Hair Algae with T8s?

[LancsRick]

Ok, struggling to get this under control so I've been reading up on hair algae.

Tank is a Trigon 190, T8 lighting with reflectors, not dosing any carbon (gas or liquid). Lights are on for 8 hours a day.

My flow isn't great, and something I'm sorting out in the next week or two. I'm also intending to get some Oto's in the tank.

Hugely surprised that in such a large and deep tank, with T8s, I'm having issues due to too much light vs CO2.

Cheers for any advice!

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
Hair algae is no stranger to non-enriched tanks, especially if the tank is new and the if the plants are having difficulty transitioning to submersed. Blackouts, spot treatment using Excel, hand removal using a toothbrush can be employed. Rosy Barbs, Mollies and some types of shrimp such as Amano can help.

Cheers,

 

[LancsRick]

Cheers ceg, I was hoping you'd post in here.

My plan of attack is:

- Reduce lighting duration to 6 hours
- Introduce Otos (or will they not eat hair algae? I could go for Amano's if needs be). Would Cherry Red be a good option? I have some in another tank...
- Hand removal

I'm trying to avoid Excel as I really don't want to go down the route of harsh chemicals if I can avoid it at all.

Sound sensible approach?

 

[CeeJay]

Hi all

My plan of attack is:

- Reduce lighting duration to 6 hours
- Introduce Otos (or will they not eat hair algae? I could go for Amano's if needs be). Would Cherry Red be a good option? I have some in another tank...
- Hand removal

These steps will all help you in your battle, but you are correct in assuming Oto's won't eat the hair algae, they are generally used for diatoms in a new set up.
I had heard Amano's might eat the stuff, so I stuck 6 in a shrimp/moss tank I'm running, where I get one or two strands every couple of days. They don't touch the stuff . Maybe I've got fussy one's or maybe just the wrong type of hair algae .
If you don't plan on going down the CO2 route, I would consider ditching the reflectors too.
I ran a 95l no CO2 tank for three and a half years on a single 20w T8 tube with no reflector, just to see if it could be done. I had very slow plant growth, but not a drop of algae in sight . That was a seriously low maintenance tank.

 

[LancsRick]

Thanks CeeJay. It's a 190l tank, so even with 2x 18W T8 + reflectors, I seem well under any wpg recommendations. Given the depth of the tank (2 feet), would I be best off keeping one tube running WITH reflector, so as to maintain the intensity to reach the bottom of the tank, and remove the other tube, at least until I have the algae under control?

I'm going to my LFS later, so as well as the Amano I might see what Mollies/Rosy Barbs they have going.

Huge thanks for the advice guys, I thought I would be spared this particular pain with going low tech!