Getting rid of HA

[zachfishman]

I believe the theory behind dripping calc is that it will precipitate the phos that is in your tank and pull it out of the water column.

Makes sense now. Too bad my tank has no measurable phosphate and as such dripping kalk probably won't alleviate my HA issues...

 

[spazthecat]

Not measurable by test kit or by a Hanna photometer?

IMO PO4 test kits are a waste of money. They simply aren't sensitive enough.

If you have a hair algae problem, then you have elevated levels of phos. You just can't detect it with a test kit. Hanna actually makes a much more affordable pocket photometer that looks interesting. I don't have one but it's on my Christmas list.

--Andy

 

[goochesfish]

At 5 months, hair algae is part of the maturation phase. just like tha diatom bloom earlier on. That's around the time I developed hair algae. Keep up with 10-20% weekly water changes, make sure your source is zero phosphates. If you have no room for a phosphate reactor, try to run passively or in a bag or a hang on sump filter like those used for freshwater tanks.

Even the Hanna photometer will read zero if you have hair algae. The point of the drip is that the phosphate precipitates out before the algae can use it.

I tried it all: algae fix marine, turbo snails, emeralds, sea hare (bad idea), phosphate reactor, manual removal, 3 day lights out, wet skimming. In the end perhaps it just ran it's course. Good luck!

 

[mallorieGgator]

Thanks!

 

[zachfishman]

Not measurable by test kit or by a Hanna photometer?

IMO PO4 test kits are a waste of money. They simply aren't sensitive enough.

If you have a hair algae problem, then you have elevated levels of phos. You just can't detect it with a test kit. Hanna actually makes a much more affordable pocket photometer that looks interesting. I don't have one but it's on my Christmas list.

--Andy

I'll take a look at a digital reader, for now I'll just run some GFO and a polyfilter and see what happens.