Phosphates and nitrates are not the only causes of hair algea, too much surface aggitation which speeds up the gas exchanges can also help the hair algea thrive as it uses oxygen rather than co2.
This is the plan to follow in trying to eradicate hair algea from your tank.
1) Keep lighting times down to a minimum, unless the tank is located in a room that recieves no sunlight such as a basement or windowless shed then 8 hours a day will be fine.
2) Remove all airstones and any air powered ornaments, your filter will supply all the surface movement your tank requires for gas exchange, if your filter has a venturi attachment remove this too.
3) Use RO water or use a pre filter on your tap for water changes, most tap water supplies are high in nitrates and phosphates.
4) Cut down on how often you feed the fish, once every two days is fine for all adult fish.
5) Manually remove any hair algea you see in the tank as soon as it appears.
6) Where possible use live plants in the tank to use up excess nitrates, the addition of co2 will help speed the process up, if planting isnt possible then use a scavenger resin media like Clear water in your filter.
This method is the one i employ and none of our 11 tanks have any trace of algea other than a small ammount of green on the glass which faces the window, this is easily removed with a scraper at water change time.
This is the plan to follow in trying to eradicate hair algea from your tank.
1) Keep lighting times down to a minimum, unless the tank is located in a room that recieves no sunlight such as a basement or windowless shed then 8 hours a day will be fine.
2) Remove all airstones and any air powered ornaments, your filter will supply all the surface movement your tank requires for gas exchange, if your filter has a venturi attachment remove this too.
3) Use RO water or use a pre filter on your tap for water changes, most tap water supplies are high in nitrates and phosphates.
4) Cut down on how often you feed the fish, once every two days is fine for all adult fish.
5) Manually remove any hair algea you see in the tank as soon as it appears.
6) Where possible use live plants in the tank to use up excess nitrates, the addition of co2 will help speed the process up, if planting isnt possible then use a scavenger resin media like Clear water in your filter.
This method is the one i employ and none of our 11 tanks have any trace of algea other than a small ammount of green on the glass which faces the window, this is easily removed with a scraper at water change time.
