Quote:
Originally Posted by fishsuse29
Can you explain this more? I am in a similar boat 0 nitrate .001 phosphate but still have hair alage issues. (Tank has been setup for 8 years) wouldn't increasing nitrates make the gha grow faster?
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Your tank is more mature then most so it can be a little different.
For newer tanks, low nutrients blocks the good algae and bacterias to thrive. Things like cyano and dinos love low nutrients because they can out compete the good stuff when a tank is young and not as diverse.
My general rule of thumb, no matter tank age, is 2-5ppm nitrates and .03 or even a little higher for phosphate.
If you are having hair algae in a more established tank, you might need to check your clean up crew and source water. I've always used a short spine urchin when I had GHA pop up in older tanks. Mexican Turbo snails can also help but they've been hit and miss for me.
You may want to a "deep clean" on your tank with a 30% or so water change. Get a power head and blast all the rocks. Vacuum the sand. Get any built up crap out of there and then change the water.