problem: hair algae.

[CHINABOY1021]

ive had hair algae on my microswords since the day i bought it. at the main LFS (big als) i go to, their plants are perfectly healthy from tropica. but theres a mini lfs that i bought this patch of micro swords from which was a rare find around here.

anyways, will the hair algae on the micro swords spread onto other plants? ive kept it in the dark for 2 days now and ive just put it back into the tank. its a 10 gallon with 4.5 wpg. i know thats a lot of light and im asking for algae without micro dosing and balancing. i also understand its better to prevent the growth in the first place than to remove it after.

ANYWAYS: ive got 2 saes, and 4 amano shrimp. ive just put the hair algae patch back into my tank and they havent touched it. i wouldnt mind doing a bleach treatment if it will remove the algae. im sure my swords will recover fast IF they survive it.

anyone got suggestions? i was suggested flag fish and rosey barb to eat off the algae. BUT, in a 10 gallon with limited space, i would have to add and remove the algae eating fish as they are not part of my planned fish stock.

how can i do a bleach treatment and how will it affect my micro swords with hair algae? will it work? thanks in advance. sorry bout the long post. i guess the final question is in the final paragraph.

[Timmain42]

I'll second this, and ask why the SAEs will attack hair algae on everything else, but not on the Microsword?

[djlen]

I've used a 19:1 bleach treatment successfully on E. Tenellus with nice results. Just dip for 45 seconds......no more. If it doesn't get all of the algae you could try a touch longer, but it could injure the plants. Just dip the leaves down to the crown. Not the roots. Make sure you rinse well and then dip in a tub of fresh water with double strength 'tap water conditioner' afterwords. Dip your hands too before inserting them back into the tank.
Len

[CHINABOY1021]

ill try that. thanks djlen
tim- the reason why i dont hink my saes touch the algae is because maybe the hair algae is too old.

[djlen]

SAEs won't eat the old stuff. You have to scrub it off and/or bleach it off. Make sure you get as much of it as humanly possible. If there's any on inanimate object like filter tubes, heaters etc. you can dip them and the rinse as well.
Then do a good gravel vac/water change picking up as much lose mulm from the surface of the substrate as you can.
Make sure, if you use it, to jack up your CO2 to between 25-30ppm and check your P. It should be as close to 1.0ppm as possible. That should do it.
Len