hair algae / sea hare

[BubbaT]

going a little crazy. bought a sea hare two days ago to get rid of an algae outbreak. I believe it to be derbesia hair algae. the sea hare just goes straight over it and only cleans my glass.

trying to figure out the root of the problem with no luck.

RO/DI water - BRS 5 stage chloromines plus
BRS HC GFO (reactor)
BRS rox 0.8 carbon (reactor)
radions 50% power
been doing 40 gal. water changes every other day
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
ph 8.25
phos - 0 (could be locked up in the algae?)
nitrate 1.5 (can't seem to get it lower)
Cal - 435
dKH - 9
Mg - 1600

my tank is 180 gals. refugium is 30 gals. with calurpa and chaeto.
two VortechMP 40W's

any ideas on how to get rid of this algae would be appreciated. and does any one know a specific sea hare that eats derbesia?

 

[wcarterh]

The phosphates can definitely and will be absorbed by the algae prior to you testing it. API and chemical (non-photo based detectors) are notoriously poor at detecting at low levels.

Those water changes seem a bit extreme.

Have you checked the output from your RO/DI? When was the last time you changed the media in it?

How old is your tank? Are you using a DSB (deep sea bed)? The constant nitrates are a bit concerning, especially with that large and many water changes. What media are you using for your base (crushed coral, etc)?

Good information on nitrates:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/8/chemistry#section-4

 

[Subsea]

No experience with Sea Hares. For hair algae problems, Lettuce Nudibranchs, Tridachia crispata, will eat it. Reeftopia has them for $6 each.
Patrick

 

[fermentedhiker]

I'm no expert, but just out of curiosity how often are you harvesting the macro from the fuge? I would think the GFO reactor is what's keeping the Phosphate in check.

I have no experience with Sea Hare but was under the impression they like it colder than a typical reef tank and don't do well long term.

Also from my understanding Lettuce Nudibranchs DON'T eat hair or filament algae, but rather feed primarily on bryopsis or chaeto and if neither of those are present will consume some varieties of caulerpa as a last resort.

 

[Subsea]

I'm no expert, but just out of curiosity how often are you harvesting the macro from the fuge? I would think the GFO reactor is what's keeping the Phosphate in check.

I have no experience with Sea Hare but was under the impression they like it colder than a typical reef tank and don't do well long term.

Also from my understanding Lettuce Nudibranchs DON'T eat hair or filament algae, but rather feed primarily on bryopsis or chaeto and if neither of those are present will consume some varieties of caulerpa as a last resort.

I am not sure where you got your information on Lettuce Nudibranches. I observe them regularly eating GHA and filamentous algae. In the information section of Reef Cleaners, John Mahoney list nuisance algae guidelines with a recommendation to use Lettuce Nudibranches, urchins and Emerald Crabs for GHA. Also, for future reference, GHA is a general term which includes hundreds of species of algae. Bryopsis pennata & Bryopsis plumosa are filamentous algae that are included in the broad grouping of GHA.
Patrick

 

[wcarterh]

From what I read, they up to a year normally. I had a major die off about 3 months after getting one. The sea hair, a serpent star, and an amem went within a few days of each other. Due to the sea hare regularly disappearing for days at a time, I'm not sure which caused the die-off. Though I was stupid and going against the recommendations you see everywhere since I had great parameters early on, got the anem too early (actually 3). The carpet lasted 2 days, BTA a month. The condi, which was the first one I got is still around. Darn stubborn thing too! Taught me a VERY valuable lesson. Experience beats out what you think will work (the tank fit all the parameters except age).

 

[BubbaT]

I have an inline TDS on my RO/DI. reads before and after the DI resin. I also have a hand held meter to confirm the water in my drum. TDS always zero. As soon as the water coming out reads 1ppm I change out all the canisters on the unit.

my sand bed is 1.5 inches. its crushed coral. pretty small. cant remember the mesh size.

my macro algae is growing. I never trim it. as long as I have room in the fuge, I figured more algae equals more nitrate reduction. my tank is 1.5 years old. use red sea kit for the phos and nitrate. how does trimming the algae in the fuge work to export nitrate if it doesn't release any?

by the way I have three sea hares now and they have ate about 80% of the algae.

turned off my GFO and am dosing nopox at the moment.

don't get to my PC much so sorry for the delayed response. thanks to all for the good info.

 

[fermentedhiker]

I am not sure where you got your information on Lettuce Nudibranches. I observe them regularly eating GHA and filamentous algae. In the information section of Reef Cleaners, John Mahoney list nuisance algae guidelines with a recommendation to use Lettuce Nudibranches, urchins and Emerald Crabs for GHA. Also, for future reference, GHA is a general term which includes hundreds of species of algae. Bryopsis pennata & Bryopsis plumosa are filamentous algae that are included in the broad grouping of GHA.
Patrick

I got the information from a scientific paper on their diet. The only thing found in that study that they actually thrived on was Bryopsis and Chaeto. They found Caulerpa also was consumed but survival rate for those eating it was no better than those that didn't have anything to eat.