hair algae in overflows?

[dilligaf_biker69]

Do you let any hair algae grow in your overflows?...why?...or why not?

 

[billsreef]

Nope. It has a way of plugging things up and causing drain trouble

 

[axia55]

I let it grow on the outside of the box, I never get any inside for some reason.

 

[bjkramer]

My overflows and snails (yes on the snails like wigs) are the only place I still get hair algae. Not sure why. Any ideas? I clean the overflows and give the snails a haircut once a month or so.

 

[coralnut99]

If you let it grow in the teeth of your overflows, it will physically block water from entering the overflow fast enough as billsreef noted. In extreme cases what will happen is the water level in the tank will rise. Through whatever means you use to top off your sump, you will add more water. Therefore you could end up lowering salinity to some degree by compensating for water that hasn't evaporated, but is being retained in your tank via a slightly higher water level. Also, if left in the teeth, hair algae creates more possibilities for other things to accumulate, and as also noted, can cause more plumbing problems.

 

[Zedar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10440972#post10440972 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bjkramer
My overflows and snails (yes on the snails like wigs) are the only place I still get hair algae. Not sure why. Any ideas? I clean the overflows and give the snails a haircut once a month or so.

Maybe the surface water has more nutrients the then rest of the tank?

The same reason a protein skimmer removes waste. Wastes are attracted to the air. They're hydrophobic.

The same stuff is on the surface so allot of it gets stuck in the overflow and provides food.

 

[bjkramer]

ok, and what about the snails? They need a bath?

 

[KEstep]

I place an egg crate box over the drain intake and place two turbo snails in the overflow to "clean house". If snails in the tank have hair algae it sounds like you may need a few more snails. In my own displays the snails clean off everything and each other.

 

[Zedar]

have no idea why they have it

 

[Pauper]

The other problem could be you have strong lighting over your overflow. High nutrients + strong lighting gave me that same problem in my last tank.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

I scrape it as it accumulates, so as to keep things flowing well. Algae grow well on overflows (and the outlfow of pumps, and areas of strong waterflow, etc.) because the rapid waterflow results an an exceptionally thin diffusive boundary layer for the algae, increasing the rate of mass transfer of nutrients. Basically, algae that are growing in slack waterflow suck all the nutrients out of the water right around their cells. The slower the waterflow the thicker the layer of stagnant water and the slower the rate new nutrients become available. With higher waterflow the nutrients get replenished faster. Thus, even though there are not higher nutrients, it "seems" as though there are. On top of this, grazing is usually reduced in these places. It's a perfect spot for algae to grow. And some people tell me algae don't like strong waterflow....tell them that

cj

 

[mr_o98]

I get hair algae on in my overflow as well. I pick it out with every water change. Thanks for the info MCsaxmaster, I always wondered why I got hair algae in the overflow and nowhere else.