# HOw to clean hair algea? need help!



## Clive (Jul 14, 2010)

can anyone help me? my riccia full of hair algae... i can't clean it.. i keep cutting my riccia.. still the same


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Clive,

First of all I see you are new to APC.....welcome! This is a great site with excellent information and friendly people to help you if you need it.

When I started a few years ago a member suggested that I start by reading the "Sticky's" at the beginning of the sub-forums. By doing so I saved myself a lot of time (and money) getting up to speed and learning the basics. There is a lot of good stuff in the "Stickys" at the beginning of the Algae sub-forum.

As for the hair algae in your Ricca, depending upon the other plants and fish/invertebrates that are in there you might be able to try to use Siamese (not Chinese) Algae Eaters (mine eat hair algae) or as a chemical control using the Excel treatment. I am glad you joined us!


----------



## Clive (Jul 14, 2010)

Seattle_Aquarist

thx seattle. i did't put cherry shrimp.. but still the same. the hair algae growing. 
now even my javamoss been infected.. poor my plants..  n i got 4 chinese algae eater.. is it i get wrong fish?should be siamese?


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Clive,

Siamese Algae Eaters are not the same as Chinese Algae Eaters. I don't like Chinese Algae Eaters, nor do I keep them. The ones I have had didn't do a very good job eating algae and they got aggessive toward other fish as they get older.


----------



## Reamer (Mar 3, 2010)

i have been told that that Chinese Algae Eaters doesn't eat algae 
but instead the slim coat off other fish.


----------



## defiesexistence (Jun 23, 2010)

Reamer, I know that is true of plecostomus, but haven't heard about CAE's doing so. That doesn't particularly mean much though. I have no trouble with the two CAE's I have, they are actually pretty industrious. If you trust yourself with being able to identify the true SAE, (_very_ hard to tell when they are juveniles. It's how I ended up with CAE's instead of SAE's), I recommend getting at least three. They like to clean algae alongside each other. If you've got small (<two inch) or slow moving fish (fast fish can stress these out, and CAE's/ SAE's_ move_), which may be the case, then you may want to consider going with shrimp. Or Excel-ing it.

Or look into snails. _A_ meaning one, of the kind that needs one other snail to create an infestation. That way you will have only one that will stay only one. As always, quarantine it. With snails you may want to quarantine them for 6 weeks or so (to make sure it hasn't carried another snail or eggs with it, and check daily for eggs in the filter, on the glass, on the bottom... Snails are, IMO, better than CAE's for algae, but not trumping SAE's.

Anyhow, good luck, research, and keep us posted on the diatoms. For motivation, imagine the green is you and yellow is the algae :axe: :badgrin:


----------



## Reamer (Mar 3, 2010)

I want to make this 100% clear i do not know that they eat slim coat just what i been told..

and read from websites like;
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/chinese-algae-eater/
or
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Gyrinocheilus_aymonieri

but the truth is i never keep a CAE nor have i ever seen one eat the slime coat off a fish or suck its out

i didn't know that Pleco dose it too or instead of.


----------



## defiesexistence (Jun 23, 2010)

No worries, not attacking you  Well, now I can say I have heard of CAE's doing so. But due to the things I've read about them, (i.e. 'keep in 77 to 80 some degrees of water', well, I put them in my tank in March when the water was 68 degrees, and they loved it.), I'll take this with a grain of salt, and watch ever carefully. But if Roy could contribute a little more on why he won't keep CAE's, then maybe we can get some advice straight from a reputable someone we know [-o< :ear:

Again, like you, plecs eating slime coats are just what I've heard. I've even read they are the 'curse of the fishkeeper'. The plecs I used to kill (through ignorance) as a wee tyke never lasted long enough or came out of hiding to murder my little tetras. Dad and I were horrid fish keepers... I don't think we ever did a water change, or turned off the lights, or... RIP little fins... Anyhow, this is before my first coffee, so if my babble-rant make any sense to you whatsoever, I give you _mega_ credit. :ranger:

But hey, :focus:, after researching and draining my first mug. http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=138 Seems to be helpful. Or something from our own kin: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/71086-hair-like-alge-how-do-i.html Try searching a bit more on this site. Maybe get some Rotala rotundifolia. In my tank, it's a greedy whippersnapper. Nothing like a good stem plant... You could try aerating your water. That's supposed to do something, though I can't remember what. Java hasn't completely hit the bloodstream. Teenage wakeups :doubt::bored: But try cutting your ferts, or disconnecting CO2 if you are using either of those for a bit. Sometimes plants have to be neglected for awhile to cure the curse... Someone could make threads under the algae section, one each for the different types of algae, compile queries and solutions of all the different threads and sticky it. If we don't have something like it already, or that covers all the information.

Mk, looong post. I can be done now. Thanks for the reading of the :rant: As always, feel free to set this amateur's information straight.


----------



## Clive (Jul 14, 2010)

YEt!! still anyone can help me bout the hair algae?! tats so trouble me.. my riccia plants full of it!!!


----------



## tug (Jul 23, 2009)

Hair algae is a general name for a wide variety of filamentous algae. Spirogyra, can be very hard to clear as it thrives in the same conditions as plants. But, without more information it's hard to be specific. Hair Algae forms around the base of slower growing plants, on gravel and bog-wood. A range of causes including low CO2/high light and ammonia spikes (general lack of maintenance and over feeding) and poor water flow seam to bring it on.

Manually remove as much as you can, make sure you have appropriate lighting levels, clean your tank and filter of mulm (undecomposed fish wastes) and improve your water flow. Excel helps eliminate it along with constantly hassling the algae - seems to pay off after a while. Most algae eaters will be more than happy to feed on Hair algae as well.


----------



## Clive (Jul 14, 2010)

thx for the info.. i will try to clean it as much as i can.. hopefully can .. can red cherry shrimp clean the algae?


----------



## defiesexistence (Jun 23, 2010)

I just read on one site that Red Cherry Shrimp won't touch hair algae, one that they eat green hair algae, and but most said they will eat all types of algae, and are really good at it. I was checking out the Shrimp and Other Invertebrates section. A thread said that CAE's cannot live together with Red Cherries. But check these links: http://www.fishyou.com/shrimp-cherry.php http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/cherry_shrimp_feeding.shtml http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/sept09/red-cherry-shrimp.htm for more information on them.

Again, add a good greedy stem plant. It is a slow way of getting rid of algae, but it works for as long as you keep it in your tank. It takes all the excess nutrients the algae is thriving on, uses it for itself, and adds a lot of oxygen to your tank.


----------



## tug (Jul 23, 2009)

Nice read, defiesexistence. I'm beginning to think a lot of shrimp fatalities could have been avoided if the water temp was lower. That article would seam to confirm it plays a part anyway. This might be helpful as well.


> ... the real issue with CRS's, the temp.
> It is not compatabile with most of the planted tank fish other than say livebears and guppies etc, and they eat the CRS fry. White clouds would work, maybe a few others etc, you can go up to say 72-74F perhaps without too much issue, but many fish are trouble below 75F, get ich etc. - Tom Barr


http://www.barrreport.com/showthrea...n-testing-and-back-tracking?p=53827#post53827


----------



## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Being a pleco fanatic I believe I must correct yall on your pleco myth! They do not and will never need or want to "eat" another fishes slime coat. There is nothing beneficial to the pleco except feeling better mentally. When a pleco is starved to death by the fishkeeper, which is very common due to the misconception that plecos can survive by eating the junk that falls to the ground, it will latch onto the weakest fish or a dying or dead fish and attempt to "leech" them to stay alive. The pleco eventually ends up dying anyway but it is a desperate try to stay alive before they actually die. 

It seems to be a strong belief that plecos do this slime coat eating to goldfish. We have a big tank full of goldfish and have kept common plecos and clown plecos and have never had a problem. Take care of the pleco like you would any other fish. Or think of them as humans. They are living creatures and so are we. If we capture them and put them in small containers we kill their natural food supply and have to mimick it ourselves. Feed ALL of your fish!!!  And if you are looking into buying a pleco for the future make sure you do plenty of research on it beforehand. Be 100% sure you know you can take care of it. I would say this is the same for any fish or invert.

Now on the actual topic of algae... I am having the same problem. Algae everywhere in my 10 gallon. Everywhere but my water sprite which is strange. I have a mystery snail but of course he cant do all the work. I'm thinking about getting a dozen cherry shrimp when I move this to my 20 gallon in a few weeks. Thanks for the links. They were good reads and helped me out a lot.


----------



## defiesexistence (Jun 23, 2010)

Nice clarification there, sampster, I feel educated now 

Except for on your water sprite? Nice! Leave that C. thalictroides in there no matter what. It's another greedy stem plant that'll use up excess nutrients so the algae can't.

And Clive, I know you might be thinking we are getting off topic here again and your algae problem still isn't solved, but see above paragraph. It's another example of a stem plant working against algae, in this case, is the water sprite, Ceratopteris thalictroides. It's one of my favorite stem plants for that reason and IMO it's downright beautiful. It won't solve anything right away, but will help get rid of it, and also help keep any algae out in the future. Try seeing what they have for stem plants at your LFS, or look in the for sale section on here. Clive, how is the algae? Are your CAE's making any progress?


----------

