lyndatu

Hello

I have a 20-gallon freshwater plant tank and I'm planning to redecorate it a bit to make it look more beautiful. I'm dying to have some Java Moss, but found nothing in the stores. But I found in the LFS a tank filled with hair algae. I was wondering if it is safe to use it in my tank. Is it ok?

Thanks in advance!

capekate

Have you talked with Dino or Chief Water Changer? They have java moss.

lyndatu

Sorry, but I forgot to mention that I live in the Philippines! We don't have money for shipping. But thank you very much for the kind offer.

Is hair algae ok to substitute Java Moss?

Thanks in advance!

capekate

opps that would be a LOT of shipping charges! Its hard to know where someone lives without the flag of the country under the member name.
I hope someone can answer that for you. Since I always try to get rid of algae and not keep it, I have no idea for you.
Im just wondering if keeping the hair algae, will it quickly spread and take over and leave you with a mess to clean up?

Fishies-for-me

I personally would not use hair algae.. I have had fish get caught in it and die. It grows real fast and will not stay where you want it...It has a rought texture to it that kinda snags things. I have had both adults and fry get caught in it...some I have rescued in time and others died when they could not move.

sirdarksol

I have inadvertently used hair algae to decorate an aquarium (I got tired of shearing it off every month, and my shrimp like the stuff), and it looks kind of neat, but it is really uncontrolled, and can jam up equipment if it grows too long.

lyndatu

Oh, hair algae sounds dangerous! I better stay away from them. Thank you very much for the replies! Extremely appreciated it.

Brackish_zygote

Don't be afraid of hair algae, but do be cautious. If you really want to, you can make it work. I haven't tried it in a fish tank, but the way it grows in my pond couldn't please me more. The main thing about hair algae is knowing how to control it. My pond is roughly 700 gallons, and there are at least 15-20 gold fish living in it. The goldfish are what I use to keep the algae in check.

However, without the goldfish, the algae would be a huge mess. The other thing to worry about is algae messes with the pH of the water, too.

gremlin

The algae grows like mad in my pond too. The goldfish and my algae eaters kept it non-existent in my main pond all summer. Now that the algae eaters are in their winter tank, the moss is starting to grow again. The other day I brought in one of the rocks from the waterfall that had a huge clump of moss on it. Put it in the tank and it looks awesome! Of course, after two nights in there, it is only half the size it was (munch munch) but that's why it is in there. I think it would probably work as long as you kept it fairly short so the fish can't get tangled in it. My fish are all quite large, and they love to eat this moss, so i don't have to worry about my fish getting caught in it.