Hair/Beard Algae

[neon]

I'm having a definate problem with this stuff.  I did a 5 day blackout, it got rid of a lot of it, but now its coming back.  I can't hardly even see my java moss anymore, its covered.  I have a 33 gallon, with  2.90 wpg of light.  I have 2 amano shrimp, 1 siamese algae eater, and a baby bushynose pleco to deal with it, but I don't think its enough.  Its growing faster then anything can eat it.  I don't want to do a blackout again, I lost 7 cardinal tetras and an angelfish after I did it.  I think it just stressed them out too much.  Help!!

[beowulf]

How old is your light?  Maybe a second SAE might be needed as I find they are the best for it.  I had a similar issue and the 2 SAE took care of it pretty easy.

[kennyman]

Flourish excell will kill-off the bba and it gives you some extra C for the plants. It is not a long term fix but it helped alot with the bba in my brackish tank.

[CuckooJay]

  From what I understand, hair/beard algae puts down spores as it grows. Therefore, even if you remove an ornament covered in the stuff, scrape off all the algae and put it back...it'll grow back. I find that if you physicaly remove as much as possible AND add enough algae eaters to the tank you can get rid of it.

  Although SAE's are helpful, it's easy to mix them up with other fish... even the suppliers have this problem... not to mention when they get old enough, they become agressive and eat flake food. The best alternative seems to be ammono shrimp, and lots of them. Try getting more of them, as two can't really keep up. Keep in mind the idea is that they will eat the "spores" and keep it from growing back... not that they'll devour ALL of the algae.

  Alternately, try getting rid of it at the source:
      A. Water changes. I can't stress this enough. If you don't keep up on your water changes you're bound to have an algae problem.
     
     B. Old Bulbs. although they may still produce visible light for years to come, you should replace bulbs(T-8's) once every six months. At this point they're "usable" light starts depleating and cause more algae growth.
     
     C. Light Timer. Instead of "black outs" try cutting down on light time. Keep in mind that we, as people tend to get up when it's still dark out, leave for the day and stay up late. If you're lights are on as long as you're awake....that's waaaaaay too much time. Invest in a light timer. I set mine (planted tank) on for a total of 10-11 hours a day, with a break of a few hours somewhere in the middle. I do the same with my cichlid tanks for a total of maybe 6-8 hours a day. This way the light is on when you're at home (morning and night) and off when you're gone, or asleep.

     D. secondary light. i.e your windows. Close the blinds when you're away at work. Natural light is NOT good for your tank or ypur plants.

  Hope that helps...J

[lucky777]

All I can say is get some AFF's (American Flag Fish).  I had a hair algae issue in a planted tank and someone here recommended them to clear up the issue. Within minutes of being in my tank, they were eating the algae non stop for weeks and got it completely under control.
Also I thought there were really cool looking and had awesome coloration.

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Jordanella_floridae.php

[neon]

My lights are brand new, thats when my whole algae problem started.  I have the double strip coral life fixture, but I only use one of the lights because with both of them on my lighting is way to much.  I do water changes once per week religiously.  I think during my next water change I'll try and get rid of as much as I can, even if it means tearing apart my java moss and cutting back my plants.  I'll get more amano shrimp and mabey I'll check out the American Flag fish.  Thanks everyone.  Oh, and my light is on about 12 hours a day.

[mseguin]

Try CO2, in my experience even just a DIY kit helps kill of hair and thread algae.

[BigDaddy]

Your lighting IS the problem.  A 96 watt bulb over a 33 gallon tank is pretty much high light.  The reason you are getting the BBA is because you aren't adding CO2 to your tank.

Adding all the algae eaters in the world won't get rid of the BBA... you need to either downgrade your lighting if you don't want to add CO2 and ferts, or you need to get a CO2 system setup ASAP

[neon]

I forgot to mention, I am running CO2.  Its the one made by Red Sea.  Its been going for almost a month.  If I downgrade my lights, wouldn't that also affect my plants?  What should I downgrade to, how many wpg?  I was told you need about 3 wpg to decently grow high light plants.  I have 2.9 now.

[BigDaddy]

What are your measured levels of CO2 at lights on?  at mid day?  at lights off?

It is most likely that you aren't getting enough CO2 in the tank to keep the BBA at bay.  BBA in a CO2 injected planted tank is almost always an indicator of not enough CO2

[olson78]

All I can say is get some AFF's (American Flag Fish).  I had a hair algae issue in a planted tank and someone here recommended them to clear up the issue. Within minutes of being in my tank, they were eating the algae non stop for weeks and got it completely under control.
Also I thought there were really cool looking and had awesome coloration.

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Jordanella_floridae.php

I did the same, and they worked wonders.

[charlie]

What are your measured levels of CO2 at lights on?  at mid day?  at lights off?

It is most likely that you aren't getting enough CO2 in the tank to keep the BBA at bay.  BBA in a CO2 injected planted tank is almost always an indicator of not enough CO2

I`m with BD on this , i highly doubt the red sea co2 kit is producing enough co2 for that light level, like BD said measure your co2 @ lights on.
Regards

[neon]

Weird, I got 2 AFF but they don't seem to be eating the algae.  I saw one eating a blood worm.

[neon]

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you measure the CO2 level?

[BigDaddy]

Okay... well we know for sure its a CO2 issue then 

You take your pH and kH.  Then go to this page:  http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

You want your CO2 at least in the green levels anytime the lights are on...

[kennyman]

Thank you for linking us to that BigDaddy. I was in desperate need of such a page myself