Green hair algea problem

Axel3034

Axel3034

New member
So I had a problem start a couple months back with green hair algea, I added a dual reactor with GFO and Carbon in it and it doesn't not seem to be helping the situation. I just tested the tank for phosphate and nitrate and I got phosphate at 1.0 and nitrate at 20ppm, I also lowered the lighting cycle down to 5 hours a day split throughout the day because I have corals, I'm wondering if the algea is going to start dying off on its own or if there is something else I should be doing
 
you need to lower the phosphates and nitrates. algae scrubber or growing macro algae like chaeto could also help.
 
There are a lot of different ways to battle PO4. Is the GFO used up? Are you over feeding? Are your lights going bad? Just somethings to think about that come to mind. chaeto Will help for sure. An ATS would work better then GFO but now that you have a reactor not sure if I would get rid of it to run an ATS.
 
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Really the trick is to export more nutrients than you input. If you do that you won't have any problems. You need more than one method of nutrient reduction though.
 
IMO you should either have GFO, ats, or chaeto. But you also need to solve the problem of getting the rocks free of phos. Do weekly water changes and use a turkey basted to blast the rock. Crank up your powerheads and get all that waste into your filter. I also like to dose NOPOX during the process.


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whosurcaddie said:
Really the trick is to export more nutrients than you input. If you do that you won't have any problems. You need more than one method of nutrient reduction though.
Click to expand...

Huh. I have never heard it put quite that way. That makes a lot of sense. I have always thought my skimmer was doing a great job, but maybe not?
 
Pigpen17 said:
Huh. I have never heard it put quite that way. That makes a lot of sense. I have always thought my skimmer was doing a great job, but maybe not?
Click to expand...

True.

But aren't there cases of water is "too clean"??? I meant algae isn't the only thing that survives on nutrients in the water column. Maybe, the trick is fine tuning how much nutrients you want to leave in the water?!?!?!

I'm also new and my rocks are full of algae. I do 25-30% weekly WC with 0 tds water, feed sparingly, and my full spectrum LEDs is on 6-7hrs a day. Two months ago I threw away my sand and scrubbed the rocks clean. Yet, the algae is creeping back.

My next arsenal would be GFO and further reduce the lighting period. But what the OP said about GFO is not very encouraging.

My head hurts.:headwalls:
 
I am dealing with the same problem. If you use newer rocks, they leach phosphate, which feeds your GHA problem.

Using a toothbrush to physically rip out as much GHA every few days, using cheato in a sump and getting rid of half of it once a week (to get it to keep growing and suck up more nutrients) and GFO are all good things to do.

Trying to not overfeed is also helpful, but in the grand scheme of thigns, just getting through the Phos spikes is the big thing to worry about now, and manual removal, GFO and frequent cheato harvesting are the best ways...
 
newbie2014 said:
True.

But aren't there cases of water is "too clean"??? I meant algae isn't the only thing that survives on nutrients in the water column. Maybe, the trick is fine tuning how much nutrients you want to leave in the water?!?!?!

I'm also new and my rocks are full of algae. I do 25-30% weekly WC with 0 tds water, feed sparingly, and my full spectrum LEDs is on 6-7hrs a day. Two months ago I threw away my sand and scrubbed the rocks clean. Yet, the algae is creeping back.

My next arsenal would be GFO and further reduce the lighting period. But what the OP said about GFO is not very encouraging.

My head hurts.:headwalls:
Click to expand...

Live rock or base rock? Base rock should be treated before being added to the tank. An ATS would be the way to go as far as getting rid of algae. You could make one for $50 to $30. Also you don't know how high his PO4 was before he started using GFO. like anything it takes time to work and it does work. OP is trying to fix something after it has become a problem it would have been better to try and prevent PO4 from becoming a problem from the start. Like running GFO sooner.
 
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AZBigJohn said:
I am dealing with the same problem. If you use newer rocks, they leach phosphate, which feeds your GHA problem.

Using a toothbrush to physically rip out as much GHA every few days, using cheato in a sump and getting rid of half of it once a week (to get it to keep growing and suck up more nutrients) and GFO are all good things to do.

Trying to not overfeed is also helpful, but in the grand scheme of thigns, just getting through the Phos spikes is the big thing to worry about now, and manual removal, GFO and frequent cheato harvesting are the best ways...
Click to expand...

I bought the live rock and sand used from one of the local club members. It was in a bucket submersed in 50 degree water, so calling it "live" was quite a stretch. The tank has been up 6 months, and the algae is still growing strong.

I'm sumpless atm; not by choice. So, harvesting chaeto or incorporating ATS is impossible.

I've been holding off on using GFO because I'm trying in balance things out naturally. But, it looks like I will have to do it.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
SFish said:
Live rock or base rock? Base rock should be treated before being added to the tank. An ATS would be the way to go as far as getting rid of algae. You could make one for $50 to $30. Also you don't know how high his PO4 was before he started using GFO. like anything it takes time to work and it does work. OP is trying to fix something after it has become a problem it would have been better to try and prevent PO4 from becoming a problem from the start. Like running GFO sooner.
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It's dead "live" rocks and sand that I got from a local reefer.

Adding an ATS might not be possible since I'm sumpless.

You're right, it might have been easier if I started using GFO sooner. I was trying to balance things out naturally by using cleanup crew, among other things. It works to a certain extend; my blenny is fat like a pig.

Thanks for the tips.
 
They make hang on the back sumps. Might be something to think about if you don't have room under the tank. If it's cost you can make a sump for $50. Petco $/gal sale. Here's an in tank ATS http://youtu.be/qGLnBvDkaO0
I think a reactor hanging off the back of the tank would look better though. Just some ideas.
 
SFish said:
They make hang on the back sumps. Might be something to think about if you don't have room under the tank. If it's cost you can make a sump for $50. Petco $/gal sale. Here's an in tank ATS http://youtu.be/qGLnBvDkaO0
I think a reactor hanging off the back of the tank would look better though. Just some ideas.
Click to expand...

My limitation is that the stand that I have doesn't have room for a sump. It's one of those Petco stands that has shelves underneath.

Thanks for the link. Just watch the whole video. Good idea, but it will be unsightly to have that inside the tank. And the light source will have to be pretty close to the glass to prevent light from leaking into the DT. You're right, a HOB GFO will be more discreet.

Thanks again
 
I'll add in as it hasnt been mentioned and I feel like it usually should be...If the tank is young (less than 1 year old), you can kind of expect various waves of algaes before the tank begins to balance out the algae/bacterial strains. No amount of chemical filtration will cover it up entirely. Ways to reduce the chance of prolonging it would be to ensure your sandbed is either very shallow and kept clean, or very deep and never touched. Urchins and turbo snails love to consume hair algae, and if your tank is 100 gallons or bigger, Foxface rabbitfish are spectacular algae eaters as well. Just make sure you're not overfeeding, keep up with water changes, make sure your skimmer is working well, and conservative use of GFO and carbon. Time, patience, and diligence as well as some tank size-appropriate livestock additions will have your algae issues under control.
 
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