hair algae

[stevestank]

Having a problem.

Here's what I've done thus far:

Shortened my MH (350 watts) light cycle to 8 hours a day and lengthened my 40watt actinic cycle to simulate dawn/dusk (only 40 watts of actinic)

Added rock to equal approx 1.25 pounds per gallon

Added live sand in back corners to create "oxygen free zones" to lower nitrates

Changed auto feeder flake food to spectrum pellets.

dosed the tank with PolyOx. I'm a little nervous about that.

Tested all parameters. 10 ppm Nitrates. Everything else is right on target. Didn't test for silicates or phosphates.

Added more cleanup crew (total of 25 crabs and 30+ snails for 72 gallon)

What else can I do? Is there a product to use?

one thing of note is that this hair algae came on strong over the past 4 days. The only thing that coincides with that is when I placed a friends live sand into my tank. The tank sort of clouded up. I also used a powerhead to blow off all my rock/corals after things settled a bit. Help please?

 

[Rizing]

i dint see what kind of water youre using. the phosphate test would probably be goo investment too.

i think youre on the right track though

 

[bond007069]

using RO/DI water?

Things to experiment with

1. decrease feeding

2. try Phosban Reactor

3. Poly Filter

4. Any natural sunlight hitting tank

5. Raise pH to 8.3-8.5

 

[jmicky41]

I had a massive hair algae infestation for about a year. I tried snails, hermits, tangs, rabbitfish, rock scrubbing and numerous water changes - none of this helped. I won the battle when I added a DI onto my RO unit. When I bought the DI I also got a TDS meter and was surprised that my TDS with just the RO was 53ppm, after the Di it is 2ppm. So my RODI water is 20+ times purer than the RO alone. Also, I kept a closer eye on alk, calcium, and magnesium; with these levels in order the coraline algae growth increased - which decreased the space for the hair algae. Also, a healthy charge of rowaphos can't hurt either.

 

[Briney Dave]

I have a few more questions for you before I think a really good answer can be given.

First are you sure that hair algae is what you have. check out pictures to be sure because there are a few that look similar to new guys but are treated differently such as brysophysis etc.

how often are you doing a water change?
how much water are you changing
is it R/O water or from a tap and if a tap do you know the nutrient levels there?

are you using a protein skimmer?
if so how large?
what do you have for substrate?

if you have a pest hair algae issue a water change with R/O water is my step one advice.

I would think about 10% or a bit more once every few days until the algae is beaten down is the ticket.

adding the cleaning crew is nice to keep it out of sight but will not get rid of algae because they themselves are returning nutrients to the water thus fueling new growth.

Most people take the approach that if you get rid of the nutrients then you will get rid of the algae.

My guess is that the flakes and your switch to the pellets are putting in too many nitrates or phosphates

the protein skimmer will also help with that control. I think that salty critter suggests about 20% larger than most skimmer makers suggest.

lastly, and with likely the most good debate; I like a deep, very fine grain sand bed, others would rather not have any bed while a smaller group likes something in between

for me the course grained crushed coral I started with was nothing but a nutrient trap as were the bio-ball system in my sump. two sets of bad advice that I got as I started into the hobby.

In short, don't add any more critters or fish until you are stopping the spread and new growth of the algae, Look for the source of the excess nutrients and eliminate it. look to sure up how you control nutrient levels, skimmer, water changes, live rock and live sand, etc. then add new cleaners to keep things in balance.

lots of people have lots of different ways of keeping a fine aquarium. Find the one that most closely fits your perameters and creature wish list then stick with them

your pal
Briney

 

[jmicky41]

Two other things I forgot: I started rinsing off frozen foods before feeding and I also removed some of the older sand bed (ssb) - it was filthy. But mostly I attribute the gains to the DI.

 

[Briney Dave]

digging into an esablished sand bed is not a good idea, there are some nasty things depending on the bed depth and thus the reason some do not like them.

A water change while digging is a must in my opinion

 

[jmicky41]

Sand bed was only a .75 inch. It was there for looks only. It sure collected a lot of crud despite brisk water movement. Five minutes with a siphon hose and two buckets and it was gone.

 

[stevestank]

Wow, thanks everyone. I do have a 5 stage RO unit... no DI. My skimmer is rated for 125 gallons on a 72 gal tank. I think my problem is that I stirred up the tank by blowing off everything with a powerhead and adding live sand. This created a wild storm of algae filiment and nutrients in my tank. The filiments attached everywhere and chowed on the available nutrients in the water column.

My plan of action for now is to reduce the MH lighting to only 4 to 6 hours per day (sound ok?). Buy some phosphate sponge product. increase "wet skimming". stop adding seachem trace product since it can infuse more nutrients. Other than that, I only have 5 little fish and feed them very little. Any comment?

 

[bond007069]

Get a TDS meter to test your RO water

Bad things happen when you distrube the kitty litter (ie. sand bed) :blown: :fun2: :hammer:

 

[Briney Dave]

I would also work with the water changes until things stablize and you get back ahead

 

[stevestank]

TDS meter sounds like a good idea. My filter cartridges/membrane is only a few months old. How's 29 bucks sound for a TDS meter?

 

[MJAnderson]

I bought some cheap LR from someone breaking down their tank which showed up with tons of hair algae. Mexican Turbo snails and a sea hare have taken care of almost all of it. I also use RO/DI water and ran a phosban reactor. Took about 2 months and that was on some heavily overgrown rock.

Also once mine started dieing off I used a canister filter I have as a vacumn and scrubbed the algae off with a toothbrush while I held the vacumn near. then cleaned the sand as well. 20% water changes weekly.

 

[stevestank]

Never thought of using a canister filter as a vacuum. What sort of media did you have in your filter? I have a magnum with the micron filter. I thought of taking a razor blade to my back glass which has hair algae growth. Maybe I could do that with your idea?

I'm planning on a phosphate filter media... would the reactor perform better given a cost diff?

 

[MJAnderson]

I have the magnum 350 with the micron as well. Only problem with using it for scrubbing duty is that it clogs quickly. Keep an eye on the level of water in your canister. It will decrease as the micron clogs.

I know some people use the HOT magnum for phosphate and carbon. The flow is good for carbon, but is too much for most GFI---it will turn it to mush. I use Phosar as my media and it suggests flow of 60-80gph. I've heard of sandwiching the GFI between carbon and filter floss so it doesn't tumble though. Too much work for me. Marine Depot has the TLF reactor on sale for $30. That and a mini pump is all you need. Or get 2 and a "Y" converter with some 1/2" tubing and run phosphate in 1 and carbon in the other. The TLF reactor comes with 1/2" ball valves to regulate the flow. Your phosphate readings will be 0 and it only needs to be changed every 2-3 months.