Hair Algae- What am I doing wrong here?

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Ezekielz

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Dec 8, 2008
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So Cal
Okay, SO I have a 28 g planted tank.

Been running for a month fishless cycling.

Tank is now cycled reading zero ammonia, and zero nitrite. Nitrate is about 40-60 (sky high)

Cycled my tank with fish food not a pure ammonia liquid source or whatever that is.

So I have several plants in this aquarium, about 6 hygros, 4-6 italian vals, several stems of ludwigia repens, 3
anubias nanas, and java moss.

I dose dry ferts from aquariumfertlizers.com.

I follow the recommended dosing chart for a 29 gallon in the estimated index fertilzation method.

I run on a co2 pressurized setup. drop checker reads green consistently.

As far as the dry ferts go, I have been holding off on the potassium nitrate due to my position im in now (being at the end of the cycle and having straight tap water reading 10 ppm nitrate anyhow.)

I know this chart is recommended for a 29 g but I figured since mine is a 28 it should be no biggie, but now I am clueless.

I have hair algea all over my java mass, my ludwigia, even my fast growing hygros! So I did the major water change a few days ago, tank was really pretty and very clear. The hair algea just keeps coming back!

My photo period is around 8-9 hours a day. (55 wat ah supply PC bright light kit)

(I like to view my tank so I turn the light on when its timer is off just for a few minutes during the day)

So I pretty much given you all the info I have so hopefully I can get some help.

I've also had problems with staghorn but the wc basically killed that.

Thanks for reading!

example29gallonchartuu9.png
 
I have two questions..

What is your phosphate reading?

What is your KH reading?

If your phosphate is high, stop dosing.

I only doe twice a week now and it has made all the difference in balance. You may want to throttle back on the ferts and see how things change. More is not always better.
 
I would also check phosphate reading. Remember your dosing regimen will depend on how heavily planted the tank is, how much light and c02 you are using and how fast growing the plants are. Also if your nitrate is over 40ppm you can def cut back on the dosing of it. I aim for 15-20ppm.

Also are you using a 4kh solution for your c02 drop checker? If you are using tank water your reading may be off and green may actually be less c02 than you think.
Check your KH and PH and cross reference the chart to see if it is in harmony with the checker. I find doing excel 2x the strength for a few days kills it off once you remove the excess and even spot application but you willstill have to fix the problem or it will come back fast.
 
Problem 1 was cycling your tank in the first place, ammonia is the leading cause of algae issues. For a planted tank cram it with lots of plants and skip the cycle process entirely, your plants will be the biological filtration.

Do a very large water change to reset your water parameters and spot treat the affect areas with excel. As Bajanfish mentioned, make sure you're using a 4kh solution in your drop checker. It wouldn't hurt to get more plants in there either.
 
Yes I have 4kh solution in my drop checker.

Avionics I need to invest in a phosphate test as this was my same thought.

Thanks for everyone's help!

Oh and I'll try and up the co2 as rich mentioned.

My kh is 11 but i need to check again.

BTW- which phosphate test do you guys recommend.

Seachem, Red SEa, or Aquarium Pharmaceuticals?
 
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I have a Hagen one that works fine but I think any of the above would be ok once used properly. AP seems to be one of the more popular choices, maybe someone else can compare.
 
Patience, patience, patience is your friend.
Add fish, make sure you have 25-30ppm Co2, dose ferts on the low end to achieve minimum values. Manual removal of the large clumps of hair algae to keep it from choking out your plants. It will stabilize in no time.

I've set up new tanks that went through various algae types in the beginning, but always stabilized as long as I stayed consistent. Sometimes a couple weeks and sometimes a couple months. I've also setup a few tanks that stayed relatively clean with only a little Diatom in the beginning and some GSA a little later.
No two tanks are the same. I have some tanks that are the same size with identical hardware and I have to treat them differently.
 
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