Hair Algae

dileggi

dileggi

Premium Member
Hey all. I have a fairly simple question regarding hair algae. I'm basically being overrun by it. I know all the right answers in why it's there and all the answers in getting rid of it, per se.

My question is, does it eventually dissapate on it's own as the tank gains stability once all my levels....nitrates and phosphate...are ideal? Or, do I need to manually start mowing? I can see the mowing taking forever with those little scissors!
 
Well I don't know if it is going to go away by its self. You are going to have to enlist the help of something be that a critter that eats it or the increase of PWCs to make sure that you are keeping phosphates and nitrates in check. Are you using RO/DI water? I can tell you that manual removal of that is pretty tough it doesn't like to let go.
 
What's the flow like in your tank. Do you use a turkey baster to baste the rock and substrate once a week.
Do you have a sump and protein skimmer
Are you running a phosban reactor and phosban
do you rinse frozen food with r/o water before using

These are all things that will help reduce nitrates and phosphates in your tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11682055#post11682055 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
What's the flow like in your tank. Do you use a turkey baster to baste the rock and substrate once a week.
Do you have a sump and protein skimmer
Are you running a phosban reactor and phosban
do you rinse frozen food with r/o water before using

These are all things that will help reduce nitrates and phosphates in your tank.
Click to expand...

Flow is 716 - tank is a 29BC. All tank info is listed BTW.
I do use a turkey baster once a week to as needed. Always once a week, but if I notice anything on the rock, I usually pphhsh it off when I see it.

It's a biocube, so the sump is more of a built in sump...live rock and LR rubble, but no cheato b/c there's no way to light that compartment. I do use a skimmer - listed in my tank info.

I am running phosban in a media bag. Returned the reactor as it was quite impossible to hook up to the cube.

I do rinse the frozen foods with r/o before feeding.

All that info, which I greatly appreciate, I already knew. I was just curious if I needed to manually remove what was there, either by pulling or cutting with scissors. Or, if it would eventually subside on it's own as my nitrates and phosphates became more obsolete?
 
****edit from above****

I had a bigger nitrate problem than I'm having now. I removed my bio-balls and replaced with the live rock and live rock rubble. I also knew I had a phosphate problem, which is why I added the GFO. I knew that even though my tests were tesing 0 for phosphate, it only meant it wasn't registering in my water column because the algae was absorbing it.

I'm on the right path to eliminating these. I also mentioned that I do not have any cheato in the sump/fuge portion of the chambers. I do however have a clump of cheato placed in the tank, wedged above my koralia1, which was just added.

I figured this was important to add.

Thanks again!
 
I would try to do a bit larger and more frequent water change to get those nitrates and phosphates down. I don't think that removing it by hand is going to hurt anything so I would try to remove as much as possible and give it some time and see if that helps the situation
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11684436#post11684436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by an411
I would try to do a bit larger and more frequent water change to get those nitrates and phosphates down. I don't think that removing it by hand is going to hurt anything so I would try to remove as much as possible and give it some time and see if that helps the situation
Click to expand...

Thanks an411. Originally, I was changing 5g per week. But, with my tank only being a 29, I pushing on a 20% change per week. I was told to slow this down, actually. Was that wrong info? I have since switched to 5g every other week. I was told 20% per week was too much of a change.
 
I have a 30 gallon tank and I do a 10 gallon water change so that 33% and I do this every week. Now that I have a 20 gal sump I do 15 gallons a week. I think u should do 10 gallons a week. After a year of my tank being established then I might try every other week but kep an eye on it to see what happens. How old is ur tank?
 
What's this turkey baster stuff about? Do you mean blowing it clean with the baster or basting it with something?
I use one of those "Kent Sea Squirts" to blow things clean.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11685027#post11685027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbtwo4
I have a 30 gallon tank and I do a 10 gallon water change so that 33% and I do this every week. Now that I have a 20 gal sump I do 15 gallons a week. I think u should do 10 gallons a week. After a year of my tank being established then I might try every other week but kep an eye on it to see what happens. How old is ur tank?
Click to expand...

Age of tank is about 4 mos. I'll try going back to weekly.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11685036#post11685036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cdbias2
What's this turkey baster stuff about? Do you mean blowing it clean with the baster or basting it with something?
I use one of those "Kent Sea Squirts" to blow things clean.
Click to expand...

I use it to squirt things clean.
 
Running t5's. Thanks for the compliment. 1st saltwater tank too. Reefcentral REALLY helped me a lot. Made a mistake buying the clam when the tank was only 4 months old but I guess cus I do weekly water changes and have t5's its doing fantastic!
 
Thanks. But yeah if I were u weekly water changes maybe a lettuce nudi or a seahare and that hair algae will be taken cared of. Maybe an emerald crab too cus I see mine picking on HA & eating it. Good luck
 
I'm not sure I can add much to what has already been said.. I will say that I battled hair algae for almost a year. I ran rowaphos in my sump, I pulled it out by the handful once a week. I added a couple turbo snails ( These guys love to eat the shorter hair algae ). And I even had a small conch for some time that loved the longer hair. In the end what solved my issue was 2 fold.

A. My lighting: On for 3 hours off for 4 on for 4 more. My soft corals all did fine with this for about 8 months. I've read hair algae and the like take longer to 'warm up' than corals so the 2 shorter light periods starves them.

B. I added a 10G refugium to my setup with a great big ol' ball of cheto and some colepera that grew out of control.

About a month after the refuge came online the hair algae in my DT was gone. I've now returned my tank to a more normal lighting schedule.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11685610#post11685610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbtwo4
Thanks. But yeah if I were u weekly water changes maybe a lettuce nudi or a seahare and that hair algae will be taken cared of. Maybe an emerald crab too cus I see mine picking on HA & eating it. Good luck
Click to expand...

OK, thank you again! I'll certainly switch to weekly 10% water changes over the bi-weekly 20%.

I did know about the nudi's and sea hares, but I also thought they were toxic if stressed? I don't feel quite comfortable with my experience to do that yet.

As for the emerald crab, I'm assuming this is a mithrax crab? If so, I was looking into that b/c of the bubble algae.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11686116#post11686116 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lfjewett
I'm not sure I can add much to what has already been said.. I will say that I battled hair algae for almost a year. I ran rowaphos in my sump, I pulled it out by the handful once a week. I added a couple turbo snails ( These guys love to eat the shorter hair algae ). And I even had a small conch for some time that loved the longer hair. In the end what solved my issue was 2 fold.

A. My lighting: On for 3 hours off for 4 on for 4 more. My soft corals all did fine with this for about 8 months. I've read hair algae and the like take longer to 'warm up' than corals so the 2 shorter light periods starves them.

B. I added a 10G refugium to my setup with a great big ol' ball of cheto and some colepera that grew out of control.

About a month after the refuge came online the hair algae in my DT was gone. I've now returned my tank to a more normal lighting schedule.
Click to expand...

Hmm...I never even thought it possible to deviate from the lighting schedule. I guess if you think of it, there must be cloudy days and cloudy times in real life! LOL! Thank you for that advice.

I'm stuck with the fuge, I just don't have the room and capabilities because of the cube tank. I am using GFO though and I do have a ball of cheato "stuffed/wedged" in the corner of the tank right now. I'm hoping this takes away some of those nutrients that the nuisance algae is using.

As for the snails, I have nassarius and asterea's. No turbo's left though. I'll try that as well and also switch to those weekly water changes.

Thanks again!
 
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