Beeker

I am getting really irritated.

The green hair algae is driving me nuts!

I have been pulling and pruning and OH MY GOSH MY PLECO JUST CAME OUT!
He is swimming around the bottom! I wonder what he is doing. I just did the water change a little while ago. OH WOW! He just stuck himself to the glass! Hehe! Now he shimmied over to the other side and is on the glass there! Hm. Now he is on the bottom and is hiding under the plant. But he doesn't usually come out when the lights are on! This is strange. It has been about 3 weeks that I have had him and I guess he is finally comfortable with his new home. Oh I'm so giddy now!

Sorry, where was I?
Oh, yes. The green hair algae. The snails aren't eating it, nor is the pleco. It is starting to choke my plants. My Tiger Lotus bulbs are getting covered with it too. I just took a toothbrush to one of them and the algae is really on there good. It is tough stuff. I've tried Florish Excel and it doesn't seem to be making a dent in the stuff. It used to work, but now nothing. Could it be old lighting? I am getting to the point where I want to strip everything out and buy new plants and ornaments and start over. But then my tank would recycle. Please,

MissMTS

What kind of pleco do you have in the tank? As far as algae eaters go bristlenose plecos, otos, and siamese algae eaters seem to be the best out there. There are also many treatments for algae including soaking your plants and decor in a bleach solution (it sounds like a pain, but it would be better than starting from scratch). Here are some good links about algae treatment. I hope that they help

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/...ommon-Types/3/

Beeker

Thank you, MTS.

I have a clown pleco. I wanted a Bristlenose but they didn't have any at the store. So I bought a woodchomper instead. I am so surprised that he is this active today. This is the first time. He is still out, swimming around exploring. My platies don't know what to make of him. The don't know where he came from. I guess they didn't know that he was in the tank with them.

MissMTS

After you have plecos for a while they tend to get more comfortable with their surroundings and come out a little more. I have an Imperial King Tiger Pleco in my community tank and I was lucky if I saw him once a week. During the past month I have seen him lounging on the driftwood almost every day! I have one pleco in my 80 gallon that I am ready to get rid of though. I NEVER see him and I have had him since probably April. He is 5 inches long and produces a ton of waste. The only time I see him is when I move the driftwood around to vacuum. What is the point of having a fish with a huge bioload if you can't see it, lol.

Beeker

I was starting to consider bringing him back to the store because I never saw him, and he wasn't eating any of the algae. But, now that he is out more, and starting to feel more at home, I would feel guilty uprooting him again. I'll keep him. But I still need something to tackle that green hair algae. The toothbrush method doesn't work too well. And in my goldfish tank I need some brown and green spot algae eaters in there. I don't have a clean up crew in that tank, only very large goldfish.
Any thoughts?

Also, in those links, it says that some European aquarists use the green hair algae as a food supplement for their fish. What fish like to eat it? One also mentions adding potassium. I am not familiar with that.

MissMTS

I am not familiar with the food supplement, but you can get a potassium supplement. Seachem is a good line of liquid ferts to use in planted tanks. Here is their potassium supplement:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ry~FWPCLF.html

Also, I think that any of the algae eaters above would do a good job eating the green and brown spot algae.

Good luck with your tank, and let me know if I can help any more

Peterpiper

If the globes in the lighting unit are more than 1 year old then the light spectum will be going into the red. When this happens the algae will start to grow. So replace the globes every year.
Check the food that you are feeding, some contain phosphates, try to find food that is phosphate free.
Check that the filter turnes over the total water volume 4 x per hour.
What areyour readings for nitrates and phosphates?
How long do you have the lights on for?
Is the tank near a window?
Pete

Beeker

Thank you, Miss MTS.
You are always very helpful.
I'll look into the Ottos and SAEs. That should work for my 20 gal., which has the green hair algae.
I have to wait until spring to get the pleco. (I want one for my Goldfish tank too.)

Peterpiper,
Thank you for your info. So far, I have no nitrates, I suspect the plants and algae are eating it all. I bought the pleco to eat the algae and help raise my nitrates a little. How many people are trying to RAISE their Nitrates?! I've been monitoring them over the past couple of weeks. I know the tester worked properly because I was getting a normal reading on my other tank.
My phosphate level is about .25.
My filter is rated for a 30 gallon tank. It is on a 20, so I know that is fine.
I had heard that about the lighting, and yes, my bulbs are on the old side. I will try changing them. I have them on for about 14 hours. The tank is near a window, but I am only getting green hair algae, the green spot is minimal, and there isn't any brown, so I don't think it is due to the window.

ER9

dont feel bad. i bought a bristle nose the other day. i saw him for a few hours the next day but havn't seen him since. i was really getting woried and was ready to tear my tank apart to search for his dead body when i realized, the far end of the tank where no one hangs out has clean glass. it was really brown and dirty looking so i know he's alive and kicking somewhere.

i wish i could help on the hair algae problem. unfortunatelly though i'm going through algae blues myself except with me its diatoms.

one thing i notice that you mention is your lights are on for 14 hours. all the people iv'e tanked to have told me that depending on your wattage of light per gallon, generally speaking, you will want to minimize the photoperiod to discourage algae. for example it was recommended that i keep my lights on for no longer than 8-10 hours at 2wpg. i adjusted them back from 12 hours to 8 and saw a big difference in the anount of algae i had and how fast it regrew.

also one other thing i'm learning from experience is that filter recomendations are set to tanks with no live plants and normal bio load of fish. if you have a moderate or heavy planted tank and fully stocked or overstocked you cannot go by the filter specs on the box. generally speaking we need WAY more filter. i have been reviewing the specs of guys who are very good at keeping planted tanks...the ones we drool over. one thing i'm finding they all have in common is a massive amount of filtration. some guys are running three+ filters that are way more powerfull than the tank size recommendation on one tank.

Peterpiper

I would start with changing the globes and cutting back the amount that the lights are on to 10hrs.
Have you checked your tap water for phosphates?
If there is phosphate in the tap water, you could run some phosphate remover in cheap filter while you are preping the water.

Butters

maybe you could get a small colony of amano shrimp? I have just recently got 3 of these little guys and I've noticed that my plants are basically free of long strands of hair algea. The only algea left is on the filter and little strands that build up on the glass which I whipe off every now and then.

ER9

thanks....i have three myself but unfortunatelly they dont eat diatoms/mulm or greenspot. my three last issues. currently have three amano's, 2 cherry and one crystal shrimp, two otto's and a bristlenose. i'm sure without them things would be alot worse than they are.

Beeker

Last night, before I went to bed, I checked my Pleco to see what he was doing. I was very pleased to see that he was going to town on that green hair algae I have. He was hopping around one of my ornaments trying to find more. It was so wierd. He was actually hopping around it.
That ornament is almost clean. I hope he finds the other end of the tank soon, before the algae chokes off my other plants. It's great that he is taking care of the algae. I don't have enough room to set up another tank to split the population of this one and add the otos.
Now, to my 75 gal. Do Bristlenose Plecos need caves and hiding places too? I don't have many hiding places in my 75 gal, because there are only goldies in there, but I need a Bristlenose to clean up the algae in that tank. Should I buy a few caves for it when I get it?

ER9

yes definatelly plus some driftwwod for their cellulose needs.