SanFranTodd
New member
sea hare? massive fleet of turbo snails?
I'm loosing the algae battle. PIC
- Thread starter SanDiegoreefer
- Start date
mypurpletang
New member
very informative
seakwon
New member
so is the phosban idea a good one or not? i have a hair algea problem also. i use well water in my tank and thats probably why but i cant help it. i dont want to spend the money for a ro/di any other ideas? i have a metal halide 250 watts. my lawnmower blenny doesnt do his job enough do i get more then one or what esle can i do?
pressthebutton
New member
never give up when you have a massive algae plague. just do what was said above and add a lot of patience. my tank went through a period of SEVERE slime algae. it was worse than your hair problem.man that was bad.good luck.
alexb518
New member
seahare could be a temp option for you. once the algae is mowed down, astreas, etc. will help keep it under control. as mentioned above, there is a root the problem though. IMO, you're way over-feeding your tank. i would do prob a half a cube a day and take two days off on the feeding per week. other thing to try is to turn off moon lights all together.
sgallagher7
Member
Im in week 4 of my first tank of curing rock. Got a good case of hair algea, and some cyno. Patience is the key. each week I vac. up as much cyno and hair as i can, scrup a bit with a toothbrush, then change approx 15%. Its a slow teadious process, but I am starting to see results. My parameters are all good except nitrate at 25, ph a bit low at 8.0.
I plan on getn the Ph up to 8.3 to 8.4 and raise the calcium and alk to normal levels.
I think your opinion on finding out the cause is much better than treating a symtom. Its no different than our bodies. Practice preventative versus treatment.
I plan on getn the Ph up to 8.3 to 8.4 and raise the calcium and alk to normal levels.
I think your opinion on finding out the cause is much better than treating a symtom. Its no different than our bodies. Practice preventative versus treatment.
SanDiegoreefer
New member
:
Algae grows under the moon lights!??? Holy crap. Those are on alot. :eek1: :eek1:
Algae grows under the moon lights!??? Holy crap. Those are on alot. :eek1: :eek1:
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SanDiegoreefer
New member
I bought a 100 ml container of ROWA phos. I guess it's about the same as Phosban. The guy at the LFS said it was better. It came with a mesh sock. So now what, just dump it in the sock, tie it off with a rubber band and toss in the tank? 
I've never used it and the directions aren't very clear.
I've never used it and the directions aren't very clear.plawrence5
New member
I just went through a BIG problem with green hair algae in my tank. I basically took most of my live rock out of the tank and put it in a rubbermaid container for a week or so with the lid on so it could not get any light submerged in saltwater. I also bought 20 Mexican Turbo snails. After the week in the rubbermaid container I just rinsed the rock off with some saltwater and put it back in my tank. From there I just tried to hand pull as much of it off as I could. No doubt taking the rock out and putting it in the ses pool of saltwater probably killed alot of my good bacteria on the rock (boy did it smell when I opened that baby up). The turbo snails could actually keep up with the amount of algae on the rock that remained in my tank. I still have a little bit of hair algae on the rocks that I didn't take out of the tank because of coral I had on them, but the snails are really doing a good job of keeping it from spreading along with my lawnmower blenny. Everything is under control now in my tank, but what worked for me may not be the best advise from a bio standpoint. I'm sure what I did will be subject to criticisim 
The stuff was driving me crazy though.. I had to do something.
The stuff was driving me crazy though.. I had to do something.
PatMayo
New member
I gotta go with Randall on this one. Until you lower the nutirents you will always have the problem.
I use a GFO on my tank and if you use it aggressivley enough it will actually kill your cheato if you use it.
Cheato will work very well to take up some of the excess nutrients.
Feed less!! Water changes!! Patience!! It also will not hurt to reduce the lighting a couple hours per day. I did on my tank with no harm to any corals.
Regards,
Pat
I use a GFO on my tank and if you use it aggressivley enough it will actually kill your cheato if you use it.
Cheato will work very well to take up some of the excess nutrients.
Feed less!! Water changes!! Patience!! It also will not hurt to reduce the lighting a couple hours per day. I did on my tank with no harm to any corals.
Regards,
Pat
trust me on this...Listen to Randall James. I had an algae problem in my tank...My tank is now 5 months old..I rushed the bio load on my tank and got the dreaded hair algae too..but..I am still working on it but is is way better...less and less hair algae everyday! I did as he said.
1) 15-20% water changes EVERY week!
2) less feeding! Fish do not need to eat their weight in food everyday!
3) a little less light
4) use ro-di water ONLY
5) I also have a phos reactor using phosban
6)tank maintenance! I left my rock in the tank...scrubbed rock with stiff bristle tubing brush everytime right BEFORE my water change...netted the floating algae..and left the overflow suck it out too...let the powerheads woosh it around while I hand netted and overflow sucked out the loose algae..siphoned the very top of my sand..cleaned my skimmer often.
7) I have a sump/refugium and never cropped my chaeto before but finally realized..you have to trim the chaeto when the refugium is full so as to encourage new growth on it! There are plenty of people or LFS to take that EXTRA chaeto off your hands!
8) and last..but not least..BE PATIENT! it does go away.
I am all for fixing the source of the problem than just the look of the tank..
I have been battling algae growth in my tank for like 2 months now.(my tank is 5 months old). It was never REAL bad but bad enough I realized a potential devastating problem if not tended to...but now...wow! it is way better than it was..and now there is very little left..
a little effort and perseverence paid off..:rollface:
1) 15-20% water changes EVERY week!
2) less feeding! Fish do not need to eat their weight in food everyday!
3) a little less light
4) use ro-di water ONLY
5) I also have a phos reactor using phosban
6)tank maintenance! I left my rock in the tank...scrubbed rock with stiff bristle tubing brush everytime right BEFORE my water change...netted the floating algae..and left the overflow suck it out too...let the powerheads woosh it around while I hand netted and overflow sucked out the loose algae..siphoned the very top of my sand..cleaned my skimmer often.
7) I have a sump/refugium and never cropped my chaeto before but finally realized..you have to trim the chaeto when the refugium is full so as to encourage new growth on it! There are plenty of people or LFS to take that EXTRA chaeto off your hands!
8) and last..but not least..BE PATIENT! it does go away.
I am all for fixing the source of the problem than just the look of the tank..
I have been battling algae growth in my tank for like 2 months now.(my tank is 5 months old). It was never REAL bad but bad enough I realized a potential devastating problem if not tended to...but now...wow! it is way better than it was..and now there is very little left..
a little effort and perseverence paid off..:rollface:
CRUZING2000
New member
get 5 sea hairs they will eat everything
Randall_James
Premium Member
In tanks that have had excessive amounts of nutrient for long periods, the rock will "leech" phosphates out for some time. Again it does not last forever, but it is a waiting game.
Sort of touched on this but in new tanks, most people (myself included at times) tend to put fish into tanks way too soon. 6 months is not a long time to wait. It allows a tank to stabilize chemically and deal with the nutrient import issues that fish cause. Typically we cycle our tank, get bored or see some fish that w "Just must have" and away we go. The resultant ammonia spike and the nutrient cycle this starts is just aggravated by the immature tank. Again we are bored, get another new fish and continue to add on to the timebomb until we end up with this full blown algal attack.
Not a total disaster, just one that takes months to overcome... hang in there
Sort of touched on this but in new tanks, most people (myself included at times) tend to put fish into tanks way too soon. 6 months is not a long time to wait. It allows a tank to stabilize chemically and deal with the nutrient import issues that fish cause. Typically we cycle our tank, get bored or see some fish that w "Just must have" and away we go. The resultant ammonia spike and the nutrient cycle this starts is just aggravated by the immature tank. Again we are bored, get another new fish and continue to add on to the timebomb until we end up with this full blown algal attack.
Not a total disaster, just one that takes months to overcome... hang in there
SanDiegoreefer
New member
I'm not 100% sure what you're refering to, but there are a couple small patches of coraline algae and at that time there was some hair algae growing on the back glass as well. I have since scraped it off.
