chtaylor26 Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I have heard of a few different fish to use and need to determine the best solution to my problem.... What is the best fish to get rid of this annoying hair algae? It is all over my plants, some of the fish I have heard to use include: 1.Ameca Splendens 2. American Flag Fish 3. Siamese Algae Eaters Any suggestions.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneiroid Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 The first two fish on your list are pretty good if you feed them less than you normally would. In my experience, SAEs get lazy about algae cleanup when they grow up but still don't put much of a dent in hair algae regardless. More suggestions: 1) First and foremost, mechanical cleanup. Hair algae is fairly easy to pull out by hand and can be kept under control if you are diligent about it. 2) Add a bunch of amano shrimp and under-feed the tank (though they may not survive the A. splendens or flag fish if you add those too). 3) Add lots of fast growing plants to out-compete the algae growth. 4) Keep your water parameters stable and in favour of your plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 You can always blast a little Flourish excel on it too. Take some pics and show us your algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chtaylor26 Posted April 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I have heard of blasting it with flourish excel in the past but can you elaborate? Also as far as picking it of by hand I have done that but find it tedious at best and it is on so many fine plants it would be difficult I will take some pics and maybe you can give me some more ideas. Also if you could elaborate on the shrimp that would be great. I am new to planted tanks and don't know much about shrimp at all. Will my fish eat them? I have 4 angelfish...... about 15 Cardinal Tetras.... 6 Golden Barbs..... about 6 six zebra danios...... a couple of butterfly plecos and about 8 zebra snails Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I have heard of blasting it with flourish excel in the past but can you elaborate? That stuff is the best algaecide around. First, pick as much algae off as you can. Twirling a toothbrush or filter cleaning brush around grabs it really well too. Then get some excel in a syringe and shoot it directly onto the spots where the algae was attached. You should see the remains change color and die off withing a few hours. Also if you could elaborate on the shrimp that would be great. I am new to planted tanks and don't know much about shrimp at all. Will my fish eat them? I have 4 angelfish...... about 15 Cardinal Tetras.... 6 Golden Barbs..... about 6 six zebra danios...... a couple of butterfly plecos and about 8 zebra snails The angels and barbs would probably munch the shrimp if given a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I can recommend Amecas... never seen hair algae in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 If you're adding CO2, add a bit more - that's probably the limiting factor allowing the algae to outcompete the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 You can mix a batch of flourish excel and water and dip the plants as well. I used a 1:25 ratio with no problems. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/algae/80720-excel-dip.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I'm doing battle with it in my high light tank too. Though I have not won yet, it's under control now. I'm using 2 less hours of light on it, and excel. I will win this battle!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baos Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I had hair algae once. I added sae's and although they are lazy with algae removal, I haven't seen any hair algae since getting them a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 I had a bad run with hair algae last year i would suggest picking a up a small container of Rowa phosphate remover it was the only thing that I found to work. Most suckers and algae eaters wont touch that stuff. When I used it there was little impact on my plants and it quickly removed the algae after I took the stuff out new algae grew. My tank went into slight shock I ended up adding and removing the media for a few months before my tank stabled out and havent had it come back. I would suggest a small container because all you need, if I remember correctly is 1g for every 10Gallons (something like that). Another suggestion is your lighting. In another tank I had I landed myself with excessive red hair algae, after some research I found out that UV light bulbs (not sterilizers) cause hair algae. This has been proven true because I took down that 5' tank bleached it out and left it down for a few months and just started it back up a month ago new substrate etc. after 2 weeks that algae came back. I guess I find out soon enough if my new bulbs make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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