# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Hair algae help. How do you get rid of it?



## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

I just bought a beautiful hygrophila difformis.(actually my brother baught it for me). It has a tiny hair algae problem. I have gotten most of it out with a comb. Will hornwort help kill of the algae. Also if I add more plants to suck up nutrients will that get it gone or at least stop it before it can destroy everything. 
How invasive is this stuff/ 
thanx for suggestions.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

I just bought a beautiful hygrophila difformis.(actually my brother baught it for me). It has a tiny hair algae problem. I have gotten most of it out with a comb. Will hornwort help kill of the algae. Also if I add more plants to suck up nutrients will that get it gone or at least stop it before it can destroy everything. 
How invasive is this stuff/ 
thanx for suggestions.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## imported_Platy (Feb 4, 2003)

A sea of green - Are you in a yellow submarine?









If you figure out out to get rid if it - please let me know, mine is there and getting worse.

Thanks









Dustin

ImaNewbie


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

Well the comb method works okay but I can't get rid of it all. What eats that stuff? Hopefully my cichlids get hunrgy.








What is the best environment for green hair algae? Knowing that will help me fight it I hope.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## Kathy (Feb 2, 2003)

A note that might give you some hope. 

If the tank hasn't a problem with that type of algae the introduced algae may just vanish! Plants with some staghorn and black brush algae were put in my tank and it just didn't grow.

The cichlids may enjoy your hygrophila difformis also. My older leaves aren't exactly the same shape they were when they sprouted. Good thing it is a fast grower! Sure pretty too.


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

Well, so far my cichlids haven't decided to nip a plant since the first day I got them and they thought they were at a salad bar.
I have never had a problem with that algae before. another plant I had had just a little bit of it and it went away. I was just cocerned because there was more on the hygrophila difformis.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## DanD5303 (Oct 12, 2004)

I've heard that flag fish will eat hair algae, but haven't had them. I know from experience that rosy barbs go after the stuff with great enthusiasm. Getting everything in the tank balanced so the plants outcompete it will work over time. Dan


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## Paulo Pinheiro (Feb 11, 2003)

Hi guys!

The new forum is really neat!

I have recently setup a planted 65 gal with clay/laterite/sand substrate, 144W fluorescent light (1x3000K 2x 6500K and 1x 10.000K)and filtration is assured by two powerfilters (just until next week when my eheim professionel II 2026 is supposed to arrive). Using 2x 2L DIY CO2 but not getting much out of it since I'm waiting for the filter to use an in-line reactor. 20-25% water changes every other week

Water parameters: unknown, haven't tested for anything yet, except pH = 7.5, KH should be quite high.

Plants: not very familiar with names yet but a bunch of vals wich are quickly spreading tons of runners, Bacopa monieri, cabomba, a red tiger lotus, a few bunches of glosso also groing fast but somewhat under the gravel (I think this may be due to the 10.000K bulb, going to replace it with a 5000K philips, CRI=98)and also some egeria and one ceratopteris thalictroides.

fish: 2 corydoras and one otto (wayting for 3 SAE's)

After all this here is the problem: the tank is full of green hair algae [edit:actually, now that I've read the algae information I believe itÂ´s thread algae. Very long green threads hanging from plants and gravel an glass...] and I can't seem to get rid of it!!!!!!!!!! I remove all the long hairs one day and the nex they are back. I heard that increasing CO2 levels will actually make them go away... True? Also I'm considering using a mild algicide to try to control things ultil all the equipment is setup. Should I do this? There is one from Tetra made with natural humic substances that are supposed to kill algae...

There is also one other thing that troubles me; there is always this greese-like scum on the surface of the tank. I remove it but it keeps building up.... What is this???

Any help on these long and boring questions for the experts would be very much appreciated!

Paulo Pinheiro

Allen's rule: when everything fails read the instructions!!!

[This message was edited by Paulo Pinheiro on Fri February 14 2003 at 09:07 AM.]


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## imported_Mark (Mar 4, 2003)

I actually had a huge problem with hair algae in one of my tanks 5 or so months ago. It was so bad I said to heck with it and ended up spot treating with hydrogen peroxide. I heard it could kill fish and more importantly, shrimp and snails. Well, I took the chance and dosed 1oz/10 gallons with a liquid feeder in the really bad spots. After one hour, my tank was bubbling like crazy. After three hours I could already see the hair algae dying back. After 6, I found one cory cat floating on the surface. I wasn't happy about that one, but I kept watching. The next day, the hair algae had died back to about 50%. I did a 25% water change and crossed my fingers. After that, I didn't see any dead shrimp or snails. In fact, my shrimp population has doubled since then. Go figure. On the good side, I haven't had a problem with algae in that tank since, but that could easily be attributed to the 20 some-odd shrimp now present in my aquarium.

As for the surface scum, there isn't a whole lot you can do about that besides some kind of home-made surface siphon. That or pick up the Eheim one...


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

If you have a healthy tank, by this I mean plants growing with lots of new growth. Just raise your Co2 levels. this will kill out thread algae. It works. I have use this method in three tanks now. Also if you add a plant with algae on it in a healthy tank, it will die out. I use to worry about algae on plants that I move from one tank to another. Now that I have well balanced tanks algae just dies. One thing I do use to eat the thread algae are Mollies. I have found them to be the best on algae but you have to keep them hungry, Remember the best way to fight algae is getting your nutrients in balance. This method gets rid of it for good. I have one tank that I use DIY CO2. In this tank I get a Co2 swing. You can tell the swing by the presents of thread algae. When I change out the mix, the algae disappears.

Hawk

Trust But Verify Â«*Â»Â®


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