Help With Hair Algae

[don_kihotis]

Clicked post accidentally so i continue here: 
 
About the H2O2. I was afraid to dose according to the tank's volume so i tried the spot treatment. I had bought from the pharmacy store a 6% bottle, then divided it into 2 bottles and added distilled water so the result was 2 bottles of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. Now while searching online i found a guy recommending 1ml per 4,5L (gallon). I asked my fertiliser provider (H2O2 was his idea) and he recommended 1ml per 2L of water.
He said that he tried it and had no shrimp loses. 
My spot treatment showed absolutely no reaction. No oxygen bubbles coming off the plant, no nothing. I then tried the dosage of 1ml per gallon but still nothing. Algae is there like nothing happened.
 
I need to increase the dosage but i am afraid of my shrimps. I don't want to take risks. So my new idea is to remove and replant all the Eleocharis to another small aquarium 30cm x 30 x 30. Try treatment there in bigger dosage and see what happens. I also want to redo the substrate. I am thinking to do it partially. Remove some areas of JBL manado and place Tropica's Aquarium Soil which ensures plant growth. 

 

[don_kihotis]

Update: I was away for the weekend and when i came back i noticed that the algae has been reduced. I guess the growing mass of my newly added plants has helped to out compete algae for nutrients.
I have now bought even more plants and have already replaced half my tank's substrate with Tropica's Aquarium Soil.
 
I will wait a bit and then replace the rest of it.
 
Here are some recent photos.
 
 
 

 

[StevenF]

That is quite an improvement.  I am guesing the substrate change had more to do with the improvement than the added plants.  Possible reason why the subtrate caused the issue are:
1. Organic material often builds up in the substrate .  Nitrogen phosphorous and other elements might have been part of this organic material and hour test kits may have not seen it.  When you replaced some of the substrate you probably reduced the amount of organic material.  mineral rich materiel might have developed due to your past issues with lighting, CO2 and fertilization. 
 
YOour additional plants may have also helped .  
 
2.  The substrate may have been leaching something into the water that the algae was feeding on.  
 
I would go ahead with your plan to replace more of the substrate.  I don't know which of the above did it but clearly what you did helped.  

 

[don_kihotis]

Hi Steven,
algae has been reduced before changing half of the gravel so it must be something else that helped. Maybe it's because i was away and lost my scheduled water change which kept the nutrients in the water and the plants consumed them?
 
Or was it the percentage of H2O2 which remained in the water and in longterm helped to wipe algae off?
 
Was it that the plants grew more and consume the nutrients first? 
 
Was it because i placed the CO2 diffuser under the water pump which helps to distribute  the gas more effectively in every corner of the tank?
 
I don't know. Maybe all of the above combined? No idea.
 
For the moment the Eleocharis is being relieved from the retreat of the hair algae which is currently growing more on the top leaves of the taller plants that are located right under the lights.

 

[hobby5]

Those shrimps should be of help too.

 

[don_kihotis]

Amano shrimps are of big help but these dwarf shrimps cannot compete unless in massive numbers.
Someone recommended Seachem excel today as an algaecide. Anyone has positive experience with it?

 

[StevenF]

Excel is a chemical that plants can use like CO2   Its as toxic as Hydrogen peroxide.  My understanding is that hydrogen peroxide rapidly breaks down to oxygen and water very quickly in an aquarium.  I don't know how long Excel lasts in the aquarium but my guess is that is longer thant hydrogen peroxide.  I know people have used Excel as a Algaecide but I have not used it.
 
hydrogen peroxide:https/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide
 
The key ingredient in Excel is Glutaraldehyde: https/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutaraldehyde

 

[don_kihotis]

Thanks Steven.
 
I have also found this nice review here which explains the product in detail:
 
http/www.oscarfish.com/article-home/equipment/114-buyer-beaware-seachem-excel.html

 

[don_kihotis]

UPDATE
 
Ok i have finished completely, about a month ago, the replacing of the substrate. 
 
In the meantime i have bought more plants from Tropica and i changed completely the setup and arrangement of plants.
 
Hair algae is persistent on the Eleocharis and on those plants that are exactly under the lights like for example the Alternanthera Reineckii Rosanervig, Staurogyne Repens, Monte Carlo and Riccia.
 
I am dosing exclusively both of Tropica's fertilizers for some time now. I have stopped the Seachem comprehensive and the one that my Pet Shop guy prepared.
 
The recommended dosage from Tropica is 12 pumps per week. I prefer daily dosing rather than weekly so i used to add 2 pumps per day. Each pump contains 1,2ml.
 
I noticed that one of my plants has holes on the leaves which means lack of Manganese. Therefore i am still having less fertilizer than what i should. I started now dosing both fertilizers by 3 pumps each which makes it 21 pumps per week. 9 pumps more than the recommended dosage. I hope that this will fix the lack of nutrients in the water.