Hair Algae!

[garrett3423]

hey there. i, as the title says, have a tank that's plagued with hair algae. i mean its great to keep nitrates and phosphates down but not so good when it grows in between your zoas and you rip them apart trying to get it out. more like depressing. got mexican turbo snails and they havent even put a dent in it. i have a nitrate/phosphate remover in my filter, but cutting the lights off on the tank wont cut it cause im currently propagating corals for a new business venture (top secret for now) i think it has something to do with my sandbed. i have algae problems with it quite a bit, theres always something growing on it. im trying to tackle the problem with marco algae but its still not enough, i grows very welll but doesnt slow down the other algae much.

i've got 2 kinds of hair alga, short non branching and long branching almost brushlike algae. definitely prefer the long cause its easier to pick out. but i dont want any at all lol.

i've got a 30 gallon show tank and a 10 gallon refugium/ sump. 2 clowns, 1 yellow tail damsel, 4 mollys all young. in fuge i've got one adult damsel (havent been able to get rid of it) tank is lit by 2 65w pc lights and one 250w metal halide.

i've got 2 turbo snails in there, some hermit crabs, mollys like to pick at algae, but nothing makes a dent in it. and of course i wanna fix the problem not address the symptom. but im not sure what im doing wrong. i feed twice a day, sometimes once. is it my sandbed? i dont really have anything sifting through it to aerate it, could it just be detrius trap?

also what fish/ invertibrate/ sea monsters have been known to eat hair algae really well? im ready to be done with this problem. ANY suggestions are more than welcome and very appreciated.

[shellzreef]

Originally Posted by garrett3423

hey there. i, as the title says, have a tank that's plagued with hair algae. i mean its great to keep nitrates and phosphates down but not so good when it grows in between your zoas and you rip them apart trying to get it out. more like depressing. got mexican turbo snails and they havent even put a dent in it. i have a nitrate/phosphate remover in my filter, but cutting the lights off on the tank wont cut it cause im currently propagating corals for a new business venture (top secret for now) i think it has something to do with my sandbed. i have algae problems with it quite a bit, theres always something growing on it. im trying to tackle the problem with marco algae but its still not enough, i grows very welll but doesnt slow down the other algae much.

i've got 2 kinds of hair alga, short non branching and long branching almost brushlike algae. definitely prefer the long cause its easier to pick out. but i dont want any at all lol.

i've got a 30 gallon show tank and a 10 gallon refugium/ sump. 2 clowns, 1 yellow tail damsel, 4 mollys all young. in fuge i've got one adult damsel (havent been able to get rid of it) tank is lit by 2 65w pc lights and one 250w metal halide.

i've got 2 turbo snails in there, some hermit crabs, mollys like to pick at algae, but nothing makes a dent in it. and of course i wanna fix the problem not address the symptom. but im not sure what im doing wrong. i feed twice a day, sometimes once. is it my sandbed? i dont really have anything sifting through it to aerate it, could it just be detrius trap?

also what fish/ invertibrate/ sea monsters have been known to eat hair algae really well? im ready to be done with this problem. ANY suggestions are more than welcome and very appreciated.

I just got done war with this. I didnt get a Phosban reactor, i just put the bag of phosphate remover in my sump by the water flow, cut down my light time about four hours, and dropped two emerald crab in. Those two did short work of it. It was like someone mowed the grass, it was almost fully gone in 24 hours. I also learned a cool trick. U know how it wont come off the rock. I purchased a new piece of hose to siphon water. I cut a star like pattern out on one end, to make it like a brush, so while scrapping across rock it pull's that crap off instead of going right over it. ...just a tip, good luck!

[Crossbow]

Stop feeding twice a day. I only feed once every other day. Your fish will not starve. Almost all fish foods have phosphate in them. This is adding to your problem. Also, don't use tap water. Only use RO/DI water. Tap water is also a big contributor of phosphate in most cases. Keep trying to remove the algae from the tank, cut back on feeding, and use RO/DI water. All these things will help.

[Jane]

I feel your pain ...been there several times and yes it probably as some to do with the age of the sand bed. How old is the sand bed? If it is more than 5 years old replace it. Here is what I did: I replaced my sand bed, cleaned the protein skimmer, frequent frequent water changes with RO/DI water and run the phosban reactor with fresh phosphate remover. Within a week you should see the hair algea turning the other way. When you pluck it try and not let any float. You can swish a fish net through the water to catch any that does. Keep this up until it is gone.

[garrett3423]

emerald crabs uh? they wont hurt any corals right? and i use purified water for water changes, also any recommendations on a phos reactor? will cut down on feedings also

[Frogmanx82]

Emeralds are ok for corals, I just don't find them that effective on hair algae. I'd go with scarlet hermits, maybe a dozen of them.

[zachfishman]

Originally Posted by Frogmanx82

Emeralds are ok for corals, I just don't find them that effective on hair algae. I'd go with scarlet hermits, maybe a dozen of them.

Conversely I've found scarlet hermits to be worthless as hair algae grazers, while my emerald mows down my GHA. Solution: buy both haha.

[racefan]

I had a hair algae problem & I got a Sea Hare. He mowed right through it! I also cut back on feeding & added a Phosphate reactor. You may need to check with your LFS about buying a SH back if you go that route because they can die once they are all done with the hair algae.

[NYCBOB]

mexican trubo snails wont touch the hair algae unless you trim it short.

[scuba guy ron]

here is an excerpt from post I did recetly on this topic. I've been where you are and I hope this helps.

when I first began reefkeeping I had a hair alge issue overwhelm my entire tank to the point of pondering quitting the hobby. Every square inch of my 45 gallon was covered completely I scrubbed and scrubbed my rocks to no avail. I added animal for control. Testing for phosphates was also a waste since the tests read 0 because phosphates were being taken up by the algae. Once I started to listen to those on these forums and really read about the root of the issue, the problem slowly became corrected.

I found that the water I was getting from my LFS was full of phosphates. I didnt have $ to purchase my own ro/di so I went to another trusted LFS and began to use their water until I smartened up and purchased my own RO/DI.

I purchased a $40.00 phosphate reactor and began running GFO.

I began an every other day feeding regiment and feeded minimally wen I did.

I also began doing bi weekly water changes.

At about the 30-45 day period I began to see the hair algae detach from the rocks little by little. I'd periodically reach into the tank and pinch off what I could. At about the 60 day mark I was beginning to see the tank go through a serious change. The water began to look clearer, huge areas were free of hair algae.

somewhere between 3-6 months my reef was completely clear of hair algae.

I now make my own RO/DI that is tested with a TDS meter and do weekly water changes.

IMO just adding a control animal will not stop the algae problem. you need to tackle the root of the problem.

A few questions for you.

-Where are you getting your water?
-have you tested your water prior to introducing it into the aquarium?
-How long has the tank been running?
-How often do you do water changes ?
-what are your tests reading?

[garrett3423]

i get my water in gallon jugs from walmart or super1 (make sure the waters reverse osmosis filtered) i havent, im gonna try that, 7 months at least maybe 8, once every few weeks, all zero of course.

[scuba guy ron]

that water is not DI. Id b willing to bet that is where the phosphates are coming from.

[garrett3423]

really? i figured it'd be clean. well crap. anyone got any suggestions for a good ro/di unit? >.<

[scuba guy ron]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...us-system.html

[Tajjo]

I have some problems myself and can't kick the hair algea! I haven't fed in 1 month prior to that it was 3 times a week. I have a 5 stage ro/di that's doing a great job of filtering he water. I have lots of hermit crabs and emerald crabs, and a foxface which seems to be the only critter that eats it. I scrub and a week later it's back, thankfully it's not spreading but it's not receeding either. I am also running gfo.

This seems like an endless battle, I'm thinking of trying bio pellets. Any ideas what else I might be able to do?

[Frogmanx82]

Macro algae or algae turf scrubber.

[Woogiekids]

Sea hares mowed mine down in a few days, and then I passed them on.

[Tajjo]

I gonna have to grab a sea hare.

[nanojg]

Pincushion urchin destroyed my algea FAST

[Tajjo]

I got 3 of those and they take care of this purple algea that looks like velvet. As far as the hair algea they won't touch it.

[Tomasko]

i found that cutting back feeding to once every other day especially flake food...and only rodi publix distilled and drinking waters have phospate in them havent had a backlash of hair in about 3 months now..gluck