HAIR ALGAE from my pc's???

[pham411]

hey rc community,
i had pcs on my tank until i replaced them with mh's. the pc's are now used in my sump/ref which resently had a huge bloomed with hair algae. the hair algae has basiclly taken over my other macro algaes (chaeto). my nitrates are undetectable and my phosphates are also undetectable. my main tank has no hair algae at all, only in my sump/ref. could this be because of my pc's. they are about 9 months old.

while we are on the subject of hair algae. should i remove it by hand or let it recead on its own. im afraid if i remove it, it may hurt the balance in my tank somehow.

thanks

 

[MinibowMatt]

HA doesnt grow because of lights. HA grows when there is an over-abundance of nutrient, namely phos. even though you may not be detecting any now, doesnt mean it isnt there. You need to remove those nutrients thru WC's and macro algeas..

 

[pham411]

wc's???
so old pc's dont cause HA?
maybe im feeding to much?

 

[pham411]

well let me describe my setup
75g display, 55g sump/ref, euroreefc180 skimmer, 5" dsb in refugium and displaytank, pfo hood 150w X 2 w/vho actinics, sump/ref has 2 96w pc, tank has been running for 5 months. things are looking good, just the HA in my refugium seems to be out of control.

 

[chef19872002]

hey pham old pc bulbs can cause hair algae I have experienced it for myself yes water changes and phosphate removers are great but you need to get it out of your system it wont cause an inbalance in your tank all it will do is start to reseed itself into your show tank hope that helps Tom

 

[dead beat reef]

checked my onwers manuel power compacts should be changed
every 12 months. you did not say if your sump/ref had lighting
before the power compacts were added. the big change in
lighting might cause a h/a bloom in the sump. is h/a in the sump
a bad thing? pulls nutrients adds ox. you can remove by hand
add turbo snails or let it run its course. my sump has h/a I just
clean the sides let the l/r sand do whatever. no h/a in dis tank.

 

[mm949]

you can black the fuge..no lights for 3 days....if algae is gone its the pc's....if not its a nutrient issue....

pc's are good for 6-9months depending on hourly usage...