algea driving me nuts!
- Thread starter aznnutty
- Start date
Murphs205
gotta love saltwater.....
need a few turbos ,, like 10 or so , when they get it cleaned up a bit sell a few , i have 10 in my 200 and they do a good job , a yellow tang loves that stuff . a good phos reactor and a bigger watt UV would for help on future breakouts too . its a pain but can be dealt with
BigTuna321
New member
i bought a some turbos a while back from aquatic tech and they cleaned up my hair algae great,, get the biggest ones they have.
You really need to eliminate the source of your algae. Have you double checked that your RO/DI water is pure? Are you running older bulbs? Heavy skimming, a phosban reactor to reduce PO4, running 1 cup of carbon changing every 7-10 days, 10% weekly water changes with manual algae removal is honestly your best bet. You can add several cleanup critters or a foxface, but you will only be masking the true issue with the water quality. Hair algae is a pain, but once you get to the root of the problem your life will get better. The algae pictured is too long for any amount of snails to effectively mow down. Remove any rocks you can and scrape the HA off with a toothbrush etc and rinse well with tank water. Your existing snails(properly stocked trochus,astraea, and nerites IMO are the best long term solutions) should keep it mowed down if you follow through on the other actions as well.
funkyman
New member
I know you're a zoo freak. Are you dosing or considering dosing vitamin C? The reason I'm asking is, it's supposed to be good for zoos in general, but the biggest benefit "I" got out of it was the complete anialation of the red cotton candy algae I had.
After dosing the C, it all faded and then eventually disappeared. I also noticed considerable recession of other algaes I had in my sump. My skimmer became much more active, and pulled out a lot of serious contamination it hadn't been in the past. I don't know what if any effect it would have on hair algea, but there's really no harm in trying it.
To get any details about dosing C, just do a search. There are already numerous threads that have delved into this in depth.
After dosing the C, it all faded and then eventually disappeared. I also noticed considerable recession of other algaes I had in my sump. My skimmer became much more active, and pulled out a lot of serious contamination it hadn't been in the past. I don't know what if any effect it would have on hair algea, but there's really no harm in trying it.
To get any details about dosing C, just do a search. There are already numerous threads that have delved into this in depth.
serpentman
part time superhero
IME, the remedy for removing hair algae is pretty simple. Unfortunately simple doesn't necessarily mean easy though. Sea Hares, although good at eating it, only create a band aid. Long term, this is what I have found works every time with hair algea:
First, reduction of nutrients is essential. You probably aren't measuring any detectable levels which is due to the algae itself taking up any and all available PO4 and any NO3. This can be accomplished by reducing the amount you feed, running GFO & Carbon and strong skimming.
Hair algae has this uncanny knack that allows it to "feed" itself by trapping detritus at its base. Therefore, manual removal (or removal by sea hare) is essential. Remove as much as possible by either peeling it off the rocks or taking them out altogether and giving a good scrub. You don't have to get it all as stragglers will wither and die without available nutrients.
Success isn't overnight but with the above method, it should begin to fade with a couple of weeks.
First, reduction of nutrients is essential. You probably aren't measuring any detectable levels which is due to the algae itself taking up any and all available PO4 and any NO3. This can be accomplished by reducing the amount you feed, running GFO & Carbon and strong skimming.
Hair algae has this uncanny knack that allows it to "feed" itself by trapping detritus at its base. Therefore, manual removal (or removal by sea hare) is essential. Remove as much as possible by either peeling it off the rocks or taking them out altogether and giving a good scrub. You don't have to get it all as stragglers will wither and die without available nutrients.
Success isn't overnight but with the above method, it should begin to fade with a couple of weeks.
Hi,
I will be honest, I don't know what causes hair algae. A lot of people quote the coolaid version(water changes,strong skimming,
water circulation, ect.). From time to time I have had hair algae but it seems to go away on it's own. Why? I have heard from other reefers who tried everything and could not get rid of it. Is it water, light, live rock type,water circulation,Vitamin C, Mag levels? Combo of all of these? People who have eliminated hair algae for more than a year please chime in on what you did. I would really like to know.
Dave
I will be honest, I don't know what causes hair algae. A lot of people quote the coolaid version(water changes,strong skimming,
water circulation, ect.). From time to time I have had hair algae but it seems to go away on it's own. Why? I have heard from other reefers who tried everything and could not get rid of it. Is it water, light, live rock type,water circulation,Vitamin C, Mag levels? Combo of all of these? People who have eliminated hair algae for more than a year please chime in on what you did. I would really like to know.
Dave
jake koppen
New member
i just went through a bad hair algae problem in my tank and tried everything to get rid of it. finally i took out all of the rock that had no coral on it (most of it) and bleached it, rinsed it, put in all new sand, steril rock, and 80% new water. and restarted my system. i have a few pieces of live rock on top and some in my sump. i am so happy i did this, it gave me a chance to redo my rock work and add a new look. also when i moved, all of my rock sat and cooked in bins for a week last summer. i think that this led to allot of die off in the rock and trapped garbage feeding the algae.
the budman
New member
i have never had hair algae. tank up for several years. i have a large bioload that i wont detail to avoid scolding. i do bi weekly 10 gallon water changes in my 40 religiously. i use reef crystals only. i run a magnum 350 canister filter. a remora skimmer with the 1200, and a 2 1/2 gallon H.O.T fuge with mangroves and cheato in it. i have at least 40 snails af different types. probly 20 various hermits and 3 mythryx. one of my unnamed fish eats algae but i supplement with nori. i have 3 koralias, 2 #1's and a #2. lots of softies and some lps. i run 260 watts of compact flourescents with 12 hours of dual actininc and the middle 10 of those 12 having the dual daylights on too. led moon lights (2) every night for 6 hours. dont know what im doing to avoid hair algea but its not there. i only dose iodine. maybe some one can explain why theres no hair algae
jake koppen
New member
i recently put the tank back together and had a little bit of hair algae let on some rock that i didn't bleach (with coral on it) but i have no signs of it spreading or thriving for that matter. my tank is looking to be going through the brown algae (start up) phase now, but is looking really good. i really believe that my issue was the old live rock (that really didn't have any critters crawling on it at night any more) had allot of die off in it, along with the substraite, that i figured almost starting fresh was the best option. i could really tell then what was in the tank.
BrunstuckyJoe
Active member
Frost, Funkyman is right about the vit c....I still have a bit of the cotton candy algae in the fuge, but the hair algae is gone and even the normal algae on the glass has just about disappeared also....
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