green hair algae

[Adam Rasmussen]

how do you combat green hair algae ? just in two days it blew up in my tank . my readings are good 0 across the bored ,calc 420 , meq/l 3.5 , and my lights are only on for 8 hrs. a day . help please its all over my rock and glass but im more worried about the rock

 

[bheron]

a few ques:

- how new is the tank? could be an algae bloom.

- do you have a cleanup crew? if so, what?

- basically its caused by light and excessive nutrients. dont worry about the light, b/c you need it. are you overfeeding? are you doing waterchanges?

 

[Adam Rasmussen]

my tank is about 6 or 7 weeks old
i have 3 turbo snails , 4 narsarius snails , 11 mexican red leg hermit , brown serpent star
ive done a 10% water change every week since my cycle ended

i have a 65 gal tank , emporer 400 h.o.b , 125 gal super skimmer , 36" 2x 96 watt orbit with 10k and 420 actinic , 110 watt allglass w/ 2x 50/50 reef bulbs , and 60 lbs of base rock and 45 lbs live rock with a 4.5 in. DSB

 

[JenK]

My tank is 8 weeks old - green hair algae started getting out of control about 2 weeks ago (and is still out of control).

Reading other post, sounds like this is part of the cycle to a mature tank - anybody know how long this is supposed to last on average, till the algae stage subsides?

 

[bheron]

it could be that. what kind of "bioload" do you have? i.e - what living things that produce waste do you have in the way of fish and corals?

 

[kevin21]

i got rid of my bloom(which was terrible i might add) by scraping of as much as possible and getting 4 mexican turbo snails.

they mow right through the stuff.

hth

 

[Adam Rasmussen]

my tank is about 8 weeks old as well and my hair algae is just starting but i want to nip it in the bud . on top of a cleaning my bio load is a small false perc. clown , small yellow watchman goby , and i just added a algae blenny ( lawnmower ) and my clean up crew of 4 narsarius snails , 3 large turbo snails , 11 mexican red leg hermit crabs , and 1 small brown serpent star . i added the clean up crew on the down ward part of my nitrite cycle , and the clown after my cycle was complete (after first water change) and added the goby about a week and half after the clown and i just added the blenny today to help with the algae plus they are 1 of my favorite fish . i spot feed both fish small amounts 1 time daily and what ever gets passed the fish the crabs and snails are all over it . i noticed the algae problem not so much with the bio load but more when i started running the 10k bulb in my orbit( so i stopped running it for now ) which was about 5 days ago , other wise i was only running my 420 actinic (orbit) and my 110 watt allglass fixture which has 50/50 reef bulbs. what should i do ?

p.s.
i dont plan on adding any other fish for about 4 months for those who think ive stocked to quickly. i want to add some easy corals once i get the algae problem under control

 

[bheron]

sounds like you should be ok then. must just be an algae bloom. i would do a water change just as you have been.

 

[74nautique]

Check for phosphates (PO4) also.