# hair (?) algae on plants. should i get snails?



## Jamila6452 (Nov 3, 2014)

I've noticed a green haze in my tank, and on closer inspection, it looks like long strands of algae. It's mostly on my (overly long) narrow leaf ancharis and floating anubias. There's basically just a big green clump now along the back wall of the tank. :-? There is nothing on the walls or the substrate. I've been limiting the light to about 7 hours but it seems to have no effect. 

I'm thinking of getting a snail or two to fight it. Would that work? Any recommendations on what kind to get or where to get them (online store, ideally)? 

Thanks!


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

A photo will help confirm what algae it is but *if it is hair algae don't bother getting an algae eater for it. *Nothing will eat hair algae, snails eat diatoms not hair algae, big difference. Hair algae is caused by: too strong a light, light too close to the tank, and/or light being on too long each day. What light are you using? give watts and kelvin, as well as distance between the light and substrate. Is this tank somewhere that gets direct or indirect sunlight? How long was your tank light on before reducing the hours?

Hair algae is a pain to deal with. 3x doses of Seachem Excel every day for a week or more can kill it (will turn pink-ish white) once the issue causing the algae is addressed. Its best to remove it by hand/tweezers/chopstick in bulk then dose excel to try to kill the rest (I use a needle-less baby med syringe to dose right onto the algae). A hydrogen peroxide dip of plants can kill any leftover threads BUT anacharis does not like dips.


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## Jamila6452 (Nov 3, 2014)

I forgot to include pertinent details that it's a 5g cycled tank with one sole betta (no tankmates)



Aqua Aurora said:


> A photo will help confirm what algae it is but *if it is hair algae don't bother getting an algae eater for it. *Nothing will eat hair algae, snails eat diatoms not hair algae, big difference. Hair algae is caused by: too strong a light, light too close to the tank, and/or light being on too long each day. What light are you using? give watts and kelvin, as well as distance between the light and substrate. Is this tank somewhere that gets direct or indirect sunlight? How long was your tank light on before reducing the hours?
> 
> Hair algae is a pain to deal with. 3x doses of Seachem Excel every day for a week or more can kill it (will turn pink-ish white) once the issue causing the algae is addressed. Its best to remove it by hand/tweezers/chopstick in bulk then dose excel to try to kill the rest (I use a needle-less baby med syringe to dose right onto the algae). A hydrogen peroxide dip of plants can kill any leftover threads BUT anacharis does not like dips.


I'm attaching pictures. Ugh, thanks for letting me know that snails don't eat hair algae. I'm definitely not sure that's what this is, so please let me know what you think.

The light is a 10w CFL (equivalent to 40 watts), at 6500k temperature. It hangs about 18 inches above the substrate. It was on a timer for 10 hours a day from when I first got my plants (early December) until about 2 weeks ago when I noticed the algae and cut it back to 7 hours. I've also left the light off entirely a couple of days. It does get indirect sunlight during mostly the same hours the lamp is on, but interestingly that light is coming from the right side of the tank and it's really the left side that is most affected. 

I've heard Excel will wipe out Subwassertang, which I've been diligently trying to grow for months, so that's not great news, but I'll do what I must. Maybe I can remove it to its own little bowl during the treatment. 

(the light was moved closer, right above the tank, to see the details better in these pictures)


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

I had that in my tank. The snails didn't touch it and I ended up just trimming everything that had any on it.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

10 hours + indirect light sounds like the culprit. Having the light off won't stop growing the algae unless you can put the tank in complete darkness (cardboard box?) for several days but it won't kill all the algae.
Yep thats green hair algae. I've never kept subwassertang to know.. I know vals melts in an instant with excel though =.= For safety Take out the subwassertang and inspect it thoroughly for hair algae, remove all you can find then deal with the tank while its in a separate bowl. For the tank remove manually as much as you can and either do the seachem excel dosing, hydrogen peroxide treatments, or both.


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

I've had a small struggle with both green hair and brown hair algae recently. I don't have the Subwassertang, so I can't speak for that, but I do have Anubias and other assorted plants that stand up fairly hardily towards the Excel. I started dosing every other day with Excel, then I got my new lights in and started over lighting my tank at the same time I ran out of excel and in a few days it BLOOOOMED all over my tank lol. I just finished cleaning my tank, took all the plants out and scrubbed the leaves gently, and spread some of my Excel that just came in on the leaves... then put the tank back together and went "GAAAAHHH HOW DID I MISS ALL OF THAT!?" 

So now I'm waiting for daily doses of the Excel to kill it off and then I'll rinse the plants again... and back down to 7hrs of light a day instead of 12+ lol

I can say tho that MOST plants stand up to the Excel pretty well, and even the Anacharis which is most often "melted" by the excel can handle smaller doses, every other day, and sometimes if you slowly increase the dosage, it can handle it. Sometimes, depending on the health of the plant. I have not heard anything about the Subwassertang tho. 

But, I've never had a problem with the hair algae while I was daily dosing with Excel, it was only after I stopped using it when I ran out that I got growth. I can't say enough good about Excel vs Hair Algae

Doesn't help too that I got my new lights in, at the same time we started getting copious amounts of daylight (17+ hours and gaining every day), as the same time I tipped over my Excel refilling my drip bottle... lol


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Even Seachem admits Excel will kill Anacharis. It's the reason I don't use it. I have Narrow Leaf Anacharis in all of my tanks and also Subwassertang. You could remove the Anacharis and and Subwassertang and clean them by hand and dose the tank with Excel. You could put those plants back after the algae is gone and you've done several water changes. I haven't experienced Hair Algae since.

Florida/American Flag Fish and Rosy Barbs love Hair Algae; unfortunately, they can be very nippy. :-( Plus, they get too big for a five gallon.

A safer alternative to Excel, IMO, is hydrogen peroxide at 2ml per gallon. Turn off filter, spot treat the algae, leave filter off for 30 minutes. Repeat three days in a row. This will also kill BBA (Black Brush/Black Beard Algae).

However, you need to figure out why you got Hair Algae in the first place. If it comes back after you stop using Excel there's an imbalance you need to address.


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