Hair Algae-what's the permanent solution?

[benny]

I've got some infected mosses in the fridge for two weeks already.

Hmmm.. interesting concept.. but make sure the family knows it for the tank, not for the dining table!

Cheers,

[StanChung]

Separate fridge of course! Who wants to share space with frozen blood worms!!!

[Shadow]

Cheaper to buy new plants than new fridge

[StanChung]

Where do you hide the worms? Two fridge and still not enough space.

[wintor56]

Hi Stan,

You havent yet tried one of the best Anti Algae treatments on the market ( in my view), namely eSHa PROTALON-707.This is a Dutch product that is both Fauna and Flora friendly.It states that it is effective against 8 algae species and transitional forms. One pack ( containing bottle A 20ml and bottle B 10ml) will treat 65 gall. I have used it with great sucess.
Your LFS or LFS wholesaler should be able to get it.
Recently when I had a hair algae outbreak, after I changed my fertilisation regime,I first reduced the algae by treating all my algae infected bogwood, with moss or fissidens, with a 5% bleach solution . I found it was easier to spray it on, using a one pint plant sprayer,leaving for 2 minutes, then rinsing thoroughly before replacing in tank.Found this method to be much easier than soaking large pieces of bogwood in containers with bleach solution. Then Treat tank with eSHa product which is a 7 day treatment plan. Days 4 and 5 - no dosage.
Duckweed was also used for a couple of weeks to remove excessive nutrients in the water.( very useful in removing Ammonium)

Regards,
Des.

[StanChung]

That's great Des, however I don't think it's available here. [any importers hearing this?]

[Shadow]

Does it friendly with shrimp?

[wintor56]

Hi ,
My Amano shrimp were not harmed in any way, in the past when I used this product.
See attached URL for more info. on this and other eSHa products. ( Click on Product name)
http://www.eshalabs.com/products.htm

I removed my Amano shrimp from the Planted tank due to them eating my newly introduced mosses . So now all my different types of shrimp are in a tank of their own.

Regards,

[Shadow]

doesn't say anything about shrimp though. By the way what is "suspended algae"?

[wintor56]

Hi Shadow,

I think by suspended algae they mean " green water".
What I forgot to state in my previous post was that when I removed my Amanos from my planted tank I replaced them with red cherries which do not eat my moss. So both these varieties have not been harmed in any way. The cherries are multiplying.
I suggest you contact them directly through their contact page if you have any other shrimp queries regarding their product.

Regards,
Des.

[StanChung]

I'd use the product as a dip rather than in the tank.

[wintor56]

Stan,

This eSHa protalon 707 treatment is a 7 day treatment course and works safely and slowly, so am quite sure that a dip would not work, unless by "dip" you mean that algae infected items are treated in a different tank. I would still not favour this method as Algal "spores" would still be in the original tank/water.

Regards,
Des.

[Shadow]

algae spores is everywhere, everytime you add water you add algae spore as well, unless you add cooked water

[wintor56]

Hi,

Yes, you are right, but dont you agree, that the concentration of algae spores is considerably higher in a tank that is already infected with algae;rather than eg. tap water.
So if you are going to treat the algae with an anti algae treatment, you want to be able to kill as much algae and spores as possible, in the tank which is infected.
The most important thing is not only kill the algae but also to try and find the "cause" of the algae outbreak, so as to prevent another outbreak.
Is it due to:eg.
1) an imbalance of fertilisers
2) an excess of fertiliser elements
3) excess light
4) wrong type of light
5) not enough quick growing plants
etc. etc.

Regards,
Des

[StanChung]

It's possible it will come back but treating the whole tank will upset the equilibrium and kill a lot of the good stuff as well so i'm not gonig to do that but rather coincide the dip treament with a major rescape.

[wintor56]

Stan,

Did I misunderstand?.
Did you mean dip treatment with Bleach solution or dip treatment with eHSa?
This eSHa treatment is designed for using in the tank WITHOUT upsetting the equilibrium.

Please note, that I am in no way connected with this company, just a very happy customer.

Best Regards,

[StanChung]

Please pardon my skepticism Des,
I've never used an anti-algae product that didn't upset the balance of the tank-whether it was killing the BB-beneficial bacteria or others.
Treating it outside the tank is also for me to check if it's effective against the type of algae i'm combatting.

[wintor56]

Hi Stan,

Theres always a first time !!!!!
You might change your view about upsetting the tank balance, after you have used it.
Just quoting from the packaging :-

" Unlike many other algae treatments, Protalon-707 does not harm aquarium plants, it actually helps them grow and is safe for fish and filters"
-"Eliminates all algae"
-"Well tolerated by fish and plants"
-"Eliminates the danger of choosing the wrong treatment"
-"Prevents algae returning and maintains plants"

Note the last point.

Regards,
Des

[StanChung]

Wow, it seems like a miracle cure Des! Can't wait to get it but wait...I need a a liter of the stuff. lol. See how it goes with a small bottle on my 150 liter tank.

[StanChung]

Hello and back to my experiments.

I made a tub of diluted bleach.
-Approx 400ml clorox + 30 liters of water.
Standby
- rubber gloves
-hair algae harvested from infested tank.
-separate tub with water anti-clorine to rinse whatever was bleached.
-Got ready a clock with seconds display.

Used a tweezer and pinched some of the hair algae and waved it in the diluted bleach.

25 seconds-start losing it's colour
30 seconds-yellow green
35 seconds-light yellow [this point to be point of no return]
40 seconds-lighter
45-seconds-lighter
1 minute-pale and thouroughly bleached transparent.

So I had mosses and stuff to bleach to test their toughness against bleaching.
Ferns withstood even 1 minute.
Fissidens fontanus badly damaged after 1 minute. [i presume to be lost]
Moss ball- can withstand i minute of bleaching! Done last so may be because of weaker bleach.

In total I bleached 3 branches-[1 ft] of ferns[narrow leaf and bolbitis], about three palms of mosses/gametophytes.
They seem to be fine except for the Fissidens fontanus that started to pale a day after.
Moss ball looks fine despite a minute dip.

Notes: I presume my diluted bleach would be weaker as experiment progessed so i redo the checkpoint test again. [as predicted the time to bleach increased.]

In conclusion,
35seconds-for bath. This point IMHO would be the point that the hair algae can't regenerate-just enough kill power without killing delicate tissues of mosses perhaps.

For yourselves if you're using different brands of bleach, I recommend you do a test as to how long it takes before the algae is dead so that you can determine the point of no return for the algae. Do determine with a small portion of the plant if it can take that amount of time before you dip all your stocks in it!

Caution + Disclaimer: please take care when using/disposing household bleach. Toxic and burns skin!