# hair algae



## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

I have a hair algae problem and just pulling what I see is not helping is there anything to get rid of it that is safe to use in my planted tank with tetras and mollies


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## junglefowl (Nov 16, 2012)

It takes time to get rid of this kind of algea. The main problem is CO2/lighting and can be flow movement. You can try by increasing CO2/decreasing lighting.
I have experienced the mollies (black) eating hair algea, ghost shrimps, amano shrimps will also help.
Dosing excel is another method.


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## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

Are the Amano shrimp going to bother my cherry shrimp I would love to add some of those to my tank


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## junglefowl (Nov 16, 2012)

If they get really hungry, they will try to catch the baby red cherry shrimps. They can get big when fully grown, but not very aggressive. As long as you feed them enough food. They will be fine together.
One more thing, the amano shrimp is fast, so it steals the food. I only keep 1-2 of them in my tank with with other dwarf shrimps


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## serenityfate1 (Sep 4, 2014)

Instead try to find out what is the cause of the issue,what is your phototperiod? And what fixture are you using? Are you using co2? Specs would help alot


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## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

I do use co2 on constant slow rate I have two corallife fixture with 3 regular t5 HO bulbs t5 865 and the fourth is a coral life 65000 HO bulb I don't have a timer on but they are usually on from 8am- 8pm


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

What size tank do you have? Four T5 HO tubes is a lot of light, probably too much unless your tank is very deep.


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## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

110 gallon


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

The safest method for controlling the hair algae is weekly water changes and filter cleanings. Dissolved organics and excess phosphates can contribute to this problem.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

digital_gods said:


> The safest method for controlling the hair algae is weekly water changes and filter cleanings. Dissolved organics and excess phosphates can contribute to this problem.


I'm sorry, but I must disagree with this! Excess phosphate causes not one species of algae to bloom. This has been proven thousands of times, so simple not true! Dissolved organics do contribute to red algae species (usually black or greyish in the aquarium) but not to green algae. Green algae is always a nutrient shortage. This could be traces, macro nutrients or CO2. Start by making sure you add enough traces. Make sure your plants have nitrogen and phosphorus (either in the substrate or the water column) and if the algae still persist, fix CO2 and/or improve flow.

Reducing light, helps to reduce nutrient demand so using two bulbs for a while would be a quick fix too! Remember plants always need a few weeks to adapt to the new situation, so try not to expect result very fast. Good luck!


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