Hair Algae Problem--please help, I'm frustrated.

AlexB650 · 11/12/2007, 10:58 PM

I shot myself in the foot and slacked off on water changes a few months ago, in addition to being lazy and adding tap water (top-offs only) for a month or so. Also, my clean-up crew had seemed to vanish (don't know how).

But, I've recently added 25 blue legged hermits and have about 15 snails (astrea, cerith and nassarius). Nitrates are about 8-10 ppm and ammonia is 0. I've been using RO (not ro/di) water for months and have been doing regular water changes. Lighting: 150 watt 14k mh and 2 65 watt atinics (all fairly new).

I keep plucking this stuff and it wont go away. should i still be seeing signs of my laziness from a few months ago, or is something else wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

demonsp · 11/12/2007, 11:01 PM

Algea is always around waiting in the shadows for the right time. The key is control. With high nitrates they maybe deing.
What are all the readings phosphate ? PH? ALK?
What is the substrate?
what do you use for flow?

SimilanRocks · 11/12/2007, 11:04 PM

You may have phosphate or silicate problem from the tap. RO water still have those. You need good DI. And a lot of water change to remove the old phosphate/silicate from the tank. Or use GFO.

AlexB650 · 11/12/2007, 11:04 PM

ph was 8.1 (didn't test alk tonight). i have a 3.5 inch aragonite sand bed, 100 lbs of live rock and for flow, i use the mag 7 pump (from the sump) and one koralia 2. i don't have a fuge in the sump yet!

AlexB650 · 11/12/2007, 11:06 PM

what's GFO? sorry, i'm not hip to the lingo.

demonsp · 11/12/2007, 11:12 PM

You need to increase the flow. Do you see any film ontop of the water?
Phosphate level would help.
Testing in the evening will give fasle readings. Test in the morning and around the same time to be more consistant.

25% water change followed by weekly 10% with RO/DI water , increase your flow and it will slowly disappear.

SimilanRocks · 11/12/2007, 11:14 PM

GFO is filter media stuff, like PhosBan. Need to run water through it. It will reduce phosphate/silicate.

AlexB650 · 11/12/2007, 11:19 PM

I don't know if i could have any more flow--i had another power head in there and my hammer coral was looking like it was in a wind tunnel; i wasn't even pointing it in that direction. but, i'll try your suggestions. thank you!

_______________________________________

similianrocks, I do use kent marines phosphate sponge once a month--is that adequate? i've been doing that for a couple months now with no success.

demonsp · 11/12/2007, 11:29 PM

You need good cross flow. Powerheads come with flow control and duck bill tips to help adjust position. If you have to just move the hammer to a lowerflow area , mine is the center piece and gets flow from both. I bought with 2 heads 1 yr ago and it hase over 30 right now and i have fraged it once.

you really need to know the phosphate reading as green hair thrives on this and nitrate. But doesnt like flow.
You could even add a small powerhead for spot flow.

Proper flow helps with the exchange of nitrate into harmless nitrogen through the SB and if flow is low then the SB isnt being used right.

AlexB650 · 11/13/2007, 12:02 AM

thanks lance. I actually just added a seio m620 and another small power head to blow across the sand in the back. Do you think that's enough? How soon should I see a difference and can you think of anything else I was doing wrong? I don't have a test kit for phosphate unfortunately.

demonsp · 11/13/2007, 12:06 AM

Not testing as many perms as possible. Get some test kits and test weekly or if you want to monitor if the tank problem going down daily.Tap water is phosphate famous.
Also low or no flow areas in the LR or the SB.collect uneaten food and debris and in high enough amounts the problem starts. Another reason for more cleanup crew to help control.

AlexB650 · 11/13/2007, 12:19 AM

Ok, i'll probably buy a test kit for it tomarrow. If phosphates are high, do you think the kent phosphate sponge i use s a good product to remove this? Also, the best i can use is just ro water--is that decent enough? Thanks again

demonsp · 11/13/2007, 12:24 AM

RO is fine but upgrade whene you can. But like i said sounds like theres mulptiple problems from flow to cleanup and without know all your readings cant narrow it down more. But ill stake my tank on that koralia. I use that same one for spot flow behind some LR and i dont get much flow.

AlexB650 · 11/13/2007, 12:51 AM

thanks again. i'll try this out for a few weeks to see if there's any improvements.

fishworm · 11/13/2007, 01:03 AM

I am having the same problem...a large outbreak of hair algae. I made the mistake of using tap water (from a well) when I first set up my aquarium and I am paying for it now.

I finally got my phosban reactor going, started using 100% RO/DI water, got some more flow, and I am adding some macroalgae to my fuge tomorrow.

hopefully it will all go away soon.

uscharalph · 11/13/2007, 04:52 AM

Manually remove it daily and you could also try that lights out for 3 days a few times. Good Luck. I hate Hair Algae!!

ricks · 11/13/2007, 07:25 AM

Have you checked the TDS of your RO water????

11/12/2007, 10:58 PM	#1
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	Hair Algae Problem--please help, I'm frustrated. I shot myself in the foot and slacked off on water changes a few months ago, in addition to being lazy and adding tap water (top-offs only) for a month or so. Also, my clean-up crew had seemed to vanish (don't know how). But, I've recently added 25 blue legged hermits and have about 15 snails (astrea, cerith and nassarius). Nitrates are about 8-10 ppm and ammonia is 0. I've been using RO (not ro/di) water for months and have been doing regular water changes. Lighting: 150 watt 14k mh and 2 65 watt atinics (all fairly new). I keep plucking this stuff and it wont go away. should i still be seeing signs of my laziness from a few months ago, or is something else wrong. Thanks in advance, Alex

11/13/2007, 01:03 AM	#15
fishworm Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Strafford, Missouri Posts: 154	I am having the same problem...a large outbreak of hair algae. I made the mistake of using tap water (from a well) when I first set up my aquarium and I am paying for it now. I finally got my phosban reactor going, started using 100% RO/DI water, got some more flow, and I am adding some macroalgae to my fuge tomorrow. hopefully it will all go away soon. __________________ If it aint a cichlid, it aint worth eatin'. Yeah. Wait, what? Current Tank Info: 75 gallon reef in the works. also have a 150 gallon FW tropheus/petrochromis tanks and a 125 gallon SA/CA cichlid tank.

11/13/2007, 04:52 AM	#16
uscharalph Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 1,248	Manually remove it daily and you could also try that lights out for 3 days a few times. Good Luck. I hate Hair Algae!! __________________ Ralph Mendoza Jr. Long Beach, CA Current Tank Info: 80 Gallon Reef Tank

11/12/2007, 11:01 PM	#2
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	Algea is always around waiting in the shadows for the right time. The key is control. With high nitrates they maybe deing. What are all the readings phosphate ? PH? ALK? What is the substrate? what do you use for flow?

11/12/2007, 11:04 PM	#3
SimilanRocks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: La Habra, CA Posts: 473	You may have phosphate or silicate problem from the tap. RO water still have those. You need good DI. And a lot of water change to remove the old phosphate/silicate from the tank. Or use GFO.

11/12/2007, 11:06 PM	#5
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	what's GFO? sorry, i'm not hip to the lingo.

11/12/2007, 11:12 PM	#6
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	You need to increase the flow. Do you see any film ontop of the water? Phosphate level would help. Testing in the evening will give fasle readings. Test in the morning and around the same time to be more consistant. 25% water change followed by weekly 10% with RO/DI water , increase your flow and it will slowly disappear.

11/12/2007, 11:14 PM	#7
SimilanRocks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: La Habra, CA Posts: 473	GFO is filter media stuff, like PhosBan. Need to run water through it. It will reduce phosphate/silicate.

11/12/2007, 11:19 PM	#8
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	I don't know if i could have any more flow--i had another power head in there and my hammer coral was looking like it was in a wind tunnel; i wasn't even pointing it in that direction. but, i'll try your suggestions. thank you! _______________________________________ similianrocks, I do use kent marines phosphate sponge once a month--is that adequate? i've been doing that for a couple months now with no success.

11/12/2007, 11:29 PM	#9
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	You need good cross flow. Powerheads come with flow control and duck bill tips to help adjust position. If you have to just move the hammer to a lowerflow area , mine is the center piece and gets flow from both. I bought with 2 heads 1 yr ago and it hase over 30 right now and i have fraged it once. you really need to know the phosphate reading as green hair thrives on this and nitrate. But doesnt like flow. You could even add a small powerhead for spot flow. Proper flow helps with the exchange of nitrate into harmless nitrogen through the SB and if flow is low then the SB isnt being used right.

11/13/2007, 12:02 AM	#10
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	thanks lance. I actually just added a seio m620 and another small power head to blow across the sand in the back. Do you think that's enough? How soon should I see a difference and can you think of anything else I was doing wrong? I don't have a test kit for phosphate unfortunately.

11/13/2007, 12:06 AM	#11
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	Not testing as many perms as possible. Get some test kits and test weekly or if you want to monitor if the tank problem going down daily.Tap water is phosphate famous. Also low or no flow areas in the LR or the SB.collect uneaten food and debris and in high enough amounts the problem starts. Another reason for more cleanup crew to help control.

11/13/2007, 12:19 AM	#12
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	Ok, i'll probably buy a test kit for it tomarrow. If phosphates are high, do you think the kent phosphate sponge i use s a good product to remove this? Also, the best i can use is just ro water--is that decent enough? Thanks again

11/13/2007, 12:24 AM	#13
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	RO is fine but upgrade whene you can. But like i said sounds like theres mulptiple problems from flow to cleanup and without know all your readings cant narrow it down more. But ill stake my tank on that koralia. I use that same one for spot flow behind some LR and i dont get much flow.

11/13/2007, 12:51 AM	#14
AlexB650 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 275	thanks again. i'll try this out for a few weeks to see if there's any improvements.

11/13/2007, 07:25 AM	#17
ricks Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: portland,or Posts: 906	Have you checked the TDS of your RO water????