Hair Algae and loads of it

Request information on fish, plants or other aquarium issues.
algae
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I have a battle on my hands with prolific hair algae but the thing is it prefers clinging to plants in the middle 2ft section of my 4ft tank Hopefully the photos will portray this. Any idea why this is and is there any easy way of removing it from the plant leaves. thanks guys.
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Drifty
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Hair algae is usely the flow... has it slowed down or do not have much flow?
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Bit unclear on the pics but looks more like black beard algae to me? In any case worth considering flow as Drifty says also balance between lights and ferts, provide too much and it only seems to benefit algae.
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algae wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 14:14 pm Image
Looks to me a right mixture of algae species being caused by either excess nutrients, lighting and or possible flow issues.

What's the stocking, dosing regime, equipment you have and water parameters?
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algae
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Sorry I should have been more explicit, the top photo shows the centre section of my tank where the flow rate is strongest but the algae is more prolific. The lower photo shows hardly any algae on similar plants at one end of the tank with less flow. I find that strange, shouldn't it be the other way round?. The plants get equal amount of light, aprox 9hrs per day, NH3, NO2, NO3 all test zero, GH=14 KH=5 PH=7 Temp 22.4C Phosphate not sure, Oxygen not sure but fish look happy and not stressed, no losses in last 12 months. 4ft tank -130lt, Water change 45lt weekly. Fluval 207 with bio media in two chambers. Stock 14 Neon Tetras 8 Guppies 90% live plants. Lots of small snails. Fish fed twice daily.
Reading this through I can see there's room for improvement, but can you advise, should I reduce the 9hrs of lighting?, I use a low (blue) light 8-9am then white light 9am-2pm finishing off with the low light again 2-5pm. I have been told that using a blue light encourages algae, is that right? Maybe I should think about cutting back on their food but honestly they only get a small pinch, what do you think?
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Seachem Excel will deal with this.
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Lo1 wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:01 am Seachem Excel will deal with this.
Not really, read on...
algae wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 0:56 am Fish fed twice daily.
Here's the first issue. Not only do your have fat Guppies, Tetras and snails but your feeding the algae as well. Twice a day is a tad excessive :O ...causing extra waste being produce into the water column feeding the algae. Plus you don't have from what I see here many plants housed within the aquarium so the algae is out competing the plants for nearly all nutrients. Try losing a few of the snails to, their adding to the excess waste problem.
algae wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 0:56 am The lower photo shows hardly any algae on similar plants at one end of the tank with less flow. I find that strange, shouldn't it be the other way round?
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By any chance is this the opposite end to where you feed your fish? This would answer why this is happening.

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In this image the plants seem to be in shadow, less light which would explain why there's not as much algae in this area or is this the side of the aquarium where outflow from the Fluval is housed?
algae wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 0:56 am I use a low (blue) light 8-9am then white light 9am-2pm finishing off with the low light again 2-5pm. I have been told that using a blue light encourages algae, is that right?
Never heard of any spectrum of colour light causes algae growth more than any other. All light, no matter it's colour encourages algae or plant life to grow. Below is my setup which gets eight hours light total per day, starting and ending with blue moon light. The photo periods are split into two light periods 6am till 10am and come on again 5pm until 9pm but at a lower light intensity. The aquarium is situated next to a large window so during the middle of the day receives natural daylight. My fish are only fed three or four days out of every week.

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You make no mention of using any plant fertilizers in your set up. This will help starting with a very low daily dosing, plus removing the false plants for live plants would help out compete the algae for excess nutrients in the water column.

Remove as much algae, dead or dying leaves as you can. Reduce fish feeding! 50% waterchanges after any aquarium maintenance. Daily dosing of a good quality plant fertilizer. Reduce your lighting photo periods until the plants show signs of significant growth, then gradually increase the timings back to where they are now. You could try adding a floating plant like dwarf water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and some more fast growing stem plants to help eat up the excess nutrients. If at all possible, increase your aquarium water circulation. Aim for the water volume to be turning over 10 times per hour not including filter.
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I meant to add, using a liquid carbon like Seachem Excel to eradicate to algae would only work short term with all the underlying issues this aquarium has.
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algae
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Thanks Martin I did try a fertilizer some time ago but the plants grow very fast without it so I no longer use it. I tried one dose of API Prevent Algae but I'm pretty sure that caused one of my Guppies to get clamped fin so thats gone in the bin. To answer your question the outlet from the filter is just to the left of the pile of slates where the algae is thickest and discharges toward the right hand side of the tank where there is less of it. The majority of my live plants are the stemmed broad leaf type shown in the photos, I did know what they're called but I can't remember, all I know is they grow very fast and easy to propagate What other species do you think I should try and what about introducing a couple of algae eaters like Plecs
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Martinspuddle
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Funny enough I was asked that the other day. :]
Martinspuddle wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 21:52 pm
marinefish71 wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 21:35 pm Do you have any suggestions for quick growing long stemed plants?
Paul
Bacopa caroliniana

Cabomba Caroliniana

Hydrocotyle leucocephala

Limnophila heterophylla

Ludwigia Natans

Mayaca Fluviatilis

Najas guadalupensis

Rotala rotundifolia

...to name a few. :]

Just beware that as many of these species as they grow they will start cutting the light down to your other plants and thus meaning you will eventually need extra lighting, not to mention increasing dosing with the extra growth.
Foreground... follow link; tropica.com
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