Hi! I have this 50g tank with 4x36w light and pressurized c02 system. EI based ferts dosing with CSM-B and is been doing quite good for 4 months now:


That was its pic 2 weeks ago...before severe hair algae took over the tank. For a while I thought it already reached its so-called "balanced" state, plants growing lush and healthy, but I made I mistake(s) of:

- overfeeding
- not removing dead fauna
- delayed trimming of plants
- experimenting with diy c02 (4L setups, not the common 2L yeast reactor)


Reading from lots of articles/threads about hair algae, the common suggestions are increasing c02, manual removing as much of it as possible, cut back on fertz...and these is what I'm doing now. I already purchased a drop checker and am trying to keep it on green-yellow green status (using 4dkh solution). Tried manual removal of hair algae, using common toothbrush, but I think it's not efficient for I can't make a visible deduction of total hair algae mass. Made a major trimming of stem plants for better circulation and reduced dosing of fertz to half. Black mollies, sae and otos aren't helping either.

Now my question is, am I on the right track? If I continue to 'over' dose on c02, how long till I can see visible progress? Will these strands of algae just wither away? or they'll just 'be gone' after a while? I know patience is a must in combating this but at least I've to know if I'm doing right and what to expect. Thanks!