Hair algae overload!

Hello everyone,

Newish aquarium owner here and I’ve got a problem in my tank with what I believe to be hair algae (I’ve attached some pictures).
I have a 64 litre tank, amoneia level is 0 and nitrate 5. I have a interpet cartridge filter which is cleaned and replaced every water change (every 3 weeks). The temp of my tank is around 23 degrees C. I have a bubble air stone in there as well. I don’t have any real plants as they just kept dying on me or my fish were ripping them to shreds.

In my tank I have:
2 blue guppy
4 neon tetras
2 mollys
4 platy/swordtail cross’s

If I clean everything in the tank, scrub it clean and replace the water and filter the algae is returning again within 2-3 days and it’s taking over the tank! Can anyone advise what I can do or what I’m doing wrong to be getting it?
I’ve tried the hair algae additive for the water as recommend by my pet store but this has only made a mild difference. Any advice welcome! Thanks.

 

So this is just my 2 cents and experience I've had combating the stuff over the years.

Hair algae is really common with new setups. It sounds like you are cleaning the fish tank repeatedly which is probably killing or damaging the healthy bacteria you have in the tank, especially within the the filter media...that's the primary location your healthy bacteria will grow and live.

The healthy bacteria as well as any actual live plants will eventually out-compete the algae for resources if cared for properly. Also what kind of light do you have? How long is it typically on a day? Heavy light ( or sunlight especially from a window ) will make your problem waaaay worse as well. Try reducing the amount of time the light is on during the day. Also, to combat this in a well established tank, I had success with reducing the amount / intensity of light as well as issuing 3-4 blackout days ( covered tank with a towel to allow zero light into the tank. ) Fixed the issue for me. Good luck!

 

The tank is near a window so does get direct sunlight. I do have lights that are built into the tank and I have them on a timer they’re on from 9am - 9pm daily.
I didn’t even put 2 and 2 together that the light may be a factor! I’ll try some blackout days like you suggest and see if that helps.

 

For sure, I could almost guarantee that the amount of light is your problem. I reduced mine to 6 hours of light for a week after the blackout days and gradually brought it back up to 8 after that, which allowed time for the plants to recover from the blackout days.

Keep in mind sunlight is incredibly strong and will cause that algae to make a comeback faster then anything. Another solution is maybe adding a background? I paint my tanks black that are in front of a window which does the trick. Let me know how it goes!

 

Agreed with the above. However it's a little hard to tell but that looks more like Black Beard Algae to me.

 

Yup. BBA you are gonna want some co2 or hydrogen perox 3%