how to get rid of both staghorn and green hair algae

[ah^siao]

i got both the algae in my tank. how to get rid of them? it's just a shrimp tank housing crystal red. thanks

[XnSdVd]

Stop feeding your shrimps. They'll take care of the problem.

[ah^siao]

even i stop feeding for 1 week, they still don't eat eat up hair and staghorn algae

[PeterGwee]

Pick on them and trim them off. Remove all traces of it as much and make sure whenever you uproot the plants do a large water change after it. Keep up on the nutrient dosing/CO2 and the algae should not come back. Make sure plant biomass is high or else add more cheap plants temporarily and pack them in.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[valice]

peter,
when u say nutrient dosing, do u refer to any specific component? NPK? If using Flourish, will OD of it help to remove green hair algae and green spot algae, while keeping CO2 level high...

sorry for hijacking the thread...

[DEA]

staghorn = manual removal
only species that removes it is homo sapiens
good luck

[StanChung]

i gather as much...
a real pita to remove from moss. i heard blackout is useless against this kind of attack. i'd been removing clumps of W. moss. heartsick because they cost a bomb...
green hair algae? other than shrimps...what is coursae of action. this prob happened when i upped the lighting by a mere 12 W. so i presume there's imbalance. fixed it but the GHA is still lingering...other than manual removal is there any course of action? will blackout help?

[xxdivinityxx]

Peter,

As we all know, the lack of nutrients is one of the factors for algae.
Seeing that c02 is a constant of 30-45ppm,

What nutrients are missing when hair algae appears?
I know BGA is due to N03, Green Spot is due to P04, or rather the lack of these nutrients.

So what's staghorn and GHA caused by?

[PeterGwee]

It gets pretty hairy when something becomes limited (you miss a couple of dose or when the CO2 goes downhill.). CO2 is critical no matter what if you use it. None of the nutrients would do much if the CO2 is limited.

If you have staghorn, you likely stir up something pretty good and did not do a large water change or clean the tank well enough after that. The NH3/NH4 spike will trigger it. It will hang on in the tank for a while if you do not go after it. Whenever you see algae, go in and remove every trace of it and correct the conditions. It should not come back if the nutrients/CO2 are good coupled with high plant biomass.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[xxdivinityxx]

It gets pretty hairy when something becomes limited (you miss a couple of dose or when the CO2 goes downhill.). CO2 is critical no matter what if you use it. None of the nutrients would do much if the CO2 is limited.

Thanks for the prompt reply peter,
question is, i know it occurs because something becomes limited,
question is, i can't seem to pinpoint what it is.
C02 is perfect, i haven't gotten any algae since day 1 apart from green dust, which after sessions of weekly water changes, is slowly fading away.
Only the GHA seems to be prevailing, or rather, only that one small tuff, the size of a fifty cent coin.

Thing is, before i manually remove it, i'd love to just know what nutrient was lacking which causes it. Food for thought no?

[|squee|]

Traces, Ca, Mg, CO2 again? Check and recheck

[StanChung]

It gets pretty hairy when something becomes limited (you miss a couple of dose or when the CO2 goes downhill.). CO2 is critical no matter what if you use it. None of the nutrients would do much if the CO2 is limited.

If you have staghorn, you likely stir up something pretty good and did not do a large water change or clean the tank well enough after that. The NH3/NH4 spike will trigger it. It will hang on in the tank for a while if you do not go after it. Whenever you see algae, go in and remove every trace of it and correct the conditions. It should not come back if the nutrients/CO2 are good coupled with high plant biomass.

Regards
Peter Gwee

i'd say you are right... on all terms.[co2 is high 30ppm]
what a not very smart person like me did...other than the 12w increase

removed plant mass to 2/3rds of tank.[for other tank]
stirring up the place without big WC.
accidentally left lights on 24 hrs[caused BGA to spread]
[presumed PO4 bottommed out and NH4 skyrocketed]
+ Anti biotics to treat BGA knocked out both canister filter bacteria.
NO3 bottomed out.
=mayhem
lucky thing all fish and 1 shrimp survived...

moral of story...don't do this at home kids...

[barmby]

i got both the algae in my tank. how to get rid of them? it's just a shrimp tank housing crystal red. thanks

Tricky business! Shrimps react poorly to CO2 surge. First one to die. Especially you are keeping these exotic beautiful high maintenance crystal red shrimps.

[ah^siao]

that why i do not dare to do anything drastic. no huge water change. i stop on my fert regime. wad is the minimum i should add.

[shaman]

I use seachem flourish exel. Overdose 2 times, the hair algae will drop off and you can remove it. My tiger shrimps are fine with the dosage.

[StanChung]

is that the same as upping the CO2?

[PeterGwee]

Not too sure about the killing ability of excel on green hair algae but almost all algae hang on for dear life once induced. Removal is the simple most effective way of radicating them followed by correction of tank conditions (prevents them from coming back.). Its plain elbow grease work that gives you a nice tank...don't expect wonders from products or algae eating critters.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[StanChung]

... i'm gonna be old going thru a kilo of moss...