Warning: This post is coming from a total noob. You have been warned...
Hello! I set up my first planted recently... It was started in the middle of February and was going fine until 2 weeks ago.
I came back from from vacation to find my tank FILLED with hair algae. My father was home and had dosed my tank while I was gone.
It is now 2 weeks later and after trying several things to eradicate the hair it still lives...
Setup:
20 gallon long
LED light bar (don't remember make/model/company)
Marineland Magniflow 160 canister filter
ADA Aquasoil Amazonia
EI daily
Co2 injection via 5lb cylinder
Uh, really bad timing for the vacation. New tanks need even more care and attention and I find we struggle with our new setups at 2-4 weeks mark.
So yes CO2 is important, make sure you have it around 30ppm or a little more. Increase slowly and watch your fish for gasping symptoms.
LEDs can be quite powerful or dim... who knows... In general, limit the light period to 6h until you get rid of anything. Your plants will be fine with this period. If you can raise your light further from the substrate so that your substrate receives less light. Consider also adding some floating plants for the same purpose + help with the NH4 release from the ADA AS.
On the restoration part... take a new clean toothbrush and rotate it so that you catch most hair algae around the toothbrush, take out, clean, repeat ...
Amano shrimps might help with it as well. AlgaeFix might be another option if you do decide to go nuclear, Tom Barr mentioned something about it.
SAE's will destroy that hair algae fast! They really seem to love the stuff,That is,if you can get the true ones.I added 6 to my 45 and they even cleaned it out of the java moss.
I tested algaefix on a spec V that had a bunch of it....after 3 treatments I still had hair algae,but my water lettuce went absolutely nuts and covered the surface to the point of growing on top of itself.
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