The Puffer Forum

Aas some of you have heard me complain, I have a severe case of hair algae in my GF tank. I was hoping it was just a "new tank" phase, but it is continuously getting worse. Every week I do a 90% WC, removing as much as I can by hand (even using a brush, to try my best to get it off all the plant's leaves) & within a week it's so thick there's barely any room for the fish to swim!

I finally broke down & ordered Excell. RTR has recommended it & also several folks at the cichlid swap meet last month. I'll be doing my weekly 90% WC on my GF tank & remove as much hair as I can by hand & then start treating. I'll post about how well it works.

What kind of filter do you use. HMF (I hope you use the same name for it) can lead to hair algae. I have no idea why, but many have that experience.

My snail colony I am growing could use some of that algae and maybe a bit for my new 150G tank.

Aside from daily Exel dosing, I really like direct application. I had a beard algae issue for a little while, and although stepping up water changes and adding wisteria helped, it didn't entirely fix it. I started a water change, and when the water line was below all the affected leaves, I directly applied a little bit of Exel to the algae. Five minutes later, I added the clean water. The algae disappeared in a day.

Good idea Clare, I'l try that today!

I have a Aquaclear 110 & an Eheim canister on a 46g tank.

Odd! One of my shubunkin's favorite food is hair algae.

I soaked all the plants, rocks & driftwood in hydrogen peroxide today, also.

That should alleviate a fair amount. I get a small patch but it does not seem to spread so I keep it short but leave it. Damn it grows fast lol. Could you not add Some pond weed to take up some of the nutrients the algae is taking? Might be worth a shot as its dirt cheap

I only use Excel alternate days, and do not use the high dose post-water-change that is suggested because that dose level will damage my Vals. It will kill off hornwort even at the dosage I use.

Most GF damage most submerse plants.

Not all hair algae is sensitive to my level of Excel dosage - I have some that is unaffected by it.

Not all GF will eat all hair algae. Some is too tough or bad-tasting.

I don't understand why or how a filter can encourage hair algae - any thoughts on the mechanism? Algae is a response to light and nutrients. That is why GF tanks are so prone to algae infestations. I fight it in my one GF tank all the time.

I have Anubias & Wisteria growing in there. All engulfed by HA. It doesn't look like the peroxide did anything to it. Used the big dose after a 90% WC. Will do the lighter dosing daily & see how the Wisteria takes it. Looks OK today.

if you recall I had the same problem. Peroxide did nothing and it still grew. My only remedy was manual removal. which took a LONG time.

shoot, i guess im too late, i was going to ask you to send me some with the snails! =P they would eat it right?

They're not touching it at all. Not even the algae-eating zebra nerites. Ask LGP for snails.

Most snails do not touch hair algae. They are built for sheet/coating algae, but not even biofilm sheets incorporating alga.

Some shrimp do eat hair algae.

A number of fish do eat hair algae. Some of those eat algae as juveniles.

You can move those plants to a treatment tank and keep in chlorinated water. Chlorine is pretty good at killing many algae. Water change every other day, use no chlorine/chloramine neutralizer. Not all plants can take it, but many can. I use this to clear hair algae from my various anubias and from Java moss routinely (largely from my Cichlid tanks and the Rainbowfish breeder tanks). In about a week it is usually gone.

It's working! The algae isn't growing & it's looking much thinner & lighter in color. Some of it is turning red?