Hair Algae Help
- Thread starter klondike4001
- Start date
Manual removal of algae including a tooth brush of the all the plugs. Add a phos & carbon reactor, water changes of 25% twice a week until the NO3 goes down. Possibly different topoff water. Still haven't seen a tds of current water.
Check levels regularly. NO3, PO4, Mag, Ca, Alk Personally I'd check every 3 days and keep a log, day and time.
C u in a couple months.
Check levels regularly. NO3, PO4, Mag, Ca, Alk Personally I'd check every 3 days and keep a log, day and time.
C u in a couple months.
klondike4001
New member
Ok, here's my update, did PO4 test prior to water change, 0 ppm
Changed phosban and carbon on Friday morning. Also trimmed caulerpa and chaeto.
Added 2nd K2 in frag tank, we'll give it a few days, I have a Sohal being delivered on tues to take care of the algae currently in there.
I already have a phosban and carbon reactor on the system, did a 65 gallon water change today, tested the water this evening
DT:
NO3 - 0ppm
NO2 - 0ppm
KH - 250ppm
pH - 8.0
FT:
NO3 - 0ppm
NO2 - 0ppm
KH - 250ppm
pH - 8.0
Changed phosban and carbon on Friday morning. Also trimmed caulerpa and chaeto.
Added 2nd K2 in frag tank, we'll give it a few days, I have a Sohal being delivered on tues to take care of the algae currently in there.
I already have a phosban and carbon reactor on the system, did a 65 gallon water change today, tested the water this evening
DT:
NO3 - 0ppm
NO2 - 0ppm
KH - 250ppm
pH - 8.0
FT:
NO3 - 0ppm
NO2 - 0ppm
KH - 250ppm
pH - 8.0
meschaefer
Premium Member
Been thinking about why you might have HA in your frag tank, but not the display.
I have noticed that many people get HA in their overflows, but not in their display as nutrient rich water is skimmed off the surface. If your frag tank is fed directly from the overflow or from the sump (which is fed from the overflow), it is completely possible that your frag tank would have much higher nutrient levels than the display tank.
I have noticed that many people get HA in their overflows, but not in their display as nutrient rich water is skimmed off the surface. If your frag tank is fed directly from the overflow or from the sump (which is fed from the overflow), it is completely possible that your frag tank would have much higher nutrient levels than the display tank.
klondike4001
New member
If the fish/inverts can't keep it under control, I'm going to alter my plumbing. Maybe add a seperate return pump to the frag tank.
klondike4001
New member
I want to repeat, there's no HA on my rock.....
Looks a little coarse to be the dreaded HA. I was suspecting bryopsis as well. When I had HA, it was very fine textured like long, fine fur. If you want to try the lights out regimen, try running your system without lights for 3 full days. If it's in a room with high ambient light, you might want to drape it as well. Worked wonders on my tank. You will want to skim it hard for the 10 days following the treatment as the skimmer will pull out a lot of compounds from the dying/decomposing algae. It came back to some extent later but nowhere near as bad as before. Good luck.
klondike4001
New member
I did 2 days w/o lights 1 w/ a new sohal munching on it, yesterday would have been day 3 w/o light, but when I did a quick once over w/ a flashlight no algae remained, skimmer worked overtime for the 2 days w/o lights, but it seems for now the problem is gone.
customdusty
New member
I have claimed victory over my hair algae problem in my 90 gal... I tried several different things, and ultimately I found the right combination to eradicate it and not let it come back.
At first, I added a massive clean up crew - a variety of snails and hermit crabs - maybe 80 of them. They helped keep my tank clean and attacked diatom algae, but nothing would go after hair algae, esepcially if it was longer than 1/2".
I tried removing it manually and reducing my full light hours, which helped, but once I got back to increasing ligthing times, it would come back.
I then went with purchasing 2 emerald crabs every 2 weeks until I found a couple that would actually eat the longer hair algae - it took me 4 tries and 8 emeralds, but I have some now that munch on the hair non-stop.
Removing the algae was great, but I needed to address the root cause of the issue which was a nutrient problem. I started adjusting my feeding patterns to minimize excess uneaten food, but also pursued a reactor running phosban and carbon. It took roughly 4 weeks, and my water smells better and I have no recurring hair algae propogating anywhere in the tank.
Success.
At first, I added a massive clean up crew - a variety of snails and hermit crabs - maybe 80 of them. They helped keep my tank clean and attacked diatom algae, but nothing would go after hair algae, esepcially if it was longer than 1/2".
I tried removing it manually and reducing my full light hours, which helped, but once I got back to increasing ligthing times, it would come back.
I then went with purchasing 2 emerald crabs every 2 weeks until I found a couple that would actually eat the longer hair algae - it took me 4 tries and 8 emeralds, but I have some now that munch on the hair non-stop.
Removing the algae was great, but I needed to address the root cause of the issue which was a nutrient problem. I started adjusting my feeding patterns to minimize excess uneaten food, but also pursued a reactor running phosban and carbon. It took roughly 4 weeks, and my water smells better and I have no recurring hair algae propogating anywhere in the tank.
Success.
