Algae growing in the output of my phosban reactor?!?!

Caragol · 09/08/2008, 12:47 PM

I've got HA, not bryopsis, just plain old hair algae. My phosphates and nitrates test at 0, and I'm assuming the HA is sucking up whatever is there. I've got a fuge and the chaeto grows OK, but not great. So I added a TLF Phosban reactor in my sump in a chamber near the fuge. Brand new GFO ordered from bulkreefsupply.com, brand new reactor. It's been two weeks since I replaced the old media (which I thought might have gone bad somehow) and I'm not seeing a reduction of HA, in fact it seems to still be growing, and I actually have green algae starting to grow in the output tube of my reactor.

WHAT GIVES?!?!

To answer some questions:
*I only use 0 TDS RO/DI for topoff and water changes
*It's a 58g tank with a 15ish (guessing) sump
*I started with a couple inches of GFO in my reactor, now I'm up to 4 (should be overkill right?)
*GFO is level in the reactor and looks like it's simmering nicely like a slow boil
*Low bioload, I'm feeding very little

Has anyone else seen this happen? Man I'm getting frustrated with this algae.

fatboyjoe · 09/08/2008, 01:22 PM

hair algea is a real mystery. I've spent alot of money trying to get rid of it on the advice from people from various sites. I was told get new bulbs. no help. my h.a. grows a 1/2'' from my light on my return tube and it grows down in the back of my tank in the dark. light seems to have no effect on my h.a.. I was told to increase flow. I doubled my flow. no effect on h.a.. my h.a. grows in my overflow tube and down in the back of my tank where there's almost no flow. I added gfo. no effect. I cut back on feeding. no effect. I tried algea-x. little efffect on h. a. but had to stop treatment early because it killed 2 fish and melted some off my zenia. I added 12 mexican turbos to my 90 gal. about 2 weeks ago. best effect on my h.a.. 90 % h.a. gone. my overflow intake slits were jammed packed with h.a.. today there completly clean as a whistle. I wish I'd tried these guys first. i would of saved alot of money.

Caragol · 09/08/2008, 01:49 PM

Yeah, I've done the new bulbs, doubled flow too (flow did help some cyano-attracting dead spots though I think). DSB in my fuge is about 6 months old and hasn't seemed to have an effect yet.

My Mexican turbos stay on the glass, rarely go to the rocks. But there are only three. Sally lightfoot is always picking at the algae, but never makes a dent. A team of scarlet hermits haven't made a dent. Algae blenny wouldn't touch anything, can't get a foxface due to the size of my tank. I haven't heard of too many people in my area with sea-hare luck.

I don't know where the nutrients are even coming from, except what traces are in the food, unless they're leaching from the rocks. I haven't tried sugar, vodka, zeolit, or ultralith... maybe I'll just add an army of Mexican Turbos and see what happens.

fatboyjoe · 09/08/2008, 02:21 PM

I'm not sure I'd use the sugar or vodka. I tried vitamin-c a little while ago and the h.a. exploded. i think vit-c,sugar and vodka act as a carbon soarse and fuel the growth of the h.a.

JEFFR259 · 09/08/2008, 03:56 PM

I may be wrong, but I believe you dont want the phosban, or whaever media your using, to simmer or boil. Atleast with phosban, it will pulverize and turn to dust, which you don't want. I stuff filter floss ontop of the media to keep it from movin or simmering... More or less compacting it down with the floss

Caragol · 09/08/2008, 03:59 PM

It's GFO granules from bulkreefsupply.com, it's not pulverized, just moving enough that I can see that water is flowing through evenly.

09/08/2008, 12:47 PM	#1
Caragol Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 1,567	Algae growing in the output of my phosban reactor?!?! I've got HA, not bryopsis, just plain old hair algae. My phosphates and nitrates test at 0, and I'm assuming the HA is sucking up whatever is there. I've got a fuge and the chaeto grows OK, but not great. So I added a TLF Phosban reactor in my sump in a chamber near the fuge. Brand new GFO ordered from bulkreefsupply.com, brand new reactor. It's been two weeks since I replaced the old media (which I thought might have gone bad somehow) and I'm not seeing a reduction of HA, in fact it seems to still be growing, and I actually have green algae starting to grow in the output tube of my reactor. WHAT GIVES?!?! To answer some questions: I only use 0 TDS RO/DI for topoff and water changes It's a 58g tank with a 15ish (guessing) sump I started with a couple inches of GFO in my reactor, now I'm up to 4 (should be overkill right?) GFO is level in the reactor and looks like it's simmering nicely like a slow boil *Low bioload, I'm feeding very little Has anyone else seen this happen? Man I'm getting frustrated with this algae.

09/08/2008, 01:22 PM	#2
fatboyjoe Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: philadelphia Posts: 122	hair algea is a real mystery. I've spent alot of money trying to get rid of it on the advice from people from various sites. I was told get new bulbs. no help. my h.a. grows a 1/2'' from my light on my return tube and it grows down in the back of my tank in the dark. light seems to have no effect on my h.a.. I was told to increase flow. I doubled my flow. no effect on h.a.. my h.a. grows in my overflow tube and down in the back of my tank where there's almost no flow. I added gfo. no effect. I cut back on feeding. no effect. I tried algea-x. little efffect on h. a. but had to stop treatment early because it killed 2 fish and melted some off my zenia. I added 12 mexican turbos to my 90 gal. about 2 weeks ago. best effect on my h.a.. 90 % h.a. gone. my overflow intake slits were jammed packed with h.a.. today there completly clean as a whistle. I wish I'd tried these guys first. i would of saved alot of money. __________________ joe Current Tank Info: 90 gal reef

09/08/2008, 02:21 PM	#4
fatboyjoe Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: philadelphia Posts: 122	I'm not sure I'd use the sugar or vodka. I tried vitamin-c a little while ago and the h.a. exploded. i think vit-c,sugar and vodka act as a carbon soarse and fuel the growth of the h.a. __________________ joe Current Tank Info: 90 gal reef

09/08/2008, 01:49 PM	#3
Caragol Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 1,567	Yeah, I've done the new bulbs, doubled flow too (flow did help some cyano-attracting dead spots though I think). DSB in my fuge is about 6 months old and hasn't seemed to have an effect yet. My Mexican turbos stay on the glass, rarely go to the rocks. But there are only three. Sally lightfoot is always picking at the algae, but never makes a dent. A team of scarlet hermits haven't made a dent. Algae blenny wouldn't touch anything, can't get a foxface due to the size of my tank. I haven't heard of too many people in my area with sea-hare luck. I don't know where the nutrients are even coming from, except what traces are in the food, unless they're leaching from the rocks. I haven't tried sugar, vodka, zeolit, or ultralith... maybe I'll just add an army of Mexican Turbos and see what happens.

09/08/2008, 03:56 PM	#5
JEFFR259 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 595	I may be wrong, but I believe you dont want the phosban, or whaever media your using, to simmer or boil. Atleast with phosban, it will pulverize and turn to dust, which you don't want. I stuff filter floss ontop of the media to keep it from movin or simmering... More or less compacting it down with the floss

09/08/2008, 03:59 PM	#6
Caragol Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 1,567	It's GFO granules from bulkreefsupply.com, it's not pulverized, just moving enough that I can see that water is flowing through evenly.