Hair Algae - what eats it?

[wowza]

Hi,

I'm having a hard time controlling hair algae. It is growing all over the java fern and creating a big fuzzy mess. It is starting to spread to the other plants now.

I may have too many nutrients in the water etc, but I don't have time to monitor the water parameters and such. I would much rather have some living thing eat it instead.

I have an SAE, and it does not even go near the stuff. I also have a few unidentified snails that don't eat it either.

Since my tank is only 20 gal, I can't add too many plants, otherwise my fish will have no swimming space.

Anyways, which animal is the most effective in eating this type of algae (besides the florida flag fish)?

My LFS has some Caridina Japonica (Amano Shrimp) in stock. I'm thinking of getting a couple. I've heard conflicting stories about and their ability to eat the stuff. I've also heard that ghost shrimp may eat it as well. Can anyone with these types of shrimp confirm that they will eat it?

Thank in advance.

 

[Locust]

I'd try either more frequent water changes or changing out more water then you currently do. I would check your Nitrates before & after you do a water change.

You might try not feeding your SAE for a few days. The SAE probably just likes eating fish food more then it likes hair algae.

 

[TaffyFish]

Nasty stuff! I had the black hair algae in my 10g on java moss and anubias nana - I trimmed the moss as much as possible, cut out the worst infected anubias leaves, then upped the water changes. I also used Interpet Anti Hair Algae Control about 3 weeks ago - so far so good!

 

[wowza]

BTW, I change out about 25% of the water every weekend. It could also be that alot of the fish food goes uneaten - the water current pushes the food down to the substrate.

Anyone on the shrimp issue?

 

[pablo111]

HELLO!

Hair algae can be eaten by a lot of fish- Amano Shrimp (Cardina japonica) are the best. Dwarf Gouramis, Mollies, etc will also eat it. Plecos may not.

Alternatively you can scrape it off with your fingers.

If its the black stuff, nobody will eat it, you will have to remove it by hand, and do more frequent water changes to prevent a return attack of it.


SAE's are ****. GAE's are better but they still aren't as good as amano shrimp.

 

[bobHE]

i picked up a moonlight gourami the other day for guppy fry population control. as a nice surprise he has been snacking on the hair algae that has infested my foxtails and java moss. i've heard other gouramis may do they same. like you, my lfs is getting some amano shrimp which are supposed to be good for hair algae. going to pick some up to see if they work, hopefully casper the gourami won't eat them. i'm figuring since they are supposed to be 1.5-2" that won't happen but you never know.

 

[wowza]

I've tried to clean up the stuff as best as I could with my hands, however, sometimes, the algae is stuck on the leaf so bad that I end up pulling the plant out as well.

Since I don't mind a little of the hair algae, I just need something that will keep it in check. Right now, it's just growing and spreading out of control.

Which do you think contributes less to the bioload? 1 moonlight gourami or 2 amano shrimp?

Reason I'm asking is because my platies have overpopulated the tank....

 

[bobHE]

i would think 2 shrimp vs the gourami if the algae is the main problem. if overpopulation is more a concern you could get the gourami, mine loves guppy fry, and see how he does on algae. you'll find differing views on the amount of bioload that shrimp contribute. i've heard anywhere from that they don't contribute at all to that they are to be counted fully as fish for bioload. big range. probably somewhere in the middle, not as much as fish but definitely not zero (if it eats and poops, it contributes). when i really had a problem with hair algae and staghorn algae i ended up taking the plants out and giving them a good cleaning along with changing just a little bit more of the water once a week. this has kept the algae down to a manageable level, i think it tilted the scale back in favor of the plants. keep us updated on what works for you. if my lfs has the shrimp like they say they are going to today then i'll be getting some and let you know what they do for me and cleaning up my java moss/hair algae entanglement.

 

[wowza]

I'll try the shrimp and see what they do. Hopefully, they still have them at my LFS.

 

[bobHE]

just picked up 10 of the little buggers, went to town on the algae right away. casper the gourami has swam by them a few times and not showed any interest, yet let you know what things look like in a week.

 

[wowza]

Originally posted by bobHE
just picked up 10 of the little buggers, went to town on the algae right away. casper the gourami has swam by them a few times and not showed any interest, yet let you know what things look like in a week.

That's good news. Thanks for the update!

I didn't get time last night to pick up the shrimp, but I will do it as soon as I get off work!

I'll post an update and let you know how it goes.

 

[agroRisco]

Use AlgaeFix !!!!!

I had The same problem.

 

[wowza]

Originally posted by agroRisco
Use AlgaeFix !!!!!

I had The same problem.

I don't know what this product does to plants a planted tank, but adding chemicals will be my last resort.

Thanks.

 

[wowza]

Okay, I picked up 3 Japonica shrimp and dropped them into the tank....

the result was.....

nothing.

Well, I guess they are not used to the surroundings yet, but they don't seem to be doing anything. After about an hour, they disappeared under the driftwood.

One of them was actively wandering around the tank stopping every so often to do something. I'm not sure what it was doing but it looked like it was picking stuff up with it's... uh... claws? Funny thing is that I couldn't see it pick up anything.

I'll have to see after a week if they actually eat the algae.

bobHE, do you have any update on what your shrimp are doing?

 

[HanshaSuro]

Wowza, if the little pincers are flying around by their mouths, they are eating. You may not be able to see what's going in there, but they're doing their job.

Also, if you have lots of algae in the tank, you will find that the shrimp are less rushed to get to eating it. Mine did not start getting to business until a significant amount of the algae was removed by me. Once they sense that the food is going away, they will be much more active in eating what they can.

My tank is now down to scraps of algae only and the shrimp are in constant motion trying to find any to put away.

 

[bobHE]

Yeah, the initial reaction I got was full out war on the algae, tons of eating and activity, but as the days have gone by they are doing the hiding thing more and more. I'm hoping they come out soon 'cuz they are neat to watch. Funny side note, I've noticed that the fish in the tank are now eating the algae themselves more than in the past, maybe they sense the competition for total food resources in the tank?

 

[wowza]

Since I have to do a water change tonight, I will probably remove most of the hair algae off the leaves...

Hopefully, this will get things going.

 

[wowza]

Originally posted by HanshaSuro
Wowza, if the little pincers are flying around by their mouths, they are eating. You may not be able to see what's going in there, but they're doing their job.

Also, if you have lots of algae in the tank, you will find that the shrimp are less rushed to get to eating it. Mine did not start getting to business until a significant amount of the algae was removed by me. Once they sense that the food is going away, they will be much more active in eating what they can.

My tank is now down to scraps of algae only and the shrimp are in constant motion trying to find any to put away.

Thanks for the information. I will keep this in mind :^)

 

[Lotus]

The same thing happened with my otos. I had a lot of brown algae, and they weren't really cleaining it that effectively. I cleaned some up myself, and now the tank is algae-free (almost). I also did some other stuff like add a new bulb and check CO2 etc.

 

[jimboston]

One thing I recently discovered is a great tool for cleaning hair algae is large bamboo cooking chopsticks (you have to be proficient with chopsticks already). You can easily grab and remove hair algae from both sides of broad leaved plants in one go, and it tends to clump as you go. Use bamboo (no lacquer, or good luck you won't get anything!). I find it faster and more effective than anything else I've tried.