hair algae growing on my pumps.

coastie81 · 10/13/2009, 07:15 PM

I have a 110gl. I have 4 pumps in my tank that keep growing hair algae on them. I take them every 2-3 weeks and scrup them off. I keep my lights of for about 10hours a day. I have mexian turbo and astera, nass snails. The hair algae is on nothing but my 4 pumps. Will a phosban reactor help out at all?

ammonia:0
nitrate:0
nitrite:0
Phospates: showing 0 but not to sure about it.
PH: 8.2
Temp:79
SG:35ppt
Calcium: 450

coastie81 · 10/13/2009, 07:39 PM

anyone???

nukemdanno · 10/13/2009, 08:02 PM

I'd say don't worry about it. You'll always have it to some degree. Every three months I remove my powerheads and run them in a bucket with water and vinegar. Mine grows in the overflow. I harvest it every two weeks when I do my water change. It acts like a turf scrubber and generally grows in high flow areas like pumps and overflows. When it gets unsightly, clean it.

My .02

Evil Nemo · 10/14/2009, 04:01 PM

A phosban reactor may help. Alot of us battle algae.

lordofthereef · 10/14/2009, 05:43 PM

Soak the sumps in some vinegar. Won't stop it from coming back permanently but I am willing to bet they will take much longer to repopulate.

tcwoodrn · 10/15/2009, 01:22 PM

Pretty much every powerhead I've ever had has had some form of algae. Its a prime place for it. Powerheads are generally at the top under good light, nutrients are pulled to them, and theres a solid place to attach.

ziyaadb · 10/15/2009, 01:44 PM

i dont have algae on my rocks but do have them growing on my pumps as well. dont stress about it. if the algae is out of control then u should worry. its natural for algae to grow. it does grow in the ocean and on reefs as well.

coastie81 · 10/15/2009, 02:07 PM

I just placed an order with bulk reef supply for the dual chamber reactor as I weanted one and it was a better deal then going with the two little fishies. I also ordered the GFO and carbon and a bunch of filters for my ro/di. I just found that place looking at the sponsors page on here. In my opinion it was a great deal. Anyone have any experience ordering from them?
Also do you think me running GFO and Carbon in a reactor will be better then the bag method I have going on by throwing them on the top of my wet/dry filter and letting the water run through them???

kingfisher62 · 10/15/2009, 03:35 PM

That happens in my biocube with a similar algae on my power head and I love it. the stuff grows like wildfire and I pull ot handfulls everyweek. It is a great way to export nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates.
It does such a good job that There is barely a speck of algae anywhere else in the tank.
So I say "do not sweat it ", it is a good thing . Just dont let it grow too much over the inputs and outputs so that it slows your flow of water.
It is almost like having an in the tank refugium!

arredondojason · 10/15/2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordofthereef

Soak the sumps in some vinegar. Won't stop it from coming back permanently but I am willing to bet they will take much longer to repopulate.

+1
but i would put your pumps in a vinegar bath.

Octopus8 · 10/15/2009, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

i dont have algae on my rocks but do have them growing on my pumps as well. dont stress about it. if the algae is out of control then u should worry. its natural for algae to grow. it does grow in the ocean and on reefs as well.

Same here. The only place I have Green Hair Algae is on one of my Koralia pumps, so I don't worry about it.

Reefer2727 · 10/15/2009, 05:43 PM

What type of vinegar? Just white? What ratio with water roughly?

cnaegler · 10/15/2009, 08:20 PM

I get all my GFO and carbon from BRS, their prices can't be beat and their HC GFO beats the pants off any RowaPhos that i've used. I had a BAD case of GHA for about a year and RowaPhos didn't touch the stuff until i switched to BRS' HC GFO. I manually removed as much as i could and it finally disappeared.
I would definitely use a reactor for both/ either the carbon and/or GFO

arredondojason · 10/15/2009, 08:49 PM

yes just white and 1 part vinegar and 10 parts water.

cnaegler · 10/15/2009, 08:52 PM

I also took my pumps out and soaked them ovenight in a bleach/ water mix... That killed the algae!

10/13/2009, 07:15 PM	#1
coastie81 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Mt. View, California Posts: 131	hair algae growing on my pumps. I have a 110gl. I have 4 pumps in my tank that keep growing hair algae on them. I take them every 2-3 weeks and scrup them off. I keep my lights of for about 10hours a day. I have mexian turbo and astera, nass snails. The hair algae is on nothing but my 4 pumps. Will a phosban reactor help out at all? ammonia:0 nitrate:0 nitrite:0 Phospates: showing 0 but not to sure about it. PH: 8.2 Temp:79 SG:35ppt Calcium: 450

10/14/2009, 05:43 PM	#5
lordofthereef One reef to rule them all Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Leominster, MA Posts: 5,299	Soak the sumps in some vinegar. Won't stop it from coming back permanently but I am willing to bet they will take much longer to repopulate. __________________ "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself" ~ Josh Billings Visit My Home page for current build thread (click my user name and select "Visit LordoftheReef's Homepage" in the drop down menu!

10/15/2009, 03:35 PM	#9
kingfisher62 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: massachusetts Posts: 4,972	That happens in my biocube with a similar algae on my power head and I love it. the stuff grows like wildfire and I pull ot handfulls everyweek. It is a great way to export nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. It does such a good job that There is barely a speck of algae anywhere else in the tank. So I say "do not sweat it ", it is a good thing . Just dont let it grow too much over the inputs and outputs so that it slows your flow of water. It is almost like having an in the tank refugium! __________________ 55g Tank - 216W T5's Foxface, tomato clown, yellow tailed damsel, Starrie Blennie, LPS and softies 29G Biocube- 120W LED's 2 percular clown, Six line Wrasse , LPS and softies Current Tank Info: 55 gl. Reef tank ,29g biocube Reef

10/15/2009, 08:20 PM	#13
cnaegler Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sylva, NC-Western North Carolina Posts: 960	I get all my GFO and carbon from BRS, their prices can't be beat and their HC GFO beats the pants off any RowaPhos that i've used. I had a BAD case of GHA for about a year and RowaPhos didn't touch the stuff until i switched to BRS' HC GFO. I manually removed as much as i could and it finally disappeared. I would definitely use a reactor for both/ either the carbon and/or GFO __________________ Craig _________________________ ATL "Superman" acro, Vivid's Rainbow Delight acro wanted You can want in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first!! Save the reefs! Buy captive bred fish and aquacultured corals! Current Tank Info: Downsizing to a 120 BB SPS tank, 6205 &6305 Tunze on 7095 controller, Current USA extreme 8 x 54 fixture

10/15/2009, 08:52 PM	#15
cnaegler Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sylva, NC-Western North Carolina Posts: 960	I also took my pumps out and soaked them ovenight in a bleach/ water mix... That killed the algae! __________________ Craig _________________________ ATL "Superman" acro, Vivid's Rainbow Delight acro wanted You can want in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first!! Save the reefs! Buy captive bred fish and aquacultured corals! Current Tank Info: Downsizing to a 120 BB SPS tank, 6205 &6305 Tunze on 7095 controller, Current USA extreme 8 x 54 fixture

10/13/2009, 07:39 PM	#2
coastie81 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Mt. View, California Posts: 131	anyone???

10/13/2009, 08:02 PM	#3
nukemdanno Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 133	I'd say don't worry about it. You'll always have it to some degree. Every three months I remove my powerheads and run them in a bucket with water and vinegar. Mine grows in the overflow. I harvest it every two weeks when I do my water change. It acts like a turf scrubber and generally grows in high flow areas like pumps and overflows. When it gets unsightly, clean it. My .02

10/14/2009, 04:01 PM	#4
Evil Nemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwest Posts: 84	A phosban reactor may help. Alot of us battle algae.

10/15/2009, 01:22 PM	#6
tcwoodrn Moved On Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Detroit, Michigan Posts: 153	Pretty much every powerhead I've ever had has had some form of algae. Its a prime place for it. Powerheads are generally at the top under good light, nutrients are pulled to them, and theres a solid place to attach.

10/15/2009, 01:44 PM	#7
ziyaadb Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: South Africa - JHB Posts: 733	i dont have algae on my rocks but do have them growing on my pumps as well. dont stress about it. if the algae is out of control then u should worry. its natural for algae to grow. it does grow in the ocean and on reefs as well.

10/15/2009, 02:07 PM	#8
coastie81 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Mt. View, California Posts: 131	I just placed an order with bulk reef supply for the dual chamber reactor as I weanted one and it was a better deal then going with the two little fishies. I also ordered the GFO and carbon and a bunch of filters for my ro/di. I just found that place looking at the sponsors page on here. In my opinion it was a great deal. Anyone have any experience ordering from them? Also do you think me running GFO and Carbon in a reactor will be better then the bag method I have going on by throwing them on the top of my wet/dry filter and letting the water run through them???

10/15/2009, 05:43 PM	#12
Reefer2727 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 995	What type of vinegar? Just white? What ratio with water roughly?

10/15/2009, 08:49 PM	#14
arredondojason Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 988	yes just white and 1 part vinegar and 10 parts water.