# Hair algea



## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

This is in my custom 5.gallon with a 10 gallon sump. 
I noticed this hair algea on my plants a couple of weeks a go. So I did a water change and did not use any ferts for that week. 
I don't think it has grown since but its still there and looking right ugly to me. 
So does any one have any sure fire ways to kill this stuff????

The inhabitants are
3 betas, some ghost shrimp, a tiny common pleco that I picked up yesterday to help with this stuff.(not to worry I have a 90g that he is going into when he grows up and I know how big they can get)
A whole whack of Malaysian horn snails, some common pond snails.
And I believe that is it.

Water changes are done every Saturday, with a change out of 5g, and added in are 7mls of master grow. I also use a small canister co2 system.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

How much lighting and on for how long?

You're not adding anything besides the Master Grow? If your lighting is good and you're adding CO2 then you also need to add macro nutrients (NO3, PO4...)

How long has the tank been running?


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

Its been up for about 2 or 3 months now. The lights are 3 PC'c total watts are 31watts, they are on for about 10 hours a day. 

As far as I know the Master grow has all the micro nurturance in it and I don't want to add any thing other then the master grow. 

Sump lights are on the same schedule but the lights over the sump are halogens, that put out 36 watts. 

I was thinking of getting rid of the PC lights, and changing them to the same halogens that are running under the sump.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I'd say with that much lighting the tank doesn't have enough CO2 and/or macro nutrients. Sumps can be a big source of CO2 loss.

The Tropica Master Grow only provides micronutrients (Iron and traces). Plants also need macronutrients (Nitrates, Phosphates, Potassium) to grow well. Plants growing well will keep the algae under control...

Do you have plants in the sump? Is that why you have lights over it?

Halogens are not the most efficient plant growing light sources. I'd stick with the PCs.


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

I do have some java moss, and some other plants that seem to the doing a lot better under the halogens and there is no algae in the sump. Also I have been using halogens over my 90g for nearly 2 years now, I have no algae in the 90g either. And the plants are growing like weeds. 

So back to the original question, is there any thing that will eat this stuff, or any way of getting rid of it.


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

Increasing macros and CO2 as Laith mentioned will do the work. Try to prevent algea from coming first then think of the alg eaters.


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

Thank you both for the advice. I will actually be changing out my lighting, from PC to Halogen. I going to try and see if its the lights that are the cause of this algae. And the reason for this is that the sump is totally algae free and the plants in there look better then the ones in the display. 
I will post before and after halogen pic's this weekend, of the sump plants and the display plants.


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## aferreir (Dec 26, 2005)

Hi Lukep. It seems to be red algae. Try to apply a little bit of oxigenated water (I dont know if it is the correct name, but the formula is H2O3). 20 ML each 100 liters (10 volumes) of water should be enought. Apply it directly with a syringe.

PS> DONT apply this method if you have invertebrates! 

Regards
Ariel


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Is there a reason you want to switch from PC to halogen? You realize that watt for watt, halogens are less efficient?


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

I do have inverts in the little tank that I'm having problems with. Isn't that a solution similar to peroxide????

turbomkt I don't find PC lighting to be very affective for me. I switched my 90 gallon from PC to Halogen and my plants took off like crazy. 
I set this little tank up as a small experiment to see how some of my plants would do with no filtration, just a sump and water changes. 
So far the only issue I have had is with the algae. 

And I have 60w of halogen over my sump and the plants in there look better and there is no algae in there. Its the same with my 90g.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Do you have a link to the type of halogens you're talking about?


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

Have you ever seen the stand up halogen lamps, they typicly point up at the ceiling. Well we used to have 2 of them in till I broke one, and then decided to try out the halogens over my 90.


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## aferreir (Dec 26, 2005)

aferreir said:


> Hi Lukep. It seems to be red algae. Try to apply a little bit of oxigenated water (I dont know if it is the correct name, but the formula is H2O3). 20 ML each 100 liters (10 volumes) of water should be enought. Apply it directly with a syringe.
> 
> PS> DONT apply this method if you have invertebrates!
> 
> ...


Sorry I was wrong. The formula is H2O2, water is H2O and oxygenated water is H2O2. You can buy it in a Pharmacy because it is used to cure small injuries.

Regards,
Ariel


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Hydrogen Peroxide and other algae-killing methods are fine and good, but you really need to address the basic issue.

TMG does provide all the essential trace nutrients, but no macro nutrients which are absolutely essential, especially with 31 watts over a 5 gallon. If your other tank did better with halogens it's probably because you reduced overall light levels down to a reasonable level for a non CO2, non-fertilized tank. PC's are far more effecient, but you've got a lot of light. Without the addition of CO2 and rather large doses of nutrients you will have eternal algae issues.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Hi, does anyone have a theory to why there is no algae in the sump and there is algae in the main tank being that they are the same water?
lukep77, how do the plant masses in the 2 tanks differ? sump v.v. main tank?


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

I will post some befor and after pics of the sump and the main tank this weekend. What do you mean by masses??? the size differance?????


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Cool, before and after shots would be nice. By plant mass, I meant ,total plant mass ie. Is one of the tanks more heavily or densely planted than the other?


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)

OK so here are the befor and after pic's. Please notice the plants today and the ones from 2 weeks ago. The hair algae is nearly all gone. 
The last pic is of when I first started the tank, this was on Feburary 21st of this year.


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## lukep77 (Feb 19, 2006)




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