White, wispy hair algae

Hi all,

Tank info: 10 gal, 1 betta, heated (80), filtered, cycled (0, 0, 10), 1x/week water changes.

Plants: 3 swords, java fern, anubias, buce, dwarf sag, crypt wendtii, dwl and salvinia on top. Nicrew RGB Classic Plus, raised above tank 4-5", 6 hrs light per day (3 on, 4 off, 3 on). No natural light. Flourish tabs every 3-4 months, Thrive by NilocG 1x/week. No CO2, low tech.

Java fern has been afflicted with this white hair algae for some time. I reduced lighting to 6 hrs per day and raised the light so it's not top strong. I got full coverage of floating plants on top.

Everything else seems to grow fine but java fern has given me such a hard time. It was growing fine when I first started the tank last September, even growing faster than I had anticipated. Then this started happening.

I added new ones and took out the algae ridden ones, and same thing happens over a period of a week or two for the past 4-5 months.

I remove as much as I can with a bottle brush but it keeps coming back then it gets tangled on the roots of the floating plants, and some on the swords.

Should I have gotten the Nicrew Sky LED instead? Maybe the RGB is too strong?

Any remedies?

 

Can you turn the RBG lights to a lower intensity? Java did not do well in my tank with 8.2 pH. Everything you are doing seems inline.

 

When you have an imbalance with your planted tank its natural to jump to assuming that you have too much of something but that may not be the case. Sometimes you can have too little as well. It looks like you have a really nice balance of root feeders and column feeders in your tank, which is awesome. However, I feel like you have too little nutrients and light. Your java fern pulls exclusively from the water column and your swords need long light durations. What's happening is that algae is outpacing your java fern because it only gets fed once per week. It likely uses all the food you give it within a day and then the algae has all week to chill out and soak up the rays. Algae doesn't need to have a balance, itll take advantage of any little imbalance and takeover the most vulnerable plant.

Here's what I would do. Remove the java fern, do a peroxide rinse with 3ml peroxide per gallon of water, gently scrub the leaves, and replant it. Up your light to a full 8 hours per day and dose niloc 2x per week.

I know it seems counterintuitive to dose more and not less but you may as well try it. I'm running a high light planted tank set up with only a small bit of diy co2 and its been a big learning curve but I'm starting to see results. My biggest mistake so far was automatically lowering my light when I had a nutrient imbalance. I switched to 6 hours and my water went green. It turns out I just didnt have enough plants. By switching to 6 hours I basically stopped my plants from making full use of the nutrients I gave it and got a huge algae bloom.

Good luck!

 

When you have an imbalance with your planted tank its natural to jump to assuming that you have too much of something but that may not be the case. Sometimes you can have too little as well. It looks like you have a really nice balance of root feeders and column feeders in your tank, which is awesome. However, I feel like you have too little nutrients and light. Your java fern pulls exclusively from the water column and your swords need long light durations. What's happening is that algae is outpacing your java fern because it only gets fed once per day. It likely uses all the food you give it within a day and then the algae has all week to chill out and soak up the rays. Algae doesn't need to have a balance, itll take advantage of any little imbalance and takeover the most vulnerable plant.

Here's what I would do. Remove the java fern, do a peroxide rinse with 3ml peroxide per gallon of water, gently scrub the leaves, and replant it. Up your light to a full 8 hours per day and dose niloc 2x per week.

I know it seems counterintuitive to dose more and not less but you may as well try it. I'm running a high light planted tank set up with only a small bit of diy co2 and its been a big learning curve but I'm starting to see results. My biggest mistake so far was automatically lowering my light when I had a nutrient imbalance. I switched to 6 hours and my water went green. It turns out I just didnt have enough plants. By switching to 6 hours I basically stopped my plants from making full use of the nutrients I gave it and got a huge algae bloom.

Good luck!

Tysm for this detailed response! I wilwill def try it. I'll up it to 7hrs then 8.

 

I would try the extra nutrients also. Maybe give them a little boost with another squirt of Thrive 1/2 way through your week. Maybe try the lights first for a bit then add more ferts. Plants are never a cut and dry, this size fits all. Its trial and error and research. Good luck!

 

I would try the extra nutrients also. Maybe give them a little boost with another squirt of Thrive 1/2 way through your week. Maybe try the lights first for a bit then add more ferts. Plants are never a cut and dry, this size fits all. Its trial and error and research. Good luck!

Thank you so much! I'll need to add more root tabs for my root feeders as well!

It sure does take patience...

 

I forgot to mention, there are some species that will eat hair algae.. amano shrimp are excellent for this and American (Florida) flag fish are as well. The flag fish will occasionally eat live plants but it seems they only do that if they're missing things from their main diet. I'm gonna be ordering 2 females next time I get the chance, along with a couple nerites to clean my glass

 

I forgot to mention, there are some species that will eat hair algae.. amano shrimp are excellent for this and American (Florida) flag fish are as well. The flag fish will occasionally eat live plants but it seems they only do that if they're missing things from their main diet. I'm gonna be ordering 2 females next time I get the chance, along with a couple nerites to clean my glass

I had 3 amanos before I got my betta. After, he kept terrorizing them and they ended up passing away. Could have been my low ph of 6 as well. I had an airstone running to keep it stable at 7.0 or so but took it out for floating plants. My kh is 3 or so and gh at 8-9. That's even straight out out tap. Tap ph is 7.5 though.

Would a nerite eat it also? I was thinking of getting one but would the ph be an issue for their shell?

 

I had 3 amanos before I got my betta. After, he kept terrorizing them and they ended up passing away. Could have been my low ph of 6 as well. I had an airstone running to keep it stable at 7.0 or so but took it out for floating plants. My kh is 3 or so and gh at 8-9. That's even straight out out tap. Tap ph is 7.5 though.

Would a nerite eat it also? I was thinking of getting one but would the ph be an issue for their shell?

Yea you won't be able to keep snails in ph under 6.5 and nerites wont eat the hair anyways, they'll just clean your glass. It's pretty much just gonna be certain species of fish and shrimp that'll eat hair algae. Even the bladder snails in my tank don't seem to like it