What to do with Green Hair Algae?

[Devi]

OMG GFO is so awesome. It looks like you are getting somewhere already with the hair algae turning white. Your tank is super nice by the way. From the photo your algae is in a good place for HO2O spot treating. Although, I have limited experience with this. You may want to check online for more info.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, I have an update and some more questions. Yesterday I dosed my third round of Prodibio and I continue to run GFO. I tested my PO4 yesterday and it was zero. I am certainly see much less film algae on the sandbed and the aquarium walls, but the green hair algae continues to grow and spread. Here is a picture from a couple of days ago...

As you can see, the GHA is still strong and that rock in the middle is especially covered. So during my water change yesterday, I tried to scrub the algae off of that center rock and it just would not come off so I decided to just remove that rock and remove another small rock or two that had a lot of algae on them.

So, first question - will removing rocks that have a lot of algae slow down the spread? I feel like if my tank had no established algae, then there would not be enough nutrients in the tank to allow it to get the same hold it has, but I could be wrong.

And then 2nd question, if I removed every rock with algae on it and replaced it with algae free rock, would that solve my problem?

I was thinking of having less rock anyway.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[mpderksen]

I believe every tank has at least one cell of GHA hiding somewhere. And that's all it takes. The trick is to make sure the environment doesn't support its growth in the future. If your sand and/or rocks have collects nutrients over time and it's leeching out, then as soon as the currently growing GHA is removed, the spores somewhere else will have them available, and start growing. This may be why some people opt for a bare bottom?
Have you determined the source of you problem? If so, and have dealt with it, I believe you could do a peroxide soak on the bad rock, clean it well and put it back in. Though it doesn't sound like you want to.
All the strategies I've read, from a turf scrubber, dosing carbon or GFO all have the same goal, controlling the available nutrients.
I think I got that right....

 

[Patrick Cox]

I believe every tank has at least one cell of GHA hiding somewhere. And that's all it takes. The trick is to make sure the environment doesn't support its growth in the future. If your sand and/or rocks have collects nutrients over time and it's leeching out, then as soon as the currently growing GHA is removed, the spores somewhere else will have them available, and start growing. This may be why some people opt for a bare bottom?
Have you determined the source of you problem? If so, and have dealt with it, I believe you could do a peroxide soak on the bad rock, clean it well and put it back in. Though it doesn't sound like you want to.
All the strategies I've read, from a turf scrubber, dosing carbon or GFO all have the same goal, controlling the available nutrients.
I think I got that right....

Thanks for your reply. I do believe I have had a nutrient problem and I am trying to address that. I am now running GFO and I also started dosing Prodibio BioDigest and Bioptim. I believe this is a way to carbon dose. You are adding bacteria and food for the bacteria I believe. I just completed my 3rd dose and you dose every two weeks so it has been one month since I started dosing. I understand that is not much time so maybe I just need to give it more time but the hair algae on the center rock on my tank looked like 80s hair band hair. And it was encroaching on some of my corals so I just decided to remove it. My sand bed is pretty clean and again, I don't have much film algae growing anymore whereas I did have a lot so I feel pretty confident my nutrient levels are coming down. But the hair algae is not dying back like I hoped it would.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[wildman926]

Short term, use API's AlgaeFix Marine. It will wipe out any hair algae in short order. HERE is a good thread here on RC about it's success.

Long term, an Algae Turf Scrubber, grow the algae where YOU want it to. It is a more natural, and less expensive way of removing excess nutrients.

Again, I recommend the above short term solution. If you have read the post I gave, you will notice many, many satisfied users of the product. Your hair algae would have been gone by now if you had used the product. 0 affect on corals using it as well.

Long term, I still recommend an ATS.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Again, I recommend the above short term solution. If you have read the post I gave, you will notice many, many satisfied users of the product. Your hair algae would have been gone by now if you had used the product. 0 affect on corals using it as well.

Long term, I still recommend an ATS.

Hi,
Thanks for posting this again. I took a look at it and it seems to get mixed results but it also sounds like it can't hurt so I might give it a try.

On long term fix, I don't really have room in my sump for an ATS. Should carbon dosing work? Thanks.

 

[Runfrumu]

The way I had success with it was getting water parameters in check then to blow off the rocks every day to loosen and get it pulled lose, grab the big clumps by hand, and let my filter sock do the rest, then remove and rinse it. But you have to stay on it everyday. If you wait on green hair to die, you will be waiting forever.


Luckily it grows fairly slow and even though its slimy it clumps together making it easier to catch

 

[Reef Frog]

It sounds like you're doing everything right - you'll win.

If you're willing to take the rock out of the tank, I'd hit the algae with peroxide and scrub it a bit. You'll be amazed how it will melt away. Then you'll have a fresh start and the measures you are already using shoukd keep it suppressed. Remove it then starve it.

 

[Pet Detective]

The tank looks very healthy +1 on that...now the part you might not like, in my opinion, 9 fish in a 75g tank is pushing the limit, yes, I know they are relatively small but considering 75g is not even a molecule of hydrogen or oxygen compared to a body of water such as an ocean, that being said, #1, I would reduce feeding to once a day & or once every other day (I have 5 fish in a 90g reef & I feed every other day) #2, keep using the GFO in a reactor & #3, employ a refugium (mine is incorporated in my sump) with cheato...they work incredibly well, #4 enjoy the hobby, you seem to have a knack for it.

 

[Patrick Cox]

It sounds like you're doing everything right - you'll win.

If you're willing to take the rock out of the tank, I'd hit the algae with peroxide and scrub it a bit. You'll be amazed how it will melt away. Then you'll have a fresh start and the measures you are already using shoukd keep it suppressed. Remove it then starve it.

Thanks for your reply. On the peroxide, how long do I need to wait before I put the rock back into the tank?

The tank looks very healthy +1 on that...now the part you might not like, in my opinion, 9 fish in a 75g tank is pushing the limit, yes, I know they are relatively small but considering 75g is not even a molecule of hydrogen or oxygen compared to a body of water such as an ocean, that being said, #1, I would reduce feeding to once a day & or once every other day (I have 5 fish in a 90g reef & I feed every other day) #2, keep using the GFO in a reactor & #3, employ a refugium (mine is incorporated in my sump) with cheato...they work incredibly well, #4 enjoy the hobby, you seem to have a knack for it.

Thanks for your comments. On the fish, I have been adding fish in an attempt to increase nutrients in my tank because there was a time when my corals were pale. Not anymore. I did lose the Blenny because it ate all of the film algae in my tank and would not eat the hair algae or prepared foods - so it starved. (I was not able to catch it to return to LFS.) So I won't add any more fish.

I will then just keep going with what I am doing and hopefully over time I will starve out the algae.

Thanks again!

 

[hogfanreefer]

One comment would be patience. Carbon dosing takes a while to become effective. For me it took 7-8 weeks before I saw a significant reduction in nutrients. You are doing the right things. I think you will win the battle.

 

[PhaneSoul]

The tank looks very healthy +1 on that...now the part you might not like, in my opinion, 9 fish in a 75g tank is pushing the limit, yes, I know they are relatively small but considering 75g is not even a molecule of hydrogen or oxygen compared to a body of water such as an ocean, that being said, #1, I would reduce feeding to once a day & or once every other day (I have 5 fish in a 90g reef & I feed every other day) #2, keep using the GFO in a reactor & #3, employ a refugium (mine is incorporated in my sump) with cheato...they work incredibly well, #4 enjoy the hobby, you seem to have a knack for it.

Wow, only 5fish? I have 6 fat and happy fish in my 55g and I'm going to double that when I upgrade to my 90g. I also feed once an hour for 5 hours each day and have no issues with softies, lps or algae.

 

[Pet Detective]

Wow, only 5fish? I have 6 fat and happy fish in my 55g and I'm going to double that when I upgrade to my 90g. I also feed once an hour for 5 hours each day and have no issues with softies, lps or algae.

How long has your current set up been up & running?....because time will tell, & by time I mean 5+ years, the build up from overcrowding & overfeeding will spell disaster in the long run, this I can attest to from experience, but hey whatever works for you, I hope it continues to go well for you but beware of a phosphate build up because once that green hair algae takes hold, well....it's not a pretty sight or an easy fix.

 

[PhaneSoul]

Over crowding I hope isn't an issue, I have all peaceful fish and the only potential aggressor is a kole tang. But lots of spaces in the rock work so everyone can claim a piece of the tank. In the 90g there will be even more places. The setup is only 6months old, now for the trick, it's bb so I'm not exactly worried about excess nutrients because I only keep it dirty enough to please my coral I know how long it takes to build up nutrients where algae will thrive, I let my tank go on purpose to grow algae a few months ago so I would have algae for the tang when I introduced him. I knew he would be skittish and wouldn't wanna eat so I made plenty of natural algae for him to eat while he got settled in. A quick cleaning of the sump and back to regular maintenance has stopped any other algae growth.

The main thing here though is I don't have sand. If I had sand I would be a lot more cautious of how I feed and what I stock. In the end it's all about getting into a maintenance routine that works for the critters.

 

[MHG]

I agree with the algae fix marine. It will get rid of it for sure. But it is a short term or a catch up solution. Vacuum the sand bed weekly, prodibio is a great product for sure. Possible cut back on your feeding and it will probable stay gone.

Have a diverse CUC and a grazer or two.

I just made changes to my rock work and the new rock is leaching phosphates. Until it's done I am gonna have some HA for a while...

 

[Pet Detective]

+1 on the bare bottom, it sounds like you have it under control, I wish you continued success.

 

[PhaneSoul]

Thanks. I certainly have done way too much research not to succeed.. Sorry pet detective, I'm bored at work, had to trick someone into talking to me lmao.

 

[mpderksen]

Not to hijack the OP, but this seems an excellent point for those of us with younger tanks (my current one is 18 months old currently).
For long term success, I rely on weekly water changes of 10 gal out of 80, for a 50% monthly total, using RODI, and watching the TDS. I feed 3 small feedings of New Life Spectrum pellets in the auto feeder, a small sheet of Nori in the morning and some PE Mysis in the evening. I have a sock that I rinse weekly, and blow the rocks when I do the water change. I lightly vacuum the sand bed, but only the top part, and rely on the CUC for deeper sifting.
The skimmer pulls mud.
I have 7 fish in a 75, and a few inverts. My bigger challenge there is I have both a One-Spot Foxface and a Kole (probably not a great mix, long term as the ankle has been harassing the FF)
I vacuum the sump and use a vinegar soak on the pumps and skimmer every 3 months.
I change my GFO when I read PO4 reaching 0.03 on my HANNA tester, and change out the carbon at the same time. This is about monthly.
Does that about cover it?

 

[PhaneSoul]

What about skimmer deep cleaning, sump cleaning and when your sandbed becomes full of detritus?

 

[mpderksen]

What about skimmer deep cleaning, sump cleaning and when your sandbed becomes full of detritus?

As mentioned above, the first 2 I do quarterly, and the last I merely the upper crust weekly and let the CUC do the rest.