Back again

[Hell Fire]

Well im back after months of having a on off working PC lol1 Also been out the country for a while over to Canada!
My loaches are all doing fine, my band of 5 Zebra loaches are as naughty and up to tricks as always, and ive also got another band of 5 loches in another tank (4 tanks all in all)
Im just having one prob in one tank with hair algy!! Its high Nitrates but ive tried everything and nothings working!

[mikev]

Nothing worked here either. Filtering out the phosphates slowed its growth to more manageable, but I could not totally clean it. Nitrates do not seem to be relevant in my setups, even getting them under 10.0 did not have any effect.

The worst part is that it eventually spreads to other tanks unless one keeps the infected tank under strict quarantine rules....

[Rocco]

Try getting a siamese algae eater to clean it up. I hear they like hair algae.

That is if you don't mind having a utility fish in with your loaches.

[Emma Turner]

Welcome back, Hell Fire! Glad to hear the loaches are all doing well.

Have you measured the phosphate level in the tank with the hair algae problem? I'm betting it's off the scale. If you haven't already done so, get yourself a phosphate testing kit, and if the reading is high, start adding a phosphate removing resin to your filter (e.g. Rowaphos) and if the tap water is high in phosphates to start with, you might want to start using RO water for your water changes too.

Emma