!

8 ) More plants.

9) And some more.

10) Patience.

 

[atmmachine816]

Yes that's what I'm trying to do, I don't want to get rid of it for the time but rather find a balance so the algae is gone.
1. do
2. do
3. just bought some and hope it doesn't shed
4. just changed, thanks
5. thinking of buying another hood with stronger lighting not sure if that's smart or not but I like it because it's a fluescent and is more balanced and this is a cp fluescent and is only in the middle
6. started that last week as I figured the plants are using the nutrients fast enough
7. yup put a blanket over my tank during the day now
8. will try to pick some up, transfered some from my large tank to this tank as of today
9. yup
10. yup I'v got plenty of that

Thanks for the pointers, hope I get a natural balance soon

 

[Themuleous]

Adding Co2 generally helps, but as you say you've got very very low light so it might not be worth the effort.

Sam

 

[atmmachine816]

Ya and on top of it I have really low light plants, after I finish getting all the equipment for my 5.5 I'm upgrading my lights on that tank.

If it turned white does that mean it's dead?

Thanks guys

 

[Themuleous]

Yes if its white its dead.

Sam

 

[atmmachine816]

O ok thanks, good bleach kills it then, that's good to know, now I just have to figure out how to keep it away.

thank you

 

[Themuleous]

now I just have to figure out how to keep it away.

Thats the tricky part! Good luck

Sam

 

[atmmachine816]

Lol I'll need it.