CW from the OC
New member
Perfect!
Put about 8 -10 inches of sand in there and put the chaeto on top.
Let us know if it helps.
Put about 8 -10 inches of sand in there and put the chaeto on top.
Let us know if it helps.
My Kingdom for a Hair Algae Solution
- Thread starter slavearm
- Start date
marcrothschild
Active member
Dare I mention The Zeovit system. I have seen this stuff clear a 300g reef of a BAD HA infestation in under 60 days. My PO4 is 0.02 per Hana, and I feed heavily to keep the corals bright.
bergzy
New member
ZEOVIT?
that garbage and voodoo stuff that all the 'experts' poo-poo?
it is expensive, hard to maintain and is virtually nothing more than dead snake oil.
that is why i have been using zeovit for the past two months and have seen spectacular nuisance algae ablation, transparent water quality, sps' colors coming back and nothing short of the most beautiful i have ever seen my tank!
nitrates and po4's are non-existence. it is my experience that it is phosphates that make nuisance algae go ka-pow...nitrates contribute but it is the phosphates that will make you pull your 'hair' out! hehehe!
please do not try zeovit as it will most likely cause a greater demand for the system which may increase the price. ignore all the results i have mentioned of my tank.
oh yeah...hi marc!!!
slavearm
New member
I'll tell you I looked into Zeovit...
I am not down for the daily maintenance requirements. I have gone to great lenths to automate the tank as much as possible and return to living my life.
Looks interesting, someday they will find a way to automate it... then it might be an option.
I am not down for the daily maintenance requirements. I have gone to great lenths to automate the tank as much as possible and return to living my life.
Looks interesting, someday they will find a way to automate it... then it might be an option.
gcarroll
Active member
Zeovit is not the savior of reefing that many make it out to be. I do think it can be benificial, however the law of averages still apply. Even with Zeovit you still have a large percentage of users with problems and mediocore tanks. Good husbandry is the key and Zeovit is a system that promotes and benefits from good husbandry.
bergzy
New member
the concept of zeovit is interesting and the debate is even more interesting...
on the most part...what i have gathered and read...
those who swear that zeovit doesnt work or is pure hype...interestingly, have researched it but never used it or used it incorrectly. claims upon claims that it is snake oil and the such are the typical responses of the nay sayers and that there are many methods to achieve the same results. to this, imo, i will say that this is true...true because it is true in your own mind and if it is true in your own mind...no amount of verbal discussion or convincing will get you to believe that zeo works, the world is flat or that elvis is not really dead.
yes, i have seen really, really nice reef tanks without zeo...tanks that make you go 'wow' and of course, i have also seen okay tanks without it as well. zeo is definitely not the saviour of reefing...i dont think anything is without some form of maintenance. it's like buying a ferrari and never maintaining it...eventually, because of neglect...the ferrari will eventually be overtaken by a kia.
i very very grudingly started using zeovit as a last resort and if i didnt see the results i am seeing, i would have immediately stopped using it...i dont care about having and braging about 'this' and 'that'. i just wanted a spectacular reef tank to come home to.
there was just something 'missing' on my system that wouldnt give it that 'oomph' i wanted. it was not the lack or husbandry or the misunderstanding of reefing...for some systems...i think it needs that extra component that zeo provided.
if you look into the core of zeovit...it is not equipment or gizmo's that make it work...the principles are similar to what a dsb does...using nature...the zeoliths absorb ammonia...absorbing ammonia immediately and taking it out of the water column has one result...no conversion to nitrite and nitrate. there is a bacterial component that replicates the oligotrohpic (read this on the zeo forum..i am not a marine biologist) conditions that are found naturally in oceans. the nitrate and phosphate reducing components are by far the most effective i have ever seen. so effective that i had to take my refugium down as there was ZERO nitrates and phosphates in my system. this was something that i could never achieve...getting my nutrients so low that chaeto wouldnt grow.
zeo, imo and from what i have read, is the furthest thing from anyting techno. it goes back to the basis that mother nature is the ultimate method. the only gizmo that zeo recommends is really good skimming.
i have tried almost every gizmo out there to try and achieve the results i am seeing with zeo...double beckett skimmers (not dual nozzles...TWO HUGE separate becketts) running along with two smaller ER's...ozone injection, about 8 pounds live rock per gallon of water for more biofiltration, rowaphos, purigen, phosguard etc, etc, etc...the list is too long. in addition, i am not in lacking for good husbandry behavior.
dsb's, ime, have been great in the beginning but have all met their fate, again, ime, by eventually becoming messy settling chambers. i loved refugiums but it never got my nutrients low enough to have the tank that i wanted. on the zeo forum...there are reefers that also use dsb's...so this is not a contraindication.
the talk of a lot of reefers is about nutrients is nitrate...nitrate, nitrate...nitrate. while nitrate is a component for nuisance algae like hair...the real culprit is phosphates...get your phosphates down...way down...in the 0.02 range and you will see incredible things start to happen. not only does phosphates spawn nuisance algae...but it affects coral health as well.
as i said before...zeo is not for everyone...as i feel it, like anything completely new in thinking, requires a steep learning curve...but for those who use it correctly...the results CAN be breath taking.
on the most part...what i have gathered and read...
those who swear that zeovit doesnt work or is pure hype...interestingly, have researched it but never used it or used it incorrectly. claims upon claims that it is snake oil and the such are the typical responses of the nay sayers and that there are many methods to achieve the same results. to this, imo, i will say that this is true...true because it is true in your own mind and if it is true in your own mind...no amount of verbal discussion or convincing will get you to believe that zeo works, the world is flat or that elvis is not really dead.
yes, i have seen really, really nice reef tanks without zeo...tanks that make you go 'wow' and of course, i have also seen okay tanks without it as well. zeo is definitely not the saviour of reefing...i dont think anything is without some form of maintenance. it's like buying a ferrari and never maintaining it...eventually, because of neglect...the ferrari will eventually be overtaken by a kia.
i very very grudingly started using zeovit as a last resort and if i didnt see the results i am seeing, i would have immediately stopped using it...i dont care about having and braging about 'this' and 'that'. i just wanted a spectacular reef tank to come home to.
there was just something 'missing' on my system that wouldnt give it that 'oomph' i wanted. it was not the lack or husbandry or the misunderstanding of reefing...for some systems...i think it needs that extra component that zeo provided.
if you look into the core of zeovit...it is not equipment or gizmo's that make it work...the principles are similar to what a dsb does...using nature...the zeoliths absorb ammonia...absorbing ammonia immediately and taking it out of the water column has one result...no conversion to nitrite and nitrate. there is a bacterial component that replicates the oligotrohpic (read this on the zeo forum..i am not a marine biologist) conditions that are found naturally in oceans. the nitrate and phosphate reducing components are by far the most effective i have ever seen. so effective that i had to take my refugium down as there was ZERO nitrates and phosphates in my system. this was something that i could never achieve...getting my nutrients so low that chaeto wouldnt grow.
zeo, imo and from what i have read, is the furthest thing from anyting techno. it goes back to the basis that mother nature is the ultimate method. the only gizmo that zeo recommends is really good skimming.
i have tried almost every gizmo out there to try and achieve the results i am seeing with zeo...double beckett skimmers (not dual nozzles...TWO HUGE separate becketts) running along with two smaller ER's...ozone injection, about 8 pounds live rock per gallon of water for more biofiltration, rowaphos, purigen, phosguard etc, etc, etc...the list is too long. in addition, i am not in lacking for good husbandry behavior.
dsb's, ime, have been great in the beginning but have all met their fate, again, ime, by eventually becoming messy settling chambers. i loved refugiums but it never got my nutrients low enough to have the tank that i wanted. on the zeo forum...there are reefers that also use dsb's...so this is not a contraindication.
the talk of a lot of reefers is about nutrients is nitrate...nitrate, nitrate...nitrate. while nitrate is a component for nuisance algae like hair...the real culprit is phosphates...get your phosphates down...way down...in the 0.02 range and you will see incredible things start to happen. not only does phosphates spawn nuisance algae...but it affects coral health as well.
as i said before...zeo is not for everyone...as i feel it, like anything completely new in thinking, requires a steep learning curve...but for those who use it correctly...the results CAN be breath taking.
bromion
Active member
On the removal of hair algae question, I find dosing Kalkwasser helps quite a bit in encouraging more attractive forms of algae to grow instead of hair. Moving a bunch of hair and other macro algae to my sump/fuge has virtually eliminated hair algae growth in my display tank. I leave on the fuge light 24/7. It's about 8 gallon fuge for a 58 gal tank.
shadowman70
New member
One sea hare or a couple of turbos will do the trick I assure you....I used a combination of both and they wiped my live rock spotless inside a month.......
Rich
Rich
slavearm
New member
Done so Far:
1. Water Changes done weekly (at least 10% but usually 25%)
2. Upgraded Refugium Lighting (if my Cheato cant compete now... its back to calurpa)
3. Added 5 bulldozers (turbo snails)
4. Changed flow for return pump to increase flow behind rockwork to hopefully keep more crap in the water column
5. Started using rowaphos
6. Started soaking carbon in R/O the day before I use it
7. Adjusted halide lighting to a reasonable 10hour photoperiod (I goofed my ACIII config and they were on for 12 hours a day)
8. Cleaned my skimmer pretty thuroughly
Slow progress, but the Hair is starting to recede. Future plans:
1. 6" DSB in refugium (is 6" deep enough?) going to relocate the coral rubble somewhere else
2. Just completed making a really nifty ozone reactor from a phosban reactor and a coralife ozone reactor (I fixed all the problems with it for about $1.12 will post DIY soon) so regular ozone dosing should begin in a week or so.
3. Second Cheato ball under new frag area of sump (this stuff should grow really well.... I have a 150w 10K Ushio MH about 8" from it mwahahahaah
4. Purchase an accurate test kit for PO4 (hannah? Got a link?)
5. (Considering Only) Getting a prodibio shot for one time cleanup
1. Water Changes done weekly (at least 10% but usually 25%)
2. Upgraded Refugium Lighting (if my Cheato cant compete now... its back to calurpa)
3. Added 5 bulldozers (turbo snails)
4. Changed flow for return pump to increase flow behind rockwork to hopefully keep more crap in the water column
5. Started using rowaphos
6. Started soaking carbon in R/O the day before I use it
7. Adjusted halide lighting to a reasonable 10hour photoperiod (I goofed my ACIII config and they were on for 12 hours a day)
8. Cleaned my skimmer pretty thuroughly
Slow progress, but the Hair is starting to recede. Future plans:
1. 6" DSB in refugium (is 6" deep enough?) going to relocate the coral rubble somewhere else
2. Just completed making a really nifty ozone reactor from a phosban reactor and a coralife ozone reactor (I fixed all the problems with it for about $1.12 will post DIY soon) so regular ozone dosing should begin in a week or so.
3. Second Cheato ball under new frag area of sump (this stuff should grow really well.... I have a 150w 10K Ushio MH about 8" from it mwahahahaah
4. Purchase an accurate test kit for PO4 (hannah? Got a link?)
5. (Considering Only) Getting a prodibio shot for one time cleanup
bromion
Active member
I also don't run my MH for very long each day, so that probably helps me as well. But then again, I don't need to run them that long for what I have in my tank just yet. I run MH for 5 hours a day, and weaker PC lights for an additional 4 hours (2 on either side of the MH). Not sure what effect a longer or shorter photoperiod will have on hair algae.
I did note a big spike in hair algae growth when I changed from only MH (20k 400W) to part MH and part 48W 50/50 PCs. It was suggested to me that the change in lighting spectrum allowed the hair algae to flourish before other organisms could compensate.
I did note a big spike in hair algae growth when I changed from only MH (20k 400W) to part MH and part 48W 50/50 PCs. It was suggested to me that the change in lighting spectrum allowed the hair algae to flourish before other organisms could compensate.
Similar threads
