Hair algae pruning...

[reefsrus]

Hi, i seem to be having a pretty bad hair algae outbreak.... My question isnt about getting rid of it, because i can already how to do that. This is kind of hard to explain what im wondering though.

In the largly infested areas in my tank the strands of hair are getting 3+ inches. Im wondering if this would do me more harm than good to rip all the large pieces out.

Does hair algae re release a lot phosphates into the tank while getting ripped out?

Does this encourage the spots near the base to grow faster once ripped out?

Is there any advantages to ripping it out, i always thought that hair algae goes through cycles, so even if there if there isnt a source that giving large levels of phosphates to your tank for it to feed off. It continues growing and dying, and the die off lets out enough phosphates for the new places to grow.

So im thinking when i rip out a lot of it, its almost like taking phosphates out of your tank.

This may sound really confusing, its kind of hard for me to put this in words.. sorry.

Thanks for any help, lmk if im to confusing.

 

[drblank1]

Reefsrus,

It is good to harvest the algae but can be bad if you are not careful.

Why it is good: When algae dies, it releases the nutrients that fed it's growth back into the water, thus, promoting the growth of new algae and feeding the existing algae. So harvesting helps to prevent potential future nutrient contributions.

Why it can be bad: When you rip it out, you cause fragments that will enter the water column. These fragments will settle in another area of your tank and cause new patches of growth. So take care to avoid this from happening.

To prevent this, I use a 3/8" ID hose and siphon the algae into a fine filter bag and the water empties back into my sump. This way I can siphon for an unlimited amount of time, limit the fragmentation, and not lose water level and blow air. The siphon sucks the algae right of the rock, but not completely. It does grow back, but I've been able to control it this way until I find a permanent solution (like the correct sp. of rabbit fish).

Good luck,
Dennis