Hair algae question???

[zachjohnson65]

i had my last two remaining fish die in my 10 gallon. Withing 24 hours my green hair algae exploded all over the tank. I checked my perms. all were zero, ph 8-8.2. which they have been for the 6 months the tank was running. I do not have a phosphate test. What would cause the explosion of growth? I guess i do not understand the algae/plant relationship.

[OhioOilMan]

How long do you leave your lights on? Does your tank sit in front of a window that gets a lot of sun?? I have found that hair algae is the hardest to get rid of. I have done numerous water changes, checked the levels in the tank, cut the tank down to only have lights on for 4 hrs a day and still the algae kept growing, finally i got rid of all the gravel, and deco in the tank and started over, since then I haven't seen any (Knock on wood) you may want to try to soak everything in saltwater for a few days that "May" kill it out.

[Marinemom]

I had hair algae really bad in one of my tanks and it was massive. I took out as much of the algae as I could by hand and it was coming out in handfuls. I then took my filter off of the tank and rinsed it out just in case some of it was growing in there. (It was). I put the filter back on the tank and cleaned the intake tube which was also covered in hair algae. Then I did 75% water change and added Prime for the declor. After that I added a lot of live plants that will suck up the nutrients and will out compete the algae. Hornwort and anacharis are really good for this as well as some sword plants.After that I added Florish and Florish Excel to the water as some mico nutrients for the plants. It took a few weeks of water changes and the nutrients but I am really happy to say the hair algae problem is completely gone. I do not see any sign of it coming back. I think if you follow these simple steps you will also have success in getting rid of this annoying and unsightly problem. Just keep on top of it and do not give up and you will be fine.

Marinemom

[leocom2000]

what parameters did you check? maybe your fish died of lack of oxygen. did they die at night?
try hair removing cream to get rid of hair algae :)

[Fordtrannyman]

i had my last two remaining fish die in my 10 gallon. Withing 24 hours my green hair algae exploded all over the tank. I checked my perms. all were zero, ph 8-8.2. which they have been for the 6 months the tank was running. I do not have a phosphate test. What would cause the explosion of growth? I guess i do not understand the algae/plant relationship.
Can you describe what the algae looks like?
My first thought that it may be staghorn.
Staghorn thrives off of ammonia. Ammonia kills fish...??
Re-Check your parameters.

If it is in fact hair algae, I would suspect the introduction of silicate.

[zachjohnson65]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Leocom2000-Nitrite,Nitrate,Ammonia all have been O ppm every time i test. Which was once a week and after every death. I have thought that the fish may have died as a result of a mini cycle. This tank has been set up for 5-6 months. All 3 of my tanks register 0 ppm. I have crossed checked the results with my LFS test kit.

Fordtannyman- The algae is green, thick stringy and sticks to glass, plants, substrate. Why would my algae go bannanas after the fish are gone=no ammonia. The fish did die at night but i have not noticed any gasping anytime. Silcate from where? The glass like diatoms.

[Marinemom]

The silicates are in the glass and can leech out and cause problems. It usually will go away in the first year.

Marinemom

[Fordtrannyman]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Leocom2000-Nitrite,Nitrate,Ammonia all have been O ppm every time i test. Which was once a week and after every death. I have thought that the fish may have died as a result of a mini cycle. This tank has been set up for 5-6 months. All 3 of my tanks register 0 ppm. I have crossed checked the results with my LFS test kit.

Fordtannyman- The algae is green, thick stringy and sticks to glass, plants, substrate. Why would my algae go bannanas after the fish are gone=no ammonia. The fish did die at night but i have not noticed any gasping anytime. Silcate from where? The glass like diatoms.

Can you provide parameter numbers including P04?
NO3 reading of 0 is only possible if using DI or RO water. (I should say it's unlikely)
What is your source water?
Can you take a picture of the algae?
Silicates can from a number of sources. Silicone in a newer glass tank, newer decorations, even water from an untested source.
Do you happen to have a water softener in your house?

All questions, no answers yet.:) LOL

[zachjohnson65]

I use tap water from the City of Staunton, VA. I treat with Prime
I use API liquid tests. i have double checked my value many times.
I do not have a PO4 test and no local store has it either.
I have pics but I'm having trouble posted as normal under manage att. Sorry Zach

[zachjohnson65]

Do cheap i.e. walmart tanks contain more silicates? This tank has been set up before for 2 years and it always had a diatom problem. Is the tank materials(Quaility) a cause?

[Cory Keeper]

Ford, NO3 readings of 0 have nothing to do with RO/DI systems, but a reading of 0 is deff possible if you have enough plants with a light stocking. Plus, any test kit for anything else other than NO3 (nitrate) is useless.

Zach. A couple of things. Is this a planted tank?
What test kit?
Liquid? If so, are you shaking the second nitrate bottle a while (45s to a minute or two, can not be stressed)
Whats the light schedule??

[A. Nonymous]

I'm having similar problems with hair algae in my 75g. It grows mainly on the java moss that's attached to my wood. I have seriously considered pulling all the moss off the wood and replanting some moss that is hair algae free.

[Marinemom]

This stuff tends to grow when there are a lot of nutrients in the water. Throw in some fast growers such as hornwort and anacharis and it will out compete the algae for the nutrients. You will see a dramatic difference in very little time.

Marinemom

[A. Nonymous]

This stuff tends to grow when there are a lot of nutrients in the water. Throw in some fast growers such as hornwort and anacharis and it will out compete the algae for the nutrients. You will see a dramatic difference in very little time.

Marinemom

I'll try that. I've got one strand of anachris in another tank. (For some reason, the convicts won't mess with it). I transplanted it into the 75g tank and we'll see how it grows in there. I'll split it off into other plants as it grows and we'll see if I can't kick the crap out of this hair algae. It sucks as the primary place it's growing is right at the top of the tank by the light.

[Fordtrannyman]

I'm having similar problems with hair algae in my 75g. It grows mainly on the java moss that's attached to my wood. I have seriously considered pulling all the moss off the wood and replanting some moss that is hair algae free.

I have had hair algae grow on mosses only and I pull it and threw it in my shrimp tank. Two days later it's clean and green again.
What I have discovered is Java Moss likes a lot of current flow.

[Fordtrannyman]

i had my last two remaining fish die in my 10 gallon. Withing 24 hours my green hair algae exploded all over the tank. I checked my perms. all were zero, ph 8-8.2. which they have been for the 6 months the tank was running. I do not have a phosphate test. What would cause the explosion of growth? I guess i do not understand the algae/plant relationship.

zach, If you haven't already-I would go with MarineMom's suggestion in the third post of this thread.
Post back with an update and we'll see if we can help further.