Hair Algae/

hkgar · 11/08/2014, 03:03 PM

Sure seems like it to me.

PO4 .02
NO3 .75

Running GFO, dosing vinegar and have a football size Cheato ball.

Will AlgeaFix help with this. I have 3 Tangs and a Bellus Angel and non of them have any interrest in the growing algae, they just wait for there Nori strips. Maybe I should stop with the Nori and see if they become interested in the HG.

Lighting with Hydra 52's (3)
CW 65
DB & RB 100
R 15
Gr 40
V 75
UV 45

I think my lighting spectrum may be encouraging the growth and will try cutting red & green to 10 each.

Any other thoughts? I heard some good things re Sea Hares, but I also read the can release toxins if startled by fish - a purple dye.

slief · 11/08/2014, 04:38 PM

Your PO4 levels are ok but the NO3 could stand to come down.. A Fox Face or a different Rabbit Fish should make quick work of that stuff. I had a sea hare before and never had an issue. Even after it got caught in my closed loop intake and died.. I think they could be potentially dangerous in a small tank but I doubt they would pose any real danger in your 180. I'd try the Fox Face first.. They are good tank mates.

kenneth wolfe · 11/08/2014, 08:01 PM

pick all you can out by hand then with tweezers ..Kent tech M in a syringe to remaining hair..

hkgar · 11/09/2014, 10:49 AM

Kent tech M is just concentrated magnesium. Does magnesium kill algae? Maybe I should just raise my mag?

kenneth wolfe · 11/09/2014, 01:11 PM

something in tech m does it other mags don't..take it for what it is I have called kent and they cant say what it is ...the syringe is the trick and pre cleaning is a must..the direct contact seems to burn it ..turns white and then gone ..also tour clean up crew will get after it if its short and dying

slief · 11/09/2014, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkgar

Kent tech M is just concentrated magnesium. Does magnesium kill algae? Maybe I should just raise my mag?

Kent Tech M works for Bryopsis once you get the Mg levels to high enough levels but does nothing for hair algae in my experience.

fasteddie222 · 11/09/2014, 03:06 PM

I picked a lot out with my hands and have done more frequent water changes and it has seemed to have gone away. But I didn't have as much as you

hkgar · 11/09/2014, 03:23 PM

I thought I would post 3 pics of the tank so you can see I really don't have much. Just that where it is it is hick and heavy

kenneth wolfe · 11/09/2014, 04:05 PM

that sure looks like bryopsis ..

slief · 11/09/2014, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenneth wolfe

that sure looks like bryopsis ..

Looks like GHA to me.. Bryopsis has thick wire like strands and that looks like softer thin hair algae.

hkgar · 11/09/2014, 04:38 PM

Definitely not wire like strands. Here is a video

Paul B · 11/09/2014, 04:49 PM

That's nothing, this is hair algae.

Lavoisier · 11/09/2014, 05:33 PM

I love your tank...wish I lived near an ocean.

Eric45 · 11/09/2014, 05:34 PM

The key is very low PO over time and eliminating as much as is possible each time you cut it back. If there's some remaining it will very like grow back, but if you get it all (use a toothbrush) it won't usually come back in that area.

The only way I was able to eliminate it was to start feeding the fish every other day. It caused them no harm I can see and its been several months now.

11/08/2014, 03:03 PM	#1
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	Hair Algae/ Sure seems like it to me. PO4 .02 NO3 .75 Running GFO, dosing vinegar and have a football size Cheato ball. Will AlgeaFix help with this. I have 3 Tangs and a Bellus Angel and non of them have any interrest in the growing algae, they just wait for there Nori strips. Maybe I should stop with the Nori and see if they become interested in the HG. Lighting with Hydra 52's (3) CW 65 DB & RB 100 R 15 Gr 40 V 75 UV 45 I think my lighting spectrum may be encouraging the growth and will try cutting red & green to 10 each. Any other thoughts? I heard some good things re Sea Hares, but I also read the can release toxins if startled by fish - a purple dye. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels Last edited by hkgar; 11/08/2014 at 03:47 PM.

11/08/2014, 04:38 PM	#2
slief RC Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 14,173	Your PO4 levels are ok but the NO3 could stand to come down.. A Fox Face or a different Rabbit Fish should make quick work of that stuff. I had a sea hare before and never had an issue. Even after it got caught in my closed loop intake and died.. I think they could be potentially dangerous in a small tank but I doubt they would pose any real danger in your 180. I'd try the Fox Face first.. They are good tank mates. __________________ Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476

11/09/2014, 10:49 AM	#4
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	Kent tech M is just concentrated magnesium. Does magnesium kill algae? Maybe I should just raise my mag? __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

11/09/2014, 03:23 PM	#8
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	I thought I would post 3 pics of the tank so you can see I really don't have much. Just that where it is it is hick and heavy __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

11/09/2014, 04:38 PM	#11
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	Definitely not wire like strands. Here is a video __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

11/08/2014, 08:01 PM	#3
kenneth wolfe Moved On Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Galveston Co. Posts: 853	pick all you can out by hand then with tweezers ..Kent tech M in a syringe to remaining hair..

11/09/2014, 01:11 PM	#5
kenneth wolfe Moved On Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Galveston Co. Posts: 853	something in tech m does it other mags don't..take it for what it is I have called kent and they cant say what it is ...the syringe is the trick and pre cleaning is a must..the direct contact seems to burn it ..turns white and then gone ..also tour clean up crew will get after it if its short and dying

11/09/2014, 03:06 PM	#7
fasteddie222 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 710	I picked a lot out with my hands and have done more frequent water changes and it has seemed to have gone away. But I didn't have as much as you

11/09/2014, 04:05 PM	#9
kenneth wolfe Moved On Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Galveston Co. Posts: 853	that sure looks like bryopsis ..

11/09/2014, 04:49 PM	#12
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	That's nothing, this is hair algae. __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

11/09/2014, 05:33 PM	#13
Lavoisier Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 1,030	I love your tank...wish I lived near an ocean. __________________ "...for it is not necessary that these hypotheses should be true, or even probably; but it is enough if they provide a calculus which fits the observations..."--Introduction (attributed to Andrew Osiander) to On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Sphere by Nicolaus Copernicus. Current Tank Info: 600g DT, 140g sump, 200g Cryptic, 90g Refugium, 3-400w MH, 2 Reeflo Barracudas, and 3 MP60s

11/09/2014, 05:34 PM	#14
Eric45 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 725	The key is very low PO over time and eliminating as much as is possible each time you cut it back. If there's some remaining it will very like grow back, but if you get it all (use a toothbrush) it won't usually come back in that area. The only way I was able to eliminate it was to start feeding the fish every other day. It caused them no harm I can see and its been several months now.