Martin, have you tested your water (tank and make up) for phosphates? Nitrates?How much flake are you feeding your tank? I know very few people who didn't have a hair algae outbreak with a new tank but Christy's tank isn't new and it still happens to lots of other folks. I started to see some hair algae in my bow front and I added a fox face, he ate all the hair algae and calupera with in a couple days, he now eats flake, frozen, pellets (hbh breeder conditioner) and everything else I put in the tank but he still grazes all day on the rocks.
As far as food grade goes, I believe it's mainly to let people know the plastic wont leach out chemicals that can be toxic. Come to think of it I don't believe I've seen "food grade" on anything the last little while. If you want to check the container simply test your water source for phosphates and then fill the container and let it run for a couple days iwth a power head, then test that water for phospates. Don't take my rambling to mean that only phosphates contribute to hair algae though.
Doug
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