Hair algae treatment ideas...

[theacox]

Ok my tank has been up since January this year so 8 months and I am just starting to get hair algae.

I was gonna try and do a black out for 3 days because of my cyano issue ive been having since spring but will this help my tank rid itself of the green hair algae as well? Input is appreciated and any other ideas to help would be amazing thanks.

 

[Xavibear]

What are your parameters, how long has the tank been set up, lighting schedule & are you using rodi water?

 

[theacox]

Yes to the rodi water, my parameters test perfect I don't have a full test kit yet but I have strips for nitrate, nitrite, pH, chlorine, alkalinity, and ammonia and they test perfect. The tank has been up since January, and my lighting is fluval quad with 4x24w bulbs and due to work I usually turn them on at 530 am and off at 8 pm. And then the blue moonlight is on the rest of the time.

 

[buddhafish]

IMO the test strips are not that accurate. Maybe upgrade to better tests. Get water parameters, excess nutes in check. Trim back light cycle by a hour or so. What type of filtration do you have? How often do you do water changes?

 

[theacox]

5g a week, I have a 30g skimmer, 100g UV sterilizer, and a regular 30g filter.

 

[m0nkie]

i know people prefer to treat the source... reduce nutrients, lights off, etc... but my Foxface Lo took care of all the algae in 2 days

 

[theacox]

I plan on upgrading my test kit as soon as I'm able.

 

[theacox]

Says a foxface lo should be in a 125g tank and mine is only 30g plus 10g in the sump

 

[ca1ore]

i know people prefer to treat the source... reduce nutrients, lights off, etc... but my Foxface Lo took care of all the algae in 2 days

Ideally I think you need to do both!

 

[Dave & Monica]

Snails to attack it, and also get your export import issues resolved. Hair algae = high PO4 and NO3. Ya when you test, it will be low.... because the hair algae is consuming it when it grows.

 

[Sk8r]

all above help, but it's likely leaching out of rock and sand as time passes. get a gfo reactor, one dose per 50 gallons, changed monthly until stuff goes away.

 

[m0nkie]

Says a foxface lo should be in a 125g tank and mine is only 30g plus 10g in the sump

yes but there are other algae eaters.. after you've done the nutrient/light reductions, you can try install a GFO reactor or add a few extra snails (Nerite and Cerith). They eat algae. But they also climb glass.. kind of annoying

 

[NJAB]

I had a really bad hair algae problem when I first started couldn't figure out what was causing it as my tests were showing up good I figured it was what was mentioned above with the rocks leaching out the nutrients or the possibility of the algae actually using all the nutrients which feed them but gave a 0 for test results. But I did buy a lawn mower blenny and he went right to work and within 3 weeks my 20 gallon was completely algae free I even had to buy nori and red seaweed for the little guy. I would also purchase snails but never had any luck with them they seemed to just enjoy the glass and would hardly ever get on the rocks

 

[Rob6311]

TUXEDO URCHIN!! Lol don't mean to be dramatic but I am battling hair algae now and my tuxedo urchin clears huge spots all the way down to the rock in one night. And it's reef and coral safe

 

[theacox]

Ok so what is a gfo sorry I don't know all the abbreviations.

 

[Sk8r]

Granulated Ferrous (or is it ferric) oxide reactor. Basically, Phosban or Rowaphos. I used a doublesized Phosban reactor in my 102, which takes 2 jars of Phosban instead of one. I used that for 6 months, changing the medium 3x, as I recall; and now the rocks are clean as can be. It absorbs and binds the phosphate which feeds the algae, and the good part is, once it's bound to the medium, you can throw it out. Unfortunately fish poo just releases whatever-it-is minus what the fish used up biologically, and it just keeps going. Since even fish don't like much phosphate, it's better just to bind it and toss it out.

The little tuxedos and the pincushions are neat critters. I have a pincushion.

 

[theacox]

And there are tons of blennies as I'm researching is there a recommended type of blenny?

 

[theacox]

Thanks sk8r

 

[theacox]

Also if I got a gfo reactor would it go in the main tank or sump tank. I ask because I have no algae in my sump tank...

 

[m0nkie]

Also if I got a gfo reactor would it go in the main tank or sump tank. I ask because I have no algae in my sump tank...

a GFO reactor can sit outside the tank on the floor. It will feed off of your main pump or a separate pump. However, people put the reactors in the sump to prevent leaks

here's an MR1 reactor. you can even hang it behind your tank