Hair algae confusion

[klatt]

Hi all! Ive been battling a hair algae problem for the past 2 months. My tank is 12 months old this month. Ive spent hours online trying to educate myself on how to battle this, and nothing I try seems to help. Ive cut back on feeding, half a cube of PE mysis shrimp per day and a quarter sheet of dried algae every 2 days. A few basics about my tank: my skimmer is rated for a 220 Gal tank, my tank is 100G. I've been running GFO in a reactor since before my first fish, which i change with each WC. About 6 months ago I started using No3Po4x when my nitrates started creeping up fasted than my 2 week WC schedule could handle. That worked great and I finally settled on 2.5ml per day, about a month into that dosing I started getting white fuzzy rocks, which i read was probably caused by bacteria from nopox, so I went to 2 ml per day, everything stayed fine after that. My skimate has continued to be a light brown tea color ever since, no hint of green.

Then just in august I changed from changed from cheap current orbit leds to kessil a360we's, and after a learning curve where i blasted way too much light, 85% power, I dialed back to 60% and the corals are doing fine. I am partly thinking that that couple week period when i blasted my tank with light may have been the start of the hair algae issue, just a guess. Then at christmas I added 2 actinic T5 bulbs to round out lighting. Then in early to mid jan the algae bloom happened. Since then Ive added a box of marine pure balls to sump, slowly upped my nopox dosing to 4ml per day(thinking it will help fight that phosphate, wherever its coming from). I change my filter socks everyday, as well as skimmer neck. I also changed out my refugium bulb as my macro algae growth has slowed way down over the past 2 months, and added a red LED plant light to try out.

Sorry that was so long, just trying to cover everything ive read about hair algae over the past month. It sounds like its not very likely that the phosphate is leaching off the live rock (BRS coral savers dry rock) after 11 months, right? How low can I drop my feeding? Stop feeding tank every other day? I understand its nutrients feeding algae, but my feeding seemed so small before not sure where issue is coming from. I've been picking it out during water changes, but this week its really seemed to explode in growth so i decided to post here for help. Also the hair algae isn't really lush green colored but a greenish brown.

If you made it to the end of all that, thanks!

Edit: I do have an rodi system and I recently replaced the filters, in case that was a factor.

 

[Bogue Chitto]

What are your parameter readings? Sounds like your magnesium may be low. Maybe something else.

 

[Sk8r]

It CAN be the rock, but I don't know BRS coral savers rock. My limestone rock did that number after such a time, and it just took more rounds of gfo. Now the rock is acquiring coralline, bald as an egg. But mine was pure holey limestone, which can be good at that sort of trickery, just saves it up, then gives out.

 

[klatt]

My alk is always between 7 and 8, and calcium between 500 and 400, but recently ive found it 360. I dont currently test for Mg, my calcium usage has been slow enough that a WC every other week takes care of that level. And I use Red Sea Coral Pro Salt, which from what I understand has higher than normal levels of Mg in the salt mixture. That's one thing I have not read, that low Mg levels will cause hair algae growth. Maybe I will get a Mg test kit and check that next.

I have been thinking about starting to dose kalk because my calcium uptake has only recently started to lag behind water changes, maybe that means Mg is low too.

And should I increase my GFO replacement? Ive never had any reading on Po4 kits.

 

[Bogue Chitto]

It may be a good idea to increase the GFO. The Po4 might be getting eat up by the hair algae.

 

[klatt]

Its been four months now and Im still having the same issue with hair algae. I bought a ultra low range phosphorus hanna checker and Ive consistently gotten readings of 0. Its really confusing me, ive read if i have hair algae I defiantly have phosphate, but im just not seeing it on even the expensive ultra low range tester.

Ive started blowing off my rocks with a baster every day, and I do get a lot of junk blown into the water column. Im starting to think maybe the hair algae is getting the Po4 it needs straight from detritus that settles in it. Is it uncommon to have lots of junk blow off the rocks each time i clean them? Maybe I don't have enough flow?

I bought a new Sicce x stream DC pump and will be installing it on tues in case my flow is insufficient and not keeping the rocks clean enough.

Any other ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Klatt

 

[shifty51008]

most likely you don't have enough flow in the tank if stuff is allowing to settle on the rocks.

as for the phosphates and HA it just means the HA is using up all the phosphates in the tank, this is why you don't see any on your checker.

 

[CStrickland]

Rocks can leach phosphate they absorb after you buy them. Sometimes you see tanks going well for about a year or 18 months and then have algae blooms like this. The idea is that there was a phosphate problem and the rock was soaking it up, then the the rock got full and it was available for the algae. Especially if the flow is insufficient such that the food and poo are landing on the rocks and decaying there then the algae grow and can trap more poo like a bad cycle.

How much, and what you feed depends on what fish you have. If they don't need the algae sheets those are a good thing to skip because they are very rich. Also do you have some snails or crabs that eat algae?

 

[klatt]

I noticed my yellow tang getting a bleached out spot on its dorsal fin and both my tang and foxface were starting to lose chunks of their fins. I attributed that to not enough plant matter in their diet (they just were not grazing on the rocks like i would like them to ). So I decided that I needed to feed them some algae sheets for their health. I put in one sheet, twice a week.

I do have both snails (trochus and turbo) and crabs (blue legged hermit) that seem to do a good job keeping the outside faces of the rocks clean, but the algae that they cant seem to get to (growing out of all the nooks and crannies of the rock work) is the issue Im not solving.

 

[jam.jo]

How long are your lights on each day? I would keep them 8 hours max, but temporarily shut them off for a day or two if you can. How many turbos do you have in there? Maybe add a few more to help cut down the existing algae. Have you tried testing silicates? What are you nitrate levels? I wouldn't dose the No3O4-X. It states on the bottle not to use it in conjunction with phosphate removers (GFO). Are you supplementing anything that contains iron? Iron will increase algae growth, so be careful of too much dosing of anything with iron. Phosphate tests give false results when algae is present because the algae is consuming it from the water. How often do you water change? I would try once a week if not already just to help with nutrient control until the algae is under control. Do you have a refugium? Chaeto can help reduce some of the nutrients as well.

 

[klatt]

My main lights are on from 10 to 6, I had backed them way back for a while but my corals suffered and the HA persisted. There are 3 turbos in the tank, all bigger than a golf ball now, have grown a lot since i got them. I have not tested silicates ever. My nitrates test (red sea tester) are consistently at zero. Im scared of what will happen if I stop NoPox dosing, i dont want to lose what control I do have. The only other thing I am dosing is the Red Sea Reef Energy A and B, but I didnt start dosing that until about 2 months ago, well after the algae issue emerged.

I understand that the tests will give a false reading because of the HA, but even the Ultra Low Range test never shows any phosphate whatsoever. I do a 25% water change every other week, during which I scrub the HA that I can get to off the rock work. I do have a refugium with chaeto and calerpa.

 

[jam.jo]

So when using this product, it should be dosed daily and over a few weeks increase the dosage, but once the levels drop, you have to stop dosing to keep the levels where they are without overdosing. The thing with NO PO4 X is it reduces nitrates and phosphates well, but it can also cause problems with the bacterial population especially since you have a sump with bioballs. You may find Red Sea's FAQ's slightly helpful http://www.redseafish.com/faq/ when looking into this product. Another thing could be how much and how often you are dosing the reef energy. Basically, it all stems from nutrient control. Lighting is a factor that helps algae grow quicker, so it is a good idea to try to limit how much light you are providing for the algae to spread, without harming your corals. Maybe try cutting back to 6 hours and see how the corals are doing. The rock should be okay, it is dry rock and has been in the tank for a long period of time. I would definitely try the once a week water changes for now until things are looking better.