Algae Question - leave it or yank it?

[1F2FRFBF]

Hi All!

Relatively new tank here, going through the growing pains of algae blooms. I've been doing regular water changes (once a week, 10%) and limiting my feeding (I don't have that much to feed anyway). I'm also planning to install the SCWD I ordered to improve the water flow patterns - I was waiting on delivery of a couple of parts from Modular Hose.

So I have this green hairy algae growing all over my rocks and sandbed, and here's the question. If this is indeed "new tank syndrome", will the algae die off and disappear all by itself, or should I help things along by removing some by hand? How long does it generally take for the bloom to go through its cycle?

Thanks in advance...

 

[cowboyswife]

When I had hair algae, I ripped off as much as I could by hand, and I got 2 mexican turbo snails. They are hair algae lawn mowers.

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

manual removal is always a cool thing. you are definitely exporting bound nutrients. I always feel better about the day if I can remove some little sneaky bit of green stuff from my system.

 

[returnofsid]

Hair algae won't usually disappear with tank cycling like diatom algae will. Manually removing it will be your best bet. Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[1F2FRFBF]

Cowboyswife -- I'll look into the Mexican Turbos for sure. Pulling this stuff off the rocks myself is a challenge. Do you use fingers, or a toothbrush, or something else?

F-n-F -- Got the algae off the sandbed, no problem there. I feel better already. Ahhhh. :lol:

Returnofsid -- Yes, I do use RO/DI. The unit was one of my up-front investments. Time for more test kits?

Thanks for your responses, everyone.

 

[cowboyswife]

I used my fingers and a toothbrush. Its really hard to get off, but it will definitely pay off.

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

 

[Abynum1]

This definitely helps weaken the hair algae, it got rid of about 90% of mine and ALL of the cyano:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532

 

[1F2FRFBF]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9788336#post9788336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Abynum1
This definitely helps weaken the hair algae, it got rid of about 90% of mine and ALL of the cyano:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532

I did see that, but I wasn't sure it applied to my situation - it seemed like the folks looking for a remedy were those with well-established systems already, and mine's relatively new (about 3 months).

I've been reading here for a long time even before I signed up, and what I understood was that a new tank would go through some periods of growth and die-off as the different elements of a mature reef tank began to come together. But after reading a lot about hair algae I got concerned that this might be an ongoing nuisance instead of just a stage, so I figured I'd get some clarification.

I'll have to give the lights-out thing a try. Thanks!