A whole bunch of hair algea

[Mykayel]

Well, I told I should ask in here too (I started a thread (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62233) in the general section).

Well I've been having a hair algea problem. The pictures show what it looks like after a week. I don't think I've been over feeding as i just give a small pinch each morning that is eaten in about a minute. I have 110 watts of pc's that are about 5 months old and are on for 12 hours a day (I am cutting that back to about 4 hours to try to cure this). I have done water changes (50-75%) and vaccumed the gravel but that doesn't seem to help. I am dosing Flourish. I am also going to start using CO2 again but I didn't think that was the problem because this didn't start until about 2 months after I stoped.

Any suggests are greatly appricated. Are there any fish that will eat this that will help me control it?

http://web.umr.edu/~mlubiews/fish/algea1.jpg
http://web.umr.edu/~mlubiews/fish/algea2.jpg

[beviking]

:D Seems you've been joked with enough so I won't start...

I think phanmc is correct about your CO2. I have no experience with the set up you have there, but from the little I do know about them, I don't think you're getting enough CO2 from it for your tank. So my suggestion would be work on the CO2. The hygro specifically doesn't look the best so there is definitely something hindering growth...?
Your nitrates are under 10ppm...how far below 10ppm? You should try to keep some nitrates (and phosphates along with all other nutrients) in the water. What about gravel fertilization? Have you added fert tabs/sticks before that may be leaching excess nutrients into the water? Doesn't seem likely since your NO3 is <10 but thought I'd ask.
While I'm at it, or rather, while you're at it, work on getting all the nutrients in a suitable range. If you're doing weekly 50% water changes, you can dose a known amount of NO3, PO4, K and micro-nutrients each week and be o.k. as long as the CO2 is up and running and your plants are healthy (kinda catch 22 isn't it?).
Your feeding the fish is fine.
Check out the algae busting tips and algae eating fish stickies too!
HTH

Oh boy, no sooner do I post this and see Captn Hook post a reply about the nutrifin ladder working well in his 72gal...well, I did say I knew little :)

[gobygirl2]

I dont know what type of water you have been using but I have 2 tanks that have been setup for 2 years, one salt, one fresh and have no algae of any kind in either.I have live plants in both tanks as well.I only use RO/DI water in the tanks, I reconstitute the water for my fresh tank by using RO right additive to bring the PH up to around 7.6 for my livebearers.There must be so little algae in that tank because I cannot keep an algae eater or snail alive.Yet I have a small betta tank in my daughters room with only a 40 watt. light bulb over it that I use tap water in and it is covered with algae.The tap water must be the culprit I figure or maybe I am just lucky with the 2 tanks.

[reiverix]

I agree (shock horror) that those plants don't look too good. Holes in the leaves may be a K deficiency but other levels are probably well out of wack. In this case I would try and salvage as much good plant matter as possible and throw out the ones beyond repair. If you have a spare tank handy you could bleach dip the worst plants and put them in QT while they recover. While doing that, get CO2 running good and restock with some fast growing stems. Then get yourself on a rigid fert dosing routine and stick with it. Monitor CO2, NO3 and PO4. A water report from your supplier might come in handy. In my case, I would never be able to grow plants without knowing what's in my tapwater, which is virtually nothing except phosphate.

A small army of cherry shrimp works wonders against thread algae.

I feel your pain. My first atempt at a true planted tank ended up a quick disaster and it was down to the fact that -

a) I didn't know my tapwater.
b) I didn't react to the algae fast enough (attack & show no mercy).
c) DIY CO2 was unstable on a 75g (ok I was lazy).
d) For some reason I was paranoid to add stuff like KNO3, KH2PO4 and large quantities of traces.

[Aries]

Well since all the advice I would have suggested has been stated...I will state you are not alone.

My first tank was a complete disaster - several times. Each time it was something different I messed up.

Lessons learned
1. Everything needs to be balanced. What is balanced for one tank may not be balanced for another tank however.
2. CO2 IS important - make sure your levels are good. CO2 helps plants get their need nutrients. Dont be afraid bump it up (slowly).
3. Dont be afraid of doing heavily ferts. I was at first because NO3 is toxic to fish. Well I got over it, I am dosing arount 25PPM (depends on water tests) and the fish are happy and so are the plants in my heavily planted tank. After two days, that level is down to 10PPM or less. So I dose every 3 days or so
4. As reiverix stated - Know you tap water. I am lucky on a few counts. One, I have high KH so I can inject CO2 with very little worry on PH crashes. Two, I have hard water which help for calcium but detracts for plant compatibility (i am over 25 dKh). Last, I have high ph from the tap (~8.2) which also helps.
5. Presurrized CO2 while expensive in the setup, will payoff in the long run - as long as you plan to keep the tank that is. A good setup will run $150-$180.

Good Luck

Many of us have been where you are now - it is overcomeable (is that a word?).

Aries

[Mykayel]

Thanks for all of the suggestions/help.

[anonapersona]

My goldfish tank had hair algae so bad it twisted into dreadlocks when the fish swam through it.

I was not adding any nitrates or traces because the fish didn't like it. I moved the fish and started dosing ferts and it cleared up pretty fast.