Some thoughts on hair algae

toonces · 07/23/2007, 01:25 PM

I was thinking about this the other day.

At the risk of jinxing myself, I am wondering why I don't have a hair algae problem. Is hair algae prevention part of simply avoiding introducing it in the first place?

I realize that the two tanks I'm comparing are totally different, and there are too many variables for this to be scientifically valid at all.

I had a tank setup for about a year when I was in Maryland. It was a 110 gal. tank with:
1 flame angel
1 small poma angel
2 fiji blue damsels
1 yellow watchman goby
assorted crabs and snails

110 gal, Oct. 12, 2005:

110 gal, July 29, 2006:

The tank had a 30 gallon sump with a aqua-c evo skimmer, several powerheads inside and even some chaeto and caulerpa in a partitioned refugium in the sump. I didn't do regular water changes, but did change out 30-40 gallons 2 or 3 times over the year I had the tank set up.
Anyway, after about 6 months, the tank developed a huge hair algae problem. I don't know how else to describe it- just huge clumps of this tough green hair algae to the point that I could easily pull out a super big gulp cup of algae every month or so. I even get to the point where I pulled every single rock out of the tank and scrubbed them to try to get ahead of the algae problem. I never did really get ahead.

Now, here in California, I've had my 60 cube set up for about 9 months. I have a aquaclear power filter with a sponge and carbon, no sump, no skimmer, and done one water change (30 gallons) since the tank was set up. It has:
1 orchid dottyback
2 orange skunk clows
3 green chromis
asst. crabs and snails

60 gallon about 2 months after set up. Looks essentially the same except for some green coralline algae on the side glass:

This 60 gal has absolutely no nuisance algae at all. It does have a huge aiptasia problem...

Anyway, I've been wondering why the tank that I arguably took better care of and had better filtration on had such a problem while the current 60 gallon that I would say is rather poorly filtered has no algae problem.

I'm wondering if there is some correlation to simple introduction. Is it even possible that hair algae simply hasn't been introduced to the 60 gal tank? Is it possible that a large part of hair algae prevention is the same as prevention of other nuisance areas of our aquariums- ie. ick, aiptasia, unwanted hitchhikers?

Just some random thoughts. I'm curious to see if the hair algae will eventually start.

MJH736 · 07/23/2007, 10:15 PM

Hello,
I battled with hair algae for months in my 90 gallon reef. I did everything by the book and couldn't win. I scrubbed every live rock each month and the hair algae returned. I came across an old thread about "cooking" live rock in a dark tub and changing the water each week to rid the rock of accumulated phosphates. I did this for two months and returned the rock to the tank. I also removed my sand bed down to about a quarter inch. It has been 3 months now with no trace of hair algae. It seems that the rock and sand were leaching phosphates into the water fueling the smallest amount of algae to grow rapidly. I am also dosing calcium regularly and have increased the water flow.

drummereef · 07/23/2007, 10:30 PM

I didn't notice anything about your water sources for the tanks. Are you using, or did you use, RO/DI and know the TDS?

toonces · 07/24/2007, 10:30 AM

Source water quality is certainly something to consider.

In both cases, I use tap water exclusively for both the original tank water and top off water.

I have no idea what the TDS reading of either source of tap water, Cali or MD, was/is.

It is certainly possible that the MD water had much more 'stuff' in it to fuel algae growth. Having said that, the water here in Cali certainly 'smells' worse.

I was thinking about this some more this morning.

When I added corals to the 110 in MD (the first tank), one of them was a Millepora fire coral. The coral had a small dead area on the base that had some green hair algae growing on it. This, of course, was the type of hair algae that eventually grew to plague proportions in the tank. I found a pic of the coral when I first introduced it. If you look closely, you can just barely see some of the green algae on the base.

I also used different rock- haitian rock for the 110, and fiji rock for the 60. I didn't ID the algae, so I don't know if it was endemic to the Atlantic would have helped figure out if it came off the rock vice the coral.

I'm really wondering if there's more to this than simply nutrient sources. We seem to focus on nutrients so much with our tanks, but, even though I haven't tested my 60 gal's water, I cannot believe that it doesn't have more nutrients in it than the old 110 gal.

drummereef · 07/24/2007, 10:38 AM

My guess would be the 'unknown' TDS of both water sources. Tap water can vary significantly from city to city. Depending on the TDS, there can be more than enough excess nutrient in the water source to cause all kinds of problems.

seapug · 07/24/2007, 04:26 PM

I hope you realize by proclaiming this you have jinxed yourself. You'll have hair algae growing out of control within 1 week.

toonces · 07/25/2007, 12:34 PM

Yes, I realize I've jinxed myself!

I took a picture yesterday. Try as I might, I can't get it to focus as well as the first set.

This is the tank about 8-9 monts old as of yesterday. There is no hair algae. There is alot of green coralline algae on he glass. I don't supplement with anything at all- I don't want purple all over the glass like usual.

Everything appears healthy. I have no idea what the TDS reading of the tap water is. But, I use an aquaclear power filter with a sponge, and that 'should' be a nitrate factory.

I recently (maybe 2-4 months ago) added a clump of caulerpa and chaeto. It's behind the rocks. It didn't die, but it's not growing either.

I'm definately not advocating lazy maintenance. I just find this whole thing curious.

07/23/2007, 01:25 PM	#1
toonces Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA Posts: 1,131	Some thoughts on hair algae I was thinking about this the other day. At the risk of jinxing myself, I am wondering why I don't have a hair algae problem. Is hair algae prevention part of simply avoiding introducing it in the first place? I realize that the two tanks I'm comparing are totally different, and there are too many variables for this to be scientifically valid at all. I had a tank setup for about a year when I was in Maryland. It was a 110 gal. tank with: 1 flame angel 1 small poma angel 2 fiji blue damsels 1 yellow watchman goby assorted crabs and snails 110 gal, Oct. 12, 2005: 110 gal, July 29, 2006: The tank had a 30 gallon sump with a aqua-c evo skimmer, several powerheads inside and even some chaeto and caulerpa in a partitioned refugium in the sump. I didn't do regular water changes, but did change out 30-40 gallons 2 or 3 times over the year I had the tank set up. Anyway, after about 6 months, the tank developed a huge hair algae problem. I don't know how else to describe it- just huge clumps of this tough green hair algae to the point that I could easily pull out a super big gulp cup of algae every month or so. I even get to the point where I pulled every single rock out of the tank and scrubbed them to try to get ahead of the algae problem. I never did really get ahead. Now, here in California, I've had my 60 cube set up for about 9 months. I have a aquaclear power filter with a sponge and carbon, no sump, no skimmer, and done one water change (30 gallons) since the tank was set up. It has: 1 orchid dottyback 2 orange skunk clows 3 green chromis asst. crabs and snails 60 gallon about 2 months after set up. Looks essentially the same except for some green coralline algae on the side glass: This 60 gal has absolutely no nuisance algae at all. It does have a huge aiptasia problem... Anyway, I've been wondering why the tank that I arguably took better care of and had better filtration on had such a problem while the current 60 gallon that I would say is rather poorly filtered has no algae problem. I'm wondering if there is some correlation to simple introduction. Is it even possible that hair algae simply hasn't been introduced to the 60 gal tank? Is it possible that a large part of hair algae prevention is the same as prevention of other nuisance areas of our aquariums- ie. ick, aiptasia, unwanted hitchhikers? Just some random thoughts. I'm curious to see if the hair algae will eventually start.

07/23/2007, 10:30 PM	#3
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	I didn't notice anything about your water sources for the tanks. Are you using, or did you use, RO/DI and know the TDS? __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

07/24/2007, 10:38 AM	#5
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	My guess would be the 'unknown' TDS of both water sources. Tap water can vary significantly from city to city. Depending on the TDS, there can be more than enough excess nutrient in the water source to cause all kinds of problems. __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

07/24/2007, 04:26 PM	#6
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	I hope you realize by proclaiming this you have jinxed yourself. You'll have hair algae growing out of control within 1 week. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

07/23/2007, 10:15 PM	#2
MJH736 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 13	Hello, I battled with hair algae for months in my 90 gallon reef. I did everything by the book and couldn't win. I scrubbed every live rock each month and the hair algae returned. I came across an old thread about "cooking" live rock in a dark tub and changing the water each week to rid the rock of accumulated phosphates. I did this for two months and returned the rock to the tank. I also removed my sand bed down to about a quarter inch. It has been 3 months now with no trace of hair algae. It seems that the rock and sand were leaching phosphates into the water fueling the smallest amount of algae to grow rapidly. I am also dosing calcium regularly and have increased the water flow.

07/24/2007, 10:30 AM	#4
toonces Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA Posts: 1,131	Source water quality is certainly something to consider. In both cases, I use tap water exclusively for both the original tank water and top off water. I have no idea what the TDS reading of either source of tap water, Cali or MD, was/is. It is certainly possible that the MD water had much more 'stuff' in it to fuel algae growth. Having said that, the water here in Cali certainly 'smells' worse. I was thinking about this some more this morning. When I added corals to the 110 in MD (the first tank), one of them was a Millepora fire coral. The coral had a small dead area on the base that had some green hair algae growing on it. This, of course, was the type of hair algae that eventually grew to plague proportions in the tank. I found a pic of the coral when I first introduced it. If you look closely, you can just barely see some of the green algae on the base. I also used different rock- haitian rock for the 110, and fiji rock for the 60. I didn't ID the algae, so I don't know if it was endemic to the Atlantic would have helped figure out if it came off the rock vice the coral. I'm really wondering if there's more to this than simply nutrient sources. We seem to focus on nutrients so much with our tanks, but, even though I haven't tested my 60 gal's water, I cannot believe that it doesn't have more nutrients in it than the old 110 gal.

07/25/2007, 12:34 PM	#7
toonces Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA Posts: 1,131	Yes, I realize I've jinxed myself! I took a picture yesterday. Try as I might, I can't get it to focus as well as the first set. This is the tank about 8-9 monts old as of yesterday. There is no hair algae. There is alot of green coralline algae on he glass. I don't supplement with anything at all- I don't want purple all over the glass like usual. Everything appears healthy. I have no idea what the TDS reading of the tap water is. But, I use an aquaclear power filter with a sponge, and that 'should' be a nitrate factory. I recently (maybe 2-4 months ago) added a clump of caulerpa and chaeto. It's behind the rocks. It didn't die, but it's not growing either. I'm definately not advocating lazy maintenance. I just find this whole thing curious.