anti hair algae

[ahmiao]

Anyone use this b4?any comments?






credit to http://www.toppetshop.co.uk

Hair Algae is an unsightly nuisance in the aquarium. It will grow on any surface and quickly prevents plants from flourishing. Hair algae thrives in an aquarium that has excess light and nutrients. Hair algae comes in many colours including green, black and brown.

Interpet Anti Hair Algae helps to control hair algae returning your aquarium to its former glory.


1 Effective new active ingredients

2 Harmless to filters and all species of fish and plants


Size = Treats 225 litres (49.5 gals)

[Aeon]

Trust me, no algacide can solve algae problems and they will harm fishes and plants. I did some research after using JBL Algo, although it killed my algae I suspect it caused the slow death of my glosso.

[geoffrey]

Ah Miao,

Focus on growing plants instead of fighting algae. Most people I come across, including myself when I first started, who have algae are usually those who still believe in the old doctrine of PO4, NO3 and Fe limitation to fight them. These people would perform water checks with test kits 3x weekly instead of fertilising their tank at that frequency.

The very fact that PO4, NO3 and Fe are nutrients needed by plants, the mere act of limiting them will inhibit their growth, an advantage for algae to grow. Algae (but not BGA) are plants too, if an algacide kills algae, it will hurt if not kill, a plant too.

[wks]

Learn to live with algae, they are part of nature. Anti-algae chemicals never solve the algae booming problem, they only destroy your planted tank.

[loupgarou]

this anti algae doesn't work on bba.
tried it.

in fact, I've tried alot and the only time I had success was with azoo algae treater...thereafter the mutant bba in my tank gain immunity to it...

[Plantbrain]

The main thing I got out of trying a dozen or so products, about a loss of close 200$ over the years. No money back guarantee, no nothing.
It caters to desperate folks, not solving the issue.
And now they have your money

No plant grower worth their salt would use these products.
Some folks think of it like just a quick fix to get them "over a hump", but that hump is CO2, NO3, K+, PO4, GH, Traces. Take care of those and there is no hump and no new algae growth.
A trim, cleaning, water change and adding the nutrients back afterwards goes a long way.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[greenie]

Agree with plantbrain on this one. Actually what aquarist shld do is to look at the water column for No3,phosphate,potassium and to some extent micronutrients like iron and magnesium.

If I have an algae infestation in my tank, rather than panic and buy anti-algae product, I would check my N03 levels. If levels r acceptable then check for phosphate levels. High phosphate levels is usually the culprit. Do take note, in your quest to lower down pH using those liquid solution, u will increase your phosphate bcoz some of this solution contents consists of phosphate. Ok for bare tanks and not ok for planted ones.

So understand the relationship of C02,light intensity/duration and the macro/micro nutrients require for plants to photosynthesize and outcompete algae for them, then u will understand why those commercially available products r useless and a waste of your money.

[PeterGwee]

Excess phosphate does not cause algae.. It is a lack of something else that is causing the real issue.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Aeon]

Rather than say the lack of something or the excess of something. I feel it's the balance of something.

And this balance take experience and knowledge to attain, which I'm still so green. so I'm here learning from the experienced.

[geoffrey]

[quote:5ce43948cf="PeterGwee"]Excess phosphate does not cause algae.. It is a lack of something else that is causing the real issue.

Regards
Peter Gwee [/quote:5ce43948cf]

I agree.

[budak]

Aeon, with due respect, I am afraid it's nothing to do with any mythical "balance". It's just that in a situation where every nutrient is present in sufficient levels except for one (typically N, P or CO2), plants are unable to grow optimally, and algae get a leg up as a result. That's why there is such concern over the lack of these nutrients when plants are not thriving.

[Plantbrain]

Excess is anything over the needs/demands of the plant or algae.
I figure 1.0ppm of PO4 is way over the needs of __any__ algae.
My water is around that on any given day.

I think CO2 is the first thing anyone should look at and then the nutrients but I don't even bother if something is suspect after thoroughly checking the CO2.

I just do the prune/clean, filter clean and 50% weekly water change and add the nutrients back in.

Takes the same amount of time to do the NO3 test as it does to do a water change.

CO2 is the key along with having enough NO3. These two more than any others, will causes issues for folks and algae.

High fish loads, stunting/stalled plant growth, NH4 accumulation, not doing large water changes afetr large prunings, cleanings also will causes issues.

Adding K+, PO4, traces is pretty easy and they can have wide ranges with no ill effects in many tanks as long as plant demands are met, but no NO3 and poor CO2 will cause mayhem.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Aeon]

The balance I was referring to is the proportion and the relationship of the various nutrients needed by plants and all living organisms in the water.

[budak]

Aeon, I think it's not possible to achieve such as balance in reality. Each plant species probably has its own optimal "balance" of nutrients, with which it will grow optimally. Some plants are very N or K hungry, while others like higher Fe or Ca/Mg levels. The concept of balance is thus less useful than simply maintaining enough of each nutrient so that ALL macrophyte plants in the tank will thrive (at the expense of algae).

No malice intended - I just would like to tighten up some fuzzy thinking which may not really help in tackling this algae/plant growth issues.

[crandf]

I wonder if its possible for timed drug-release technology to be used in fertilizing. You know, the types using osmosis pump mchanism, encapsulated microspheres, etc. Each fertilizer capsule could be tailored to have high/med/low diffusion rates of certain macro/micro nutrients, and the consumer can buy whatever is needed or mix combinations to achieve the desired fertilizer concentration levels in the water. And perhaps the pump mechanism types can be recharged by placing in concentrated fertilizer solution?

The holy grail IMO would be a mechanism to accurately and dynamically alter the diffusion rate to maintain a manufacturer-defined concentration level. The osmosis pump types seem to have promise, but I think that is several years down the road still.

[Aeon]

Ok

[blurrblurr]

if the tank turn whitish chalky color does it means algae are dead?

[asherloy]

I was recommended JBL anti-algae for removing my black hair algae. It's growing all over my java moss. Anyone has used it and does it help? Of course going to plant more plants to fight the algae and dim down the lights a little.

But I made a mistake of having loaches and headstanders which really digs up the plants causing the aquarium to cloud. Now I have a problem catching them in my 6 feet tank.

Any advise will be appreciated. Thanks!

[stormhawk]

I think spot treatment with Seachem Excel should be a better choice where BBA is concerned, but be very careful with overdosing it.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...l-algae-2.html <-- the discussion here might be helpful.

http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/ <-- this blog is a very good resource on the types of algae we encounter, their root causes and remedies.

As for your fish, catching them at night by using a torchlight might help. For the loaches, the only method would probably be to trap them with a plastic bottle. There are sufficient DIY articles on the web for you to reference, along with videos, on how to make the trap.

[dc88]

I had a recent encounter of HG bloom.
This was after renewing the light (after 3 years !!!) and replanting (disturbing the gravel without massive water change).

Solution I took :

- Major water change (50%) weekly (prep with Seachem Prime & EQ)
- Dose NPK and trace (Flourish) at ~half strength of EI recommendation.
- Up the CO2 to near the max level (CO2 checker with 4dH water -green-yellow; tank water adjust to 3~4 dH to prevent PH crash)
- Add Flourish Excel daily at the recommended dosage (2.5ml/100l)
- Add H2O2 daily at 2.5ml/100L

Do this for 2 weeks for far, HG starts turning white.....still monitoring
I may stop the H2O2 and bring the EI dosage back to normal level.