Hair Algae As Carpet?

[Kittiee Katt]

Hi all, so I've got lots of hair algae in my bettas tank and was wondering if it would be a bad idea to let it grow as carpet for the tank? I've recently just finished changing the gravel out for sand (done over a two monthish period) for my usd cat, and think that the sand looks beautiful covered in the algae.

My questions are:
What are the chances of my fish getting stuck in the algae? My main concern here is for my kuhlli loaches who swim under the algae in search of missed pellets.

Is it even possible for them to get trapped in/under the algae?

Is there anything I can do to keep it off of my plants - now I realise that it's going to grow on the plants, but I'm wondering if (once I have a nice carpet) there's anything I can do to slow it down without also affecting my plants, as every day I'm pulling giant chunks of algae off of my crypts and lily, and its kind of getting annoying.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Manu8__too]

Not sure what your lighting is, but there are much better carpeting options out there than algae. If you continue to let it grow rampant, it will eventually overtake and kill (indirectly) your plants. Why not work on balancing your lights/ferts so that the algae dissipates? As for an easy carpeting plant, Dwarf Sagittaria looks nice and is relatively low demanding. The equation is simple- Either algae flourishes and plants die back, or plants flourish and algae dies back. You can't have it both ways...:

 

[Kittiee Katt]

The equation is simple- Either algae flourishes and plants die back, or plants flourish and algae dies back. You can't have it both ways...:

That sucks. I think the algae looks beautiful, more so than the plants I'm able to keep alive, but the plants are in there so the fish feel more comfortable. Hmmm.. Maybe its time to try an 'algae only' tank with a different set up.. Thanks for the reply.