duboisi Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 my son has a community tank with guppies,platys,neons and a bristlenose.he keeps getting a growth of hair algae all over the tank is there any fish that will eat this and are compatible with his fish.thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurohige Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Siamese Flying Fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duboisi Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 Siamese Flying Fox so they will eat the long algae over an inch long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Cherry Barbs and American Flags do a great job of eating hair algae. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurohige Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 so they will eat the long algae over an inch long? If they're over an inch long, why dont you remove them by hand ? And let the fish munch on the bits left. Get your hand in the tank and get wet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mianos Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Yes they will eat the long strands of it. They literally rip mouthfulls of it off. In my experience SAE are the only fish that will clean up the long algae. That stuff is very hard to mechanically remove as it's firmly held to the leaves (like super glua) and it's slippery. SAEs mow it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Another option is to do a double dose of seachem Flourish excell...works a treat at killing hair and BBA (and even knocks off green spot and dust algae on glass if you spray it on when doing a water change). Be careful though, some plants dont like the double dose (namely vallis). Mike ps. if going for the SAE option make sure you get the genuine SAE, the flying fox (which is different) looks very similar but wont eat your hair algae as effectively as the true SAE. Use this link as a guide, print it off and take it to the LFs with you. http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurohige Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 True SAE: - Black strip all the way to the tail - Eat hair algae - A couple dollar more expensive False SAE: - Black strip stops just before the tail - Dont eat hari algae - Cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duboisi Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 thanks heaps for your replies i will go and hunt down some sae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Humble balck molllie (livebearer) also makes a surprisingly good contribution to eating hair algae... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 also a true SAE will have a clear dorsal fin and only 2 whiskers and a lighter top part of the body as they have been cross bred with flying foxes you can find varients with the black markings on the tail. Note the picture carefully - anything different its probably not a true SAE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10050460 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 do you have your lights on alot? if so this could contribute to the continuing of hair algae. if you have lights, how old are the tubes? any tubes that have been used for 12 months or more will make hair algae grow much faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fishy Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 do you have your lights on alot? if so this could contribute to the continuing of hair algae. if you have lights, how old are the tubes? any tubes that have been used for 12 months or more will make hair algae grow much faster. Lighting output reduces with lamp age. Algae need light to grow. I thought that algae growth would be less with older lamps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10050460 Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 do you have your lights on alot? if so this could contribute to the continuing of hair algae. if you have lights, how old are the tubes? any tubes that have been used for 12 months or more will make hair algae grow much faster. Lighting output reduces with lamp age. Algae need light to grow. I thought that algae growth would be less with older lamps in a way you are right about light output reduces with age. but the intencity is lost and it does not allow the plant to do the photosynthesis crap thing efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJ Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 hi i have beard/hair algae in my krib breeding tank aswell and i remove it by hand with a magnetic cleaner. it is a very helpful tool to use. fishkid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnesy Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I dont know if this is hijacking, but is this hair algae bad for the tank. Im trying to grow it on the back of my tank. I like the look of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyr Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 my BNs eat my algae hair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleV Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 hair algae is fine to grow in your tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbulb Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Had an algae problem few months ago, use to settle on the top of the watr surface and on the orniments in the tank. Went to LFS they recommended Green X and amonia balls. This seemed to fix the problem. Also have BN and algae eating loaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 You can thin out most algae by just leaving the lights off for a few days. The comment on old lamps is correct. It's not so much the reduction in luminance output, it's the spectral output change as the lamps age. The lamps stop / reduce output in some parts of the spectrum and increase in others and voila - algae. Cheers - Ozi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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