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hair algae control
FORWARDED MESSAGE:
>Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 14:17:45 -0800 (PST)
>From: Roxanne Bittman <rbittman at spock_dfg.ca.gov>
>To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
>Subject: hair algae control
>
>Hair algae:
>I am no expert, but I have experience! I had hair algae, which I call the
alga
>which likes to grow at the base of plants, especially Echinodorus sp., and
other
>rosette forming species (like Isoetes). It forms cottony masses and can be
>removed with a toothbrush. It's hard to get it all this way though. Here
is a
>prescription that may work; it worked for me:
>
> 1. Monitor how much Fe (iron) you are putting into the tank. If the
conc. of
>Fe is high in the water column, hair algae will be very happy. I like to
keep
>the concentration at less than .15ppm. I measure using LaMottes test kit,
which
>seems quite accurate, since I have compared it to Hach's spectrophotometer
>readings using their test (and it compared favorably - within .05ppm). If
you
>don't want to test, just try cutting back on any iron supplementations to
the
>water.
>
> 2. Maintain a population of siamese algae eaters of at least one/gallon.
They
>help a lot; I have tried tanks with and without them, and now I am a
believer!
>
> 3. Use ghost shrimp, or other shrimp that are available for freshwater.
They
>seem to like algae (but will eat fish food if provided). Keep them hungry
for
>awhile after introducing them. They only last one month for me. I just
replace
>them. I use about 1/gallon. No problem with using more.
>
> 4. Mechanically remove as much as possible to help out the process. Use a
>toothbrush; it works pretty well. Unfortunately, I sometimes end up
uprooting
>delicate plants (such as small Echin. tenellus or Eleocharis acicularis)
in the
>process. Shrimp are more gentle.
>
> This should help; I got rid of my hair algae this way (I am sure it is
still
>around in some incipient state, waiting to pounce once again once
conditions are
>favorable!).
>
> Roxanne Bittman