I have had a large growth sprurt of green hair algea all over my tank (walls, sand, and rock). I did a water change and cleaned it all out and a few days later it started growing all over again. Does anyone know why it starts up so quickly, grows so fast, what causes it, and how to get rid of it?
green hair algae
- Thread starter nkeller
- Start date
mr_o98
Premium Member
It is caused by high nitrates & phosphates. Do frequent water changes and pick it off of the rock by hand. Pull it off and put it in a cup of freshwater and move your fingers around in the cup to get all of it off of your hand. Then repeat the process 100x over. Empty the cup when full, rinse and add new water. The reason for this is if you let a few strands stray in your tank they may take root somewhere else. Getting rid of hair algae is a long and arduous task. It may take several weeks to several months to completely eradicate it.
Wett Hands
New member
Look into getting a RO/DI unit to remove impurities from the water. Also take a look at feeding habits. Uneaten fish food could be the cause.
Good luck
Good luck
Southern Boy
New member
How new is your tank? How new are your bulbs?What kelvin bulbs are you using and what kind of clean up crew do you have?
drummereef
Team RC
How old is your tank?
Do you use RO/DI or tap water?
What are your nitrates and phosphates testing?
Do you use RO/DI or tap water?
What are your nitrates and phosphates testing?
When I was getting my tank ready for fish I had a nasty outbreak of hair algae. I let it go. I let my lights stay on for 12 hours a day and let the algae grow. Once it has used all the phosphates and once your tank finishes cycling the algae will die off.
I had the hair algae for about 2 weeks or so. After that it took a week to almost totally die off. Now I don't have any hair algae in my tank.
That is what worked for me, it may or may not work for you. It may be worth a shot though.
I had the hair algae for about 2 weeks or so. After that it took a week to almost totally die off. Now I don't have any hair algae in my tank.
That is what worked for me, it may or may not work for you. It may be worth a shot though.
ludnix
New member
After a few weeks of starting my tank there was a large outbreak of hair algae. It was probably caused from me starting with tap water. I switched over to DI water after realizing my mistake and did a few water changes the next few weeks. I then did a blackout for 3 days by leaving my lights off and putting a sheet over the tank. This mainly clears up smaller algae but it managed to help weaken and kill the hair algae. After the black out I manually removed as much as I could and now I only have a small amount on my rocks and none seems to be spreading anymore.
