# Hair or beard algae ..help



## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

Evening all,
Wondering if anyone can help me move in the right direction. I upgraded from a 20 to a 29 gallon about 3 weeks ago. Dirt substrate with PFS top and planted
my Diandra, Wisteria, aponogetons, baby tears and wentii reds. My lighting was at 82 watts total but it seemed i was getting a decent amount of algae. So i reduced the lighting to 
52 watts. I have DIY co2 and dose Seachem flourish every day at about .3 ml. 

My question is i am getting some serious beard or hair algae on the crypts. Not sure on how to combat this. I had the algae with the 82 watts and dropped it to 52 to see if it would stall its growth.
I litely feed 2x aday the fish and the lights are on for 10 hours a day. 
I was reading someone started doseing with flourish excel and the algae all went away. 
What im wondering is....
1. Should i dose with excel since i already have the DIY co2.
2. Will dosing with excel hurt anything and can i dose daily with it. 

Here are some pics of the algae on the crypts. There is a little on the aponogetons, baby tears and diandra but not like the crypts.

Any advice out there on how to get this under control.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Could just be a simple matter of too much light. Try dosing with Excel and it will kill the BBA. Your ferts may have not been enough with that much light also.

52W may be good. 52W of what type of light? How long are you leaving it on for? May try cutting back to 3-4hrs for a week or so and see if that doesn't help. No blackout necessary.


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## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

Jr the lights are the spiral CFL and are the more white ones. I think they are like 5700k, they are not the 2700k which are a more yellow color. 
With the florish i was going off the bottle with this math. Its states 5ml per 60 gal so that would be 2.5ml per 29 gal 1 or 2x a week. So i split the 2.5ml over 7 days which comes to .35-.4 ml per day. So i dose .4 per day. 

Jr so are you saying maybe up the dosage to 1ml per day or so. 

On the Excel,.. how much should i dose with to 
1. Kill the algae 
2. and also to be benificial to the plants.

Am i able to dose Excel and florish or would it have to be 1 or the other.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello jeff...

Interesting tank. It looks complicated. I'd be confused too. Your plants don't look healthy to me. Sand isn't the best substrate for plants. It's difficult to keep clean, so you can have water chemistry problems. It compacts and doesn't allow for water flow around the roots, so no nutrients get through.

You have algae problems, because you have too much light. Research the plants you have and provide the proper amount, but no more. Get some "Ramshorn" snails into the tank. They'll clean up the algae.

CO2 is nice, but is just another thing to maintain and it isn't necessary. If it was a requirement for aquarium plants, then everyone would have to use it.

Flourish Excel is pricey and not good for all aquarium plants. It contains an industrial form of carbon that's used to sterilize medical instruments. Doesn't sound like something you want to put into your tank.

All the "bells and whistles" you have are great if you know what you're doing, but for the rest of us, all that extra chemistry stuff is confusing and can take the fun out of the hobby.

The simplest avenue is more times than not, the best.

B


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

> Sand isn't the best substrate for plants. It's difficult to keep clean, so you can have water chemistry problems. It compacts and doesn't allow for water flow around the roots, so no nutrients get through.


That is a misleading statement. I have sand in all my tanks, even one that is heavily planted. Pool filter sand doesn't compact like most sands and isn't hard to clean. With heavy root feeders you just need to add fert tabs under them and they will grow nicely. Most stem plants take their nutrients from the water column so its best to fert both ways.

Co2 depends on lighting on whether you need it or not, and with him having that high of lighting it actually is needed. 

Yes you can add excel with diy and with flourish ferts. You would need to dose everyday for it to do much good as it dissapates within 24 hours.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

susankat said:


> That is a misleading statement. I have sand in all my tanks, even one that is heavily planted. Pool filter sand doesn't compact like most sands and isn't hard to clean. With heavy root feeders you just need to add fert tabs under them and they will grow nicely. Most stem plants take their nutrients from the water column so its best to fert both ways.
> 
> Co2 depends on lighting on whether you need it or not, and with him having that high of lighting it actually is needed.
> 
> Yes you can add excel with diy and with flourish ferts. You would need to dose everyday for it to do much good as it dissapates within 24 hours.


Hello susan...

It's not often we get to talk about tank keeping. I'm talking about what has the best chance of working for the the common plant and fish keepers. Sand isn't bad at all if you keep fish that prefer it. Sand is likely fine for those with the experience to use it. Most of us average tank keepers would have more success with plants if we use gravel.

Fert tabs are fine, but aren't as easy to dose as liquids. Liquids are very simple and work well for most of us trying to have success with growing something green.

CO2 is a nice perk, but not many have the money to spend on it and the "do-it-yourself" is a set up for failure for most of us. It may be easy for those of you who have been at this for years and maybe we look into it after we get the hang of the basics. 

Anyway, enough of the soapbox. Maybe our experts could help us out by leaning a bit more toward the basics, so we can get a grip on the hobby and less dangling all the neat "bells and whistles" involved in tank keeping. Maybe you're already do this and I've missed out.

I've been at this hobby for several years and you guys lose me a lot of the time.

Just a thought or two to consider or not.

B


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I didn't see anything complicated about adding some liquid ferts and having DIY CO2. If that is complicated....I feel sorry for whoever thinks that. It's all about what you can handle and what you want....not always about minimum need. I really hate that idea for any hobby.

ADA, which sells top of the line stuff for plants in tanks, sells sand. Sand is perfectly fine for plants. As long as the roots can move through it freely, it is fine. Sand definitely meets that requirement.

Cryots don't always do well with Excel if you're adding a tad more to kill some algae. Usually ok for normal dosages. I would not plan on trying to kill the BBA on the Crypt leaves. Even if you kill it, those leaves will never be the same again and you're better off cutting them off and letting new ones grow. I also noticed some of the leaves are damaged, for whatever reason. Once leaves become damaged like that they are compromised and usually a welcome target for BBA. Keep the leaves perfectly healthy and you'll have a better shot at keeping the BBA away. I usually double dosage for about 1wk to kill BBA and only use if I have some pop up.

Also...don't let anyone sell you against using CO2. If anyone ever says that, it usually means they have not experienced its use and seen what it can do for your plants. Keep going like you're going and when you're ready to step up to pressurized, let me know.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Also...don't let anyone sell you against using CO2. If anyone ever says that, it usually means they have not experienced its use and seen what it can do for your plants. Keep going like you're going and when you're ready to step up to pressurized, let me know.


I think it's just a matter of personal taste. CO2 can really help to get faster plant growth and a certain look but I've seen plenty of naff tanks with it and jaw dropping tanks without. Those who love CO2 love it, and probably always will, I don't particularly love it. I've tried both ways and I am not running CO2 on any of my tanks now. I would't argue with anyone who wants CO2 but I think it's good for people to know the options. On this tank it would probably be a good addition.


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