Hair algae help!!

[Davidb6]

65 reef tank completed cycling in June….went through a hair algae phase…..brown algae phase and now the hair algae is back. I know these are normal as the tank ages but the hair algae is spreading to the sand and I’m getting worried.

Only use ro/di water, 10% water change per week (at min), pull-off and vac out hair algae once per week, crew doesn’t eat hair algae, ran PhosGaurd, reduced feeding, reduced mh (2@150 14k). run a skimmer and HOB refugium - the cheato grows like weeds.

Anything else I should be checking for that may cause the hair algae???

SG – 1.025
Temp – 78
Ph -8.3
Alk -11
Am /ni / na – 0
Phos – 0
Calc – 420
Mag – 1300

[Percula9]

Try leaving your lights off for a few days. When were the lights changed last? Bulbs need to be changed every 6-8 mos.

[Aquarist007]

Getting low to zip nitrates and phosphates reading doesn't necessarily mean that they are being introduced to the system---the algae could be consumming as fast as your introducing and growing as a result.

the food---are you feeding any frozen--if so I are you rinsing it thoroughly with r/0 water before adding/

can you crank up the skimmer? How often are you changing the cup?

fuge---what is the flow rate through it---if trickling for growth of copopods --not enough for nitriate reducing cheato

have you checked the quality of the r/o water--have you changed the filters yet--6 months would be about time.

light does affect the algae to a point too---is their a window close by--with summer the angle of the sun and intensity will be higher.

[Aquarist007]

......to add---I would suggest not using a vacuum in the tank. Lightly using a turkey baster is all you need. Key aeorbic bacteria that are critcal in the nitrogen cycle are in the first half inch of the sand bed--you could be unintentionally messing with them.

While you are at it lightly turkey baste the rock once a week and direct a power head down behind the reef---get that stuff back into the water column and to the skimmer where it can be filtered out.

[rbtwo4]

Dude get a lawnmower blenny the lil s.o.b does wonders like u wouldn't believe! My blenny I call him porky cus he's a pig and eats it all! Had him for a week and its all gone now a single hair left

[cutegecko3]

live rock is like a sponge it will absorb phosphate and slowly leach it back out.so once you reduce the source the algae still has enough for a month or two.0 on a phosphate test kit is useless since they arent very accurate.all the algae needs is 0.05 ppm or above and it will spread.salifert phosphate test is noted to be accurate and can test as low as 0.00.

[Davidb6]

Thanks for the ideas and info –

Lights – have left the MH off for several days at time, also left all lights off for 1 day a week (mimic cloudy days). Bulbs are new, replaced last month.

Food – I do feed frozen every other day. I fill a small plastic cup with tank water, let the cube melt, drain all the water, refill with tank water..and add a little at a time to the tank.
Does this make sense?

I have an Aqua C Pro skimmer w/ Mag 3 and a prefilter box. This combination is supposed to be the best for this skimmer. Can’t improve.

Fuge – the flow rate is 100 gph. Tried to increase but the output tube could not handle higher water volume.

RO water – due to time limitation I very often purchase my water from a LFS. My filter are very clean but I have not tested my Ro water. What should I test the water for? My tank readings are all within limits.

Window – yes there is a window nearby. However, the window is facing north and no light enters. When I first setup (early spring) the tank light did enter for a few min in the AM…but I didn’t have an algae problem at that point. I do not get any light in the tank at this point.

I use a baster to clean off the rocks from time to time. I use my finger to loosen and algae growing in the sand and vacuum it out. At most I dig less then ¼ inch and that’s more of a spot cleaning..I don’t do it to the whole tank just the areas where algae is growing.

Blenny – I do plan on adding a blenny; I’ve seen tanks with them and your right, the sand looks great. I still need to get rid of it on the rocks as well.

Test kits – I changed out my test kits a couple months ago because they were to difficult and time consuming to use. I now have the salifert kits for most and there easier to use but the results are the same.

Should I run PhosGaurd more often and reduce using frozen foods?

Thanks

[cutegecko3]

test for nitrate,it should be as close to zero as you can get it.phosguard is a good idea but ive never used it,im using phospure ferric hydroxide and my readings are 0 nitrate,0.00 phos. thats how i finaly got rid of bryopsis,but it took several weeks.

[Sundiego]

get a sea hare...I did no more algae!

[Davidb6]

I have an abolone which loves to eat algae on the glass. However, now that my tank is aginging I'm running out of food for him. My only algae problem seems to be hair algae and the stray macro algae that finds its way from the refug to the tank.

I'd really like to find the casue of hair algae.

[Davidb6]

Any additional advise would be appreciated

[beaniebeagle]

i am starting to use the hair algae to suck up nutrients

in the back of the tank, behind the rocks, i have been leaving it there to grow while pulling off anything in the front

i have noticed a huge reduction in the amount of the hair algae on the rocks in the viewing area

its just too entertaining when i feed my fish to cut back on it

[Davidb6]

That's a very interesting approach...use the hair algae to your advantage. I found hair algae in the back of my tank yesterday and my immediate reaction was to get it out.

The most logical corrective action plan I'm hearing so far is - although my water tests zero for nitrate and phosphate perhaps my rock absorbs them and it leaches back into the tank.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

Never heard of this before but I will run buffers for a couple weeks to see if it helps.

Thanks

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Davidb6
That's a very interesting approach...use the hair algae to your advantage. I found hair algae in the back of my tank yesterday and my immediate reaction was to get it out.

The most logical corrective action plan I'm hearing so far is - although my water tests zero for nitrate and phosphate perhaps my rock absorbs them and it leaches back into the tank.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

Never heard of this before but I will run buffers for a couple weeks to see if it helps.

Thanks

the hair algae is probably consuming the phosphates ect as fast as they are being produced or supplied---so you won't get a reading on them when you test

[Aquarist007]

re using frozen food---get a small brine shrimp net--let the frozen thaw out in there and rinse r/0 water through there a couple of times--then feed.

[Aquarist007]

re phosban reactors--they are cheap enought --buy two

one for phosban medium

one for carbon----in a phosban reactor the water is forced through the carbon rather then letting it pass around like in a bag in the sump--much more effective. Carbon will reduced dissolved organic compounds.

with running both of these you should see a noticeable difference in water quality in 24 hours.

[Aquarist007]

re vacuuming the substrate:
stir it lightly like you are doing but don't vacuum it---direct a power head and the circulation over it will be all you need for getting the stuff back into the water column where it can be filtered out.

[Aquarist007]

another method that has not been suggested due to the size of your tank is to add a yellow tang----my yellow tang ate every spec of hair algae I add when it blommed 8 mos ago and have not seen any since.
Perhaps someone you know will lend you a yellow tang until it cleans up the hair algae?

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Davidb6
That's a very interesting approach...use the hair algae to your advantage. I found hair algae in the back of my tank yesterday and my immediate reaction was to get it out.

The most logical corrective action plan I'm hearing so far is - although my water tests zero for nitrate and phosphate perhaps my rock absorbs them and it leaches back into the tank.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

Never heard of this before but I will run buffers for a couple weeks to see if it helps.

Thanks

actually it is naturally how algae blooms when your tank cycles--die out----they eat up all the nutrients in a new tank.
running them in a controlled area does help keep nitrates down

the danger at this point (not the cycling period) is that the extra phosphates are coming from somewhere other then the curring of the live rock---so you should look into finding out where they are coming from--which you are doing an excellent job at right now
I still stand behind the suggestion of rinsing the frozen
and adding the two reactors.

[Davidb6]

capn_hylinur…I really appreciate the great info and help.

I’ve thought of a yellow tang but I’m really concerned about getting it out of the tank. I have to move my tank in a few months and I’m actually thinking of upgrading to a 90 just so I could keep the tang.

I’ve never considered at a phosban reactor but that looks like a great idea and potentially a very low cost solution. I have used a Mag350 canister filter to run PhosGaurd but I’m sure more water gets around it than through it.

I think your right, the only other source of nutrients has to be the frozen food.

Is there any possibility that excess nutrients can come from a (3 gal) HOB refug? It has slow water movement (100 gph) and has Fiji mud, cheato and pods.

[Aquarist007]

[i]
Is there any possibility that excess nutrients can come from a (3 gal) HOB refug? It has slow water movement (100 gph) and has Fiji mud, cheato and pods. [/B]

definetly if you don't harvest the cheato occasionally--the cheato can become the producer rather then the consumer of the nitrates

you are in a bit of a quandry like I was----i was going to crank up the flow through the fuge but I wanted the variety of life back in my tank that it produced-------this is why I went to the phosban reactor for carbon and phosban rather then increasing the flow through the fuge

[Harry_Fish]

I let mine grow to suck out the phosphates, then clipped and scouped it out.

Then I Vodka dosed it (1 ml per 25 gal)

That cleaned it right up!

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Harry_Fish
I let mine grow to suck out the phosphates, then clipped and scouped it out.

Then I Vodka dosed it (1 ml per 25 gal)

That cleaned it right up!

mmmm 1ml per 25 gal---75 gal tank--3mL---what happened to the rest of the shots.

[Davidb6]

"Vodka dosed"...sorry, what do you mean by Vodka dosed?

[Harry_Fish]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
mmmm 1ml per 25 gal---75 gal tank--3mL---what happened to the rest of the shots.

I saved it for the Fish

Now the Whisky is a different story.