Hair Algae Problem - Phosphate In Chardon & Cleveland Hts

[Java Moss]

Edited down from previous post that was sarcasm run amok.

Water from Cleveland Heights and Chardon tested rather high for phosphates when using an API test kit. This seemed to be causing my hair algae problem which only accelerated from water changes instead of lessening, prior to testing.

Picked up some Seachem Phosguard, put it in the canister and the hair algae has thinned by a very substantial margin, which flying foxes are having a feast with the remnants. The Phosguard has not caused any adverse effects to my plants. In fact, the mosses and swords have seemed to deepen and brighten it's green. I suspect the hair algae was hindering the plants ability to absorb CO2/O2, thereby causing the small melting and browning.

So, if you're in NE Ohio and end up with hair algae, consider a chemical solution in small amounts for phosphorus removal.

[AoxomoxoA]

User Java Moss
Size 55 Gallon
Date Started August 2010
Lighting Oddysea 216W
Equipment Fluval 405
CO2 Flourish Excel
Substrate Blue gravel
Parameters N/A
Fertilization Flourish Iron
Plants Java Moss, Java Fern, Amazon Sword
Inhabitants 15+ Platies, 2 Dojo Loaches, 2 Striped Tetras, 2 Otos, 1 Bristlenose Pleco
Comments
Profile Views 291

Glad to hear you beat it
I wonder though if maybe you changed the lighting at all at the same time? That's an awful lot of light! I would have recommended changing raising or diffusing that before a water change even occurred to me.
How long did you have the algae?

EDIT*: lol I like how you changed it.

[Java Moss]

Originally Posted by dirtyhermit

Glad to hear you beat it
I wonder though if maybe you changed the lighting at all at the same time? That's an awful lot of light! I would have recommended changing raising or diffusing that before a water change even occurred to me.
How long did you have the algae?

EDIT*: lol I like how you changed it.

It was going on for weeks and I tried everything short of chemical filtration. Just threw my hands up and checked with Seachem had.

As for the lighting, I did heavily lower the amount of time it was on compared to previously and the algae still grew. Got worse, actually...spinning off those long aggravating threads.

But yeah, the phosphorous in the water around here seemed to escalate this winter. When I pour it in for a water change, it's rather foggy for about an hour. Me and the wife never drink the stuff straight from the tap - Brita pitcher only.

Water from Cleveland. Go figure.

[plantbrain]

So was it the light or the PO4 remover?

Put another way, why cannot I not induce algae or any sort when I dose 5ppm 3x a week to my tanks?

Lots of light without CO2....excel can help, but it has limits as well.
Excel in not that good against hair algae either.

[Java Moss]

It was the PO4 remover that got rid of it.

Put the remover in a media bag, threw it in the canister...within a few days the algae was dying off fast and the flying foxes ate the remainder.