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Hair Algae
Roger,
>
> Second, one of my kids has a 10 gallon tank lit with 1 15 watt GE PL/AQ
> bulb (on for maybe 18 hours/day)
Bring the light down to 12hrs/day. Anything more than 12hrs. is of
questionable benefit to plants.
and a little north light;
Consider blocking this light if the above doesn't help.
UGF, no
> fertilizer, no CO2. She probably changes about 30%/month but she's a
> little erratic that way.
Have you checked for phosphates in your tapwater? Could be doing more
harm than good. If the water is OK, change it more often. 25%/2 weeks
has worked fine for me.
She keeps a moderate fish load; a few danios
> until they all dropped off at the age of 2 1/2 years, and now no danios,
> but 6 juvenile tiger barbs and a dwarf frog. She has C. wendtii, A.
> barteri nana, H. polysperma, hornwort and (here's the problem) *lots* of
> hair algae.
All these plants should do fine on only 12hrs/day at your light levels.
> I've seen hair algae in similar tanks in sunlight, but never before with
> only 15 watts of normal flourescents. She puts a reasonable amount of
> effort into the tank. Any ideas how she can keep the hair algae down
> without even larger applications of elbow grease?
>
Try ghost shrimp if you haven't already. They will eat some types of hair
algae quite aggressively. Some stores keep them in the back because they
are sold as feeder shrimp, so ask if you don't see them. 2 shrimp per
gallon would be a good number to start with.
An SAE would probably magically solve this problem, but you will need to
find a young (i.e. small) one or it will be cramped in 10gal quarters.
Good luck and please tell the list how you solved the problem.....if you
solve the problem. ;-)
-Eric