Hair Algae or what else could it be....Please help!

Cleanuup · 10/27/2017, 06:30 PM

My current water parameters are as per today Oct 27/17 testing done 6:30pm-6:50pm:

- 90 Gallon Tank with 20 gal Sump water changes every 2 weeks to 2.5 weeks at 20-25%
-6 bulp ATI Sunpower (5 Blue+ and 1 coral+ running from 10am to 7pm) and 1 reefbrite from 3pm to 10pm
- 2x MP8 and 1050gal/hr DC return pump
- Bubble Magus Curve 5 Protein skimmer
Temp: 76.5 F – 78F
Alkalinity: 5.7 (Salifert)
pH: 8.25ish (Salifert)
SG: 1.026 (refractometer)
Calcium: 400 (Salifert)
Mag: 1290 (Salifert)
Nitrate: 2 (Salifert)
Phosphate: 0 (Salifert)
Amonia: 0 (Salifert)
-Using Rodi water and Water circulation is very good. Aquaforest reef salt in a box
- Filter floss in overflow changed every 4-5 days, filter floss in bubble trap changed weekly
-Dosing 2 ml Alkilinity 1x/day and 5ml Nopox 1x/day
-1 DIY Cheato reactor 24 Hrs for the last 3 weeks
-1 Ultra High Capacity GFO (Phosfiltrum) in a bag approx.. 75g for 1 month now had Chempur blue running in a bag in media reactor previous month.
-Added chemiclean approx. 2 months ago for red slime algae had 3 or 4 25% water changes since then
- Fish seem ok but hungry as of late really reduced feeding…..3 clowns, 2 wrasses, 1 yellow tang, 1 yellow spot sand sifting Goby , 1 Mandarin Goby, Two Anthiest,4 blue Cromis, 1 Yellow belly Blue Tang, 1 Blood shrimp, 2 Peppermint shrimp, Hermit crabs approx. 12 dwarf , 1 large, 5 Turbo snails, 1 anemone crab(recently lost a lawnmower blenny and a sea hare within days of each other and only had for 2 weeks)

Corals are dying and getting choked out

Please let me know if any other info is required and thanks in advance for any help....Much appreciated.

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mcgyvr · 10/28/2017, 05:42 AM

Turn your blue channel way..way down or off and repost pictures.. ID pictures taken through a Windex bottle just do not render colors properly and color can be very important for proper identification..

Also please state how old the tank is..

Are you reporting alk in meq/l or dkh? because its either really low or really high..
Also... stability is key to coral success.. so make sure you are keeping your parameters stable..

But I'm going to assume your alk is 5.7 dkh and as such its really low and you need to slowly increase it (baking soda is fine) at a rate of about .5dkh a day or so until its at least 7.. but if its meq/l then its way high and you need to stop with the dosing.. From what I see in those pictures is few corals so I'm not sure why you are dosing now anyways.. and might be changing my mind thinking your alk is too high..
Please check/read here for about the recommended ranges,etc....
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

The alk is likely your problem for sure..

oh and I would be cautious of running GFO and/or chemipure blue as your phosphates are low already and too little is just as bad as too much..
You do seem to have an algae issue though so you have phosphates.. Just be careful and don't overdo the phosphate media..

Cleanuup · 10/28/2017, 06:49 AM

Yes my Alk was measured in dKH so 5.7 dKH...sorry about that....it is equivalent to 2.05 meq/L.

Reef brite was off, those are my ATI's on

Thanks for your help

Timfish · 10/28/2017, 08:36 AM

I would start feeding your fish more. In my maintenance business I stopped worrying about PO4 and nitrate years and years ago and it was gratifying to see this video posted online by one of Reef Central's sponsers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRIKW-9d2xI
At the 9 minute mark Dr. Ross references this study http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journ...imate1661.html done by researchers at Southhampton University in England. The gist of it is if corals don't get enough PO4 the photsynthetic effeciency of zooxanthellae drops and they start producing sulpholipids instead of phosholipids which really screws up both the zooxantheallae and coral and they become very sensitive to changes in temperature and light. A follow up study showing phosphate limitation promotes bleaching by the same researchers is available here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...7301601#bb0310.

One of the surprises when I started looking into the role of PO4 was most of the oceans' volume is around 2 mg/l PO4. Algae will drop surface PO4 levels away from reefs to .7 - .2 mg/l but to get really low levels it takes coral reefs with the average on reefs .13 mg/l but just a few drop it below .05 mg/l. The corals are literally sucking it up for their zooxantheallae.
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...67063799000424

And I agree you need to raise your alkalinity but I would hesitate to say it's the main cause of your problems as one of the most pristine reefs in the world sits at 5.5 dKH and I've personally seen corals happy at levels as low as 3 dKH. Raising your alkalinity is called for but I would look elsewhere for the problems your corals are having. Beside getting your PO4 to reef normal levels along with your alkalinity I would be removing as much algae as possible with your water changes and if you have any rock that is covered and does not have any thing imortant attached but is covered with algae I would consider replacing it. My preferred herbivores for dealing with nuisance algae are royal and tuxedo urchins, they do like carrying stuff around but unlike other herbivores when they eat alage the scrap the "holdfast" off the rock making it much harder for it to regrow.

sde1500 · 10/28/2017, 10:12 AM

Not feeding your fish is definitely the wrong way to approach a nutrient problem. Especially in a very heavily stocked tank that yours seems to be. I'd also echo bringing your alk up. But start manual removal as much as possible for the algae too.

UTCReefer · 10/28/2017, 05:08 PM

Looks like hair algae. One thing you can do is first manually remove it and then blast the affected areas with a powerhead to knock the detritus out of it and the surrounding area. I believe that it catches all that gunk out of the water column and kind of self perpetuates.

monkeysee1 · 10/29/2017, 11:54 AM

Get some Rowa Phos. Put THAT in your media reactor. Get rid of your straight GFO and put carbon in your bag instead. Also run some Purigen in a pouch alongside the carbon.
I'm doing this and have NOT had a GHA problem since I started months ago.
Feed your fish. DON'T starve them. One cube twice a day is good.

10/27/2017, 06:30 PM	#1
Cleanuup Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2	Hair Algae or what else could it be....Please help! My current water parameters are as per today Oct 27/17 testing done 6:30pm-6:50pm: - 90 Gallon Tank with 20 gal Sump water changes every 2 weeks to 2.5 weeks at 20-25% -6 bulp ATI Sunpower (5 Blue+ and 1 coral+ running from 10am to 7pm) and 1 reefbrite from 3pm to 10pm - 2x MP8 and 1050gal/hr DC return pump - Bubble Magus Curve 5 Protein skimmer Temp: 76.5 F – 78F Alkalinity: 5.7 (Salifert) pH: 8.25ish (Salifert) SG: 1.026 (refractometer) Calcium: 400 (Salifert) Mag: 1290 (Salifert) Nitrate: 2 (Salifert) Phosphate: 0 (Salifert) Amonia: 0 (Salifert) -Using Rodi water and Water circulation is very good. Aquaforest reef salt in a box - Filter floss in overflow changed every 4-5 days, filter floss in bubble trap changed weekly -Dosing 2 ml Alkilinity 1x/day and 5ml Nopox 1x/day -1 DIY Cheato reactor 24 Hrs for the last 3 weeks -1 Ultra High Capacity GFO (Phosfiltrum) in a bag approx.. 75g for 1 month now had Chempur blue running in a bag in media reactor previous month. -Added chemiclean approx. 2 months ago for red slime algae had 3 or 4 25% water changes since then - Fish seem ok but hungry as of late really reduced feeding…..3 clowns, 2 wrasses, 1 yellow tang, 1 yellow spot sand sifting Goby , 1 Mandarin Goby, Two Anthiest,4 blue Cromis, 1 Yellow belly Blue Tang, 1 Blood shrimp, 2 Peppermint shrimp, Hermit crabs approx. 12 dwarf , 1 large, 5 Turbo snails, 1 anemone crab(recently lost a lawnmower blenny and a sea hare within days of each other and only had for 2 weeks) Corals are dying and getting choked out Please let me know if any other info is required and thanks in advance for any help....Much appreciated. rsz_20171027_190106.jpg rsz_20171027_190217.jpg rsz_20171027_190309.jpg rsz_20171027_190533.jpg rsz_20171027_190052.jpg

10/28/2017, 05:42 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Turn your blue channel way..way down or off and repost pictures.. ID pictures taken through a Windex bottle just do not render colors properly and color can be very important for proper identification.. Also please state how old the tank is.. Are you reporting alk in meq/l or dkh? because its either really low or really high.. Also... stability is key to coral success.. so make sure you are keeping your parameters stable.. But I'm going to assume your alk is 5.7 dkh and as such its really low and you need to slowly increase it (baking soda is fine) at a rate of about .5dkh a day or so until its at least 7.. but if its meq/l then its way high and you need to stop with the dosing.. From what I see in those pictures is few corals so I'm not sure why you are dosing now anyways.. and might be changing my mind thinking your alk is too high.. Please check/read here for about the recommended ranges,etc.... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ The alk is likely your problem for sure.. oh and I would be cautious of running GFO and/or chemipure blue as your phosphates are low already and too little is just as bad as too much.. You do seem to have an algae issue though so you have phosphates.. Just be careful and don't overdo the phosphate media.. __________________ Who me? Last edited by mcgyvr; 10/28/2017 at 05:48 AM.

10/28/2017, 08:36 AM	#4
Timfish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,985	I would start feeding your fish more. In my maintenance business I stopped worrying about PO4 and nitrate years and years ago and it was gratifying to see this video posted online by one of Reef Central's sponsers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRIKW-9d2xI At the 9 minute mark Dr. Ross references this study http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journ...imate1661.html done by researchers at Southhampton University in England. The gist of it is if corals don't get enough PO4 the photsynthetic effeciency of zooxanthellae drops and they start producing sulpholipids instead of phosholipids which really screws up both the zooxantheallae and coral and they become very sensitive to changes in temperature and light. A follow up study showing phosphate limitation promotes bleaching by the same researchers is available here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...7301601#bb0310. One of the surprises when I started looking into the role of PO4 was most of the oceans' volume is around 2 mg/l PO4. Algae will drop surface PO4 levels away from reefs to .7 - .2 mg/l but to get really low levels it takes coral reefs with the average on reefs .13 mg/l but just a few drop it below .05 mg/l. The corals are literally sucking it up for their zooxantheallae. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...67063799000424 And I agree you need to raise your alkalinity but I would hesitate to say it's the main cause of your problems as one of the most pristine reefs in the world sits at 5.5 dKH and I've personally seen corals happy at levels as low as 3 dKH. Raising your alkalinity is called for but I would look elsewhere for the problems your corals are having. Beside getting your PO4 to reef normal levels along with your alkalinity I would be removing as much algae as possible with your water changes and if you have any rock that is covered and does not have any thing imortant attached but is covered with algae I would consider replacing it. My preferred herbivores for dealing with nuisance algae are royal and tuxedo urchins, they do like carrying stuff around but unlike other herbivores when they eat alage the scrap the "holdfast" off the rock making it much harder for it to regrow. __________________ "Our crystal clear aquaria come nowhere close to the nutrient loads that swirl around natural reefs" Charles Delbeek

10/28/2017, 10:12 AM	#5
sde1500 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Glocester, RI Posts: 3,336	Not feeding your fish is definitely the wrong way to approach a nutrient problem. Especially in a very heavily stocked tank that yours seems to be. I'd also echo bringing your alk up. But start manual removal as much as possible for the algae too. __________________ My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.

10/29/2017, 11:54 AM	#7
monkeysee1 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: MERRIMACK NH Posts: 423	Get some Rowa Phos. Put THAT in your media reactor. Get rid of your straight GFO and put carbon in your bag instead. Also run some Purigen in a pouch alongside the carbon. I'm doing this and have NOT had a GHA problem since I started months ago. Feed your fish. DON'T starve them. One cube twice a day is good. __________________ Your "fair share" is not in my wallet; it's in my fish tank!! Current tank info: 90 Gallon saltwater 10 fish with a few inverts; NO CORALS! Tried to go reef; didn't work out so hot; FOWLR's for me! Last edited by monkeysee1; 10/29/2017 at 12:34 PM.

10/28/2017, 06:49 AM	#3
Cleanuup Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2	Yes my Alk was measured in dKH so 5.7 dKH...sorry about that....it is equivalent to 2.05 meq/L. Reef brite was off, those are my ATI's on Thanks for your help

10/28/2017, 05:08 PM	#6
UTCReefer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Diego Posts: 652	Looks like hair algae. One thing you can do is first manually remove it and then blast the affected areas with a powerhead to knock the detritus out of it and the surrounding area. I believe that it catches all that gunk out of the water column and kind of self perpetuates.