Getting rid of hair algae by blacking out?

[jwddboy]

This will work for hair algae. Do not uncover, do not feed tank for a min of a week and it shoulod all clear up. If it doesn't, feed and then leave for another week. Your filter should handle the dead algae, if there is a LOT of it, you will need a water change right away (with a filter cleanout - make sure to not lose valuable bacteria from filter). If not, it's best to do one anyway.

works well for all types of algae. a scraper is usually enough for hair algae though.

Ive heard about that with green water, but it should work, all algae need light

1. Cynobacteria (blue-green algae) will not be affected by a blackout as it is a bacterial algae.
2. Getting rid of long strands of hair algae is very difficult with a scraper. People with a bad problem have been known to use a fork to pull out hair algae.
3. Most algae means one or more of: bad water quality, too much light, too many ferts added, not enough oxygen.

 

[rich311k]

It will kill the algae but does not solve the problem of what caused it in the first place.

 

[yhbae]

So it sounds like I have a way to get rid of those pesky hair algae. They came with the plants I purchased - I didn't have them before. But I can see they are thriving in the tank right now. I am taking some out of the tank every day. These hair algae is also inside the lump of java moss so those are pretty much impossible to remove by hand.

Since nitrate is zero, I am assuming algae is not getting much nutrient from there. I am hoping after blackout, they will not appear.

 

[steveywinet]

In my case, it was just gone!

 

[ToeJam]

The algae in your tanks feed on Nitrates and Phosphates act as Miracle Grow at the same time.

So if you have ample amounts of Algae and or Plants your Nitrate readings will be false. So seeing a reading of 5ppm you may think oh thats not bad..in actuality is actually higher.


Also cyanobacteria break outs are no fun...and marine users like me are always watching parameters to avoid such painfully annoying bacteria algae hybrids...they look similar to diatom outbreaks but as they mature ...they turn out to be stringy and slimy looking with bubbles trapped in them. I hate that stuff. its the spawn of hell.

Anyway hair algae is a battle we all fight and I think that the methods marine users may benefit you all here.

Suggestion is this and correct me if im wrong since im marine guy you are fresh:

1. remove all algae you can manually in a bucket of water you changed. Take out decor ...and rocks or what ever and just scrub that off.

2. Large water change...use RO water this time around vs tap since tap contains nitrate and phosphate..what you do not want to add.

3. Cut back feeding some..in half is what i say...cut back photo periods even doing a black out..unless planted tank then just cut back the time.
its not always sunny in fresh water land so its only imitating a cloudy day by the reduction.

4. the extra step you can take is using a phosphate removing media and at the same time watch your PH as for that stuff does impact PH on initial use.

From here out after clean up you should practice prevention of it. And the root problem varies from tank to tank.

1. over feeding

2. long photo periods or being close to a window but cant do much about the window.

3.Poor quality tap water in your cases in fresh water land. Test it ..you may be surprised that your tap has high nitrates and phosphates. It may be a good idea to change out once in a while with RO water by 50% Using tap water will lower nitrates but not enough to avoid the gradual gain it has over time in a tank. Even with RO changes for marine users without a nutrients export like Fuges we use... we even have to do large RO/DI water changes once in a while to.

Other preventative things suggested is using "UV Sterilizer" dont have to get one but they have great benefits to all tanks. It nukes parasites,algae spores, bacteria, and what ever else floating in the water that is not good.

I wish you luck...just wanted to input...algae and cyano battles I think are a marine tank users nightmares that we battle with...i figure I help here.

 

[stezatois]

works well for all types of algae. a scraper is usually enough for hair algae though.

hehe that or a couple of amano shrimp. They wiped mine out in a day.... but i have a box of green water in the garden to replenish my algae stock lol.

 

[yhbae]

So if you have ample amounts of Algae and or Plants your Nitrate readings will be false. So seeing a reading of 5ppm you may think oh thats not bad..in actuality is actually higher.

So you are saying my nitrate reading of 0ppm is a false reading? I'm not sure what you mean here. Aren't fishes living in the water I am measuring?

2. Large water change...use RO water this time around vs tap since tap contains nitrate and phosphate..what you do not want to add.

My tap doesn't contain any nitrates so I think I am ok there. Not sure about phosphates though. Is there a kit for measuring this too?

3. Cut back feeding some..in half is what i say...cut back photo periods even doing a black out..unless planted tank then just cut back the time.
its not always sunny in fresh water land so its only imitating a cloudy day by the reduction.

I have already cut down the feeding a bit. Also reduced lights from 14 hours to 8 hours.

4. the extra step you can take is using a phosphate removing media and at the same time watch your PH as for that stuff does impact PH on initial use.

I need to understand phosphate better before I start to mess with chemicals.

From here out after clean up you should practice prevention of it. And the root problem varies from tank to tank.

1. over feeding

2. long photo periods or being close to a window but cant do much about the window.

3.Poor quality tap water in your cases in fresh water land. Test it ..you may be surprised that your tap has high nitrates and phosphates. It may be a good idea to change out once in a while with RO water by 50% Using tap water will lower nitrates but not enough to avoid the gradual gain it has over time in a tank. Even with RO changes for marine users without a nutrients export like Fuges we use... we even have to do large RO/DI water changes once in a while to.

Other preventative things suggested is using "UV Sterilizer" dont have to get one but they have great benefits to all tanks. It nukes parasites,algae spores, bacteria, and what ever else floating in the water that is not good.

I wish you luck...just wanted to input...algae and cyano battles I think are a marine tank users nightmares that we battle with...i figure I help here.

Thanks. I personally never lived in an area where there were any nitrates in water from the tap at all. I don't think I overfeed once per day, small portions and one day of fasting per week.

I think I will go ahead and do this 3-5days of blackout to get rid of them, then monitor how tank goes. Looks like my main control is the amount of light per day. Hopefully my plants will thrive and kick hair algae's ***!

 

[ToeJam]

Phosphates just are the fertilizer for plant life...algae loves it..

And yes there are test kits for it ..and yes tap water can contain it.

My local water is horrid...may pass for human consumption but is horrid in my marine tank.

For fresh water you all don't have to worry about it as bad us we do. Since you dont have 5oow of light

I am only passing on what we do to get a handle on algae ...cause its a real pain in the rear once it gets going.

As for the Nitrate readings:
0ppm is good... I am saying that keep in mind plants feed on nitrates...so when you have a Nitrate registering...consider the amount that is being eaten to ..which I can't measure but its actually higher.

 

[yhbae]

Phosphates just are the fertilizer for plant life...algae loves it..

And yes there are test kits for it ..and yes tap water can contain it.

My local water is horrid...may pass for human consumption but is horrid in my marine tank.

For fresh water you all don't have to worry about it as bad us we do. Since you dont have 5oow of light

I am only passing on what we do to get a handle on algae ...cause its a real pain in the rear once it gets going.

As for the Nitrate readings:
0ppm is good... I am saying that keep in mind plants feed on nitrates...so when you have a Nitrate registering...consider the amount that is being eaten to ..which I can't measure but its actually higher.

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated.

 

[rocker92]

what about this staghorn (i think) stuff i have???