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Battling LHA

S

SlingingBuddha

as the title stays i'm currently at war with LHA its mainly on my LR and a little on the sides and substrate of the tank. since this is a major eye so i'm taking out all of live rock and spraying it down with the hose on my sink real quick my question is this..

1. what is the actual procedure if i am going to spray down the rock in order to get the algea off
2. how do i go about getting the algae off the sides of my tank and off the substrate, id like to take immediate action waiting for snails is taking far to long

thanks in advance for your help
 
F

Fishtachio

i'm assuming that's hair algae? those are the worst. i would take those rocks out of the tank and scrub them with a toothbrush in a bucket of water. then rinse them with rodi water before putting the rocks back in the tank. as for the substrate with hair algae, you can collect them in a cup and rinse them in rodi water a few times before putting back in the tank. you might also have to play with less light and feeding to get the excess nutrients under control. once that is done, you're gonna have to toothbrush those rocks in the tank at the slightest sign of hair algae. the only way turbo snails will eat that algae is if it looks like peach fuzz.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Do not use tap water or rodi water to do this. You will kill your beneficial bacteria and cause a cycle. When you do your next water change keep the water in a bucket and scrub the rocks in there. I beat hair algae long ago in my 12 by doing this.

Step one do the water change and put old water in two buckets
step two scrub the rock with a tooth brush or if needed a very coarse brush to get the algae off in one bucket. Place the rock in bucket two to get a good look at it. Put it back in the tank if it is good to go.
Repeat these steps until gone. If you need to do extra water changes to accomplish this it will only help the tank. Patience and elbow grease work wonders.
 
dirtycontour

dirtycontour

I wouldn't worry about hair algae at 2 months. It's what is supposed to happen. Take this time to try to perfect your maintenance. Blow out your rocks, clean your substrate and manually remove the GHA. It won't grow if it doesn't have the excess nutrients.

I rubberbanded a toothbrush to the end of my siphon tube. Scrub the algae and it flies into your bucket.
 
S

SHLUZER

Welcome to the club ! (I mean LHA club).
I've heard of using peroxide to battle LHA. Trying it. Not working.
Probly need to reduce the bioload. Can also reduce feedint, but that means that weaker/shyer fish will starve. Can reduce lighting, but that means problems with SPS and anemones. Can use denitrifying media (maybe?).
Cleaner crew, sea hares, herbivore fish - did not work.
 
S

SlingingBuddha

What do you do with the peroxide? This is such an eye sore, I only have 2 clowns should I only feed once a day I do have a tendency to overfeed them at times.

Would no light affect the fish? I have no corals so I could cut light immensely if it wouldn't hurt the fish
 
F

Fishtachio

what kind of filtration do you have in this tank and it's size? also, what kind of lighting and for how long do you have them on?
 
joeb558

joeb558

I have battled hair algae in my now one year old tank for six months. I tried peroxide and a few other methods but to no avail. I was told it needed to run its course by my lfs. With some patience, water changes and vacuuming out what I could its finally 95% gone. The key is to keep nitrates and phosphates at Zero for an extended period. I also kept magnesium levels at the higher side. Not sure why but I was told by a few members that would help. Take it from someone who was frustrated for months. With proper care it will eventually diminish. Good luck.
 
J

jpkrze

I know the HA is really ugly and you want it out of your tank asap but I found patience is key. Lots of wet skimming, change filter socks frequently, cut down on photoperiod, add some turbo snails, keep Mg high, kalk in ato, and ride it out. Some manual removal of the long strands helps but I wouldnt go crazy trying to pick it all off as you'll just spread it. 3-4 weeks of this and it should be a noticeable improvement. Just my personal exp, but everyones tank is different
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
These were previously said but is what worked for me. I agree with Mnat's suggestion as well as cutting back light and feedings and more water changes. I added a GFO reactor as well.
Good luck and patience is the key and i don't have any but got through it.

Edit: I also started dosing Magnesium.
 
Last edited:
kschweer

kschweer

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
Moderator
Fish will be fine without light for an extended period of time. You can get away with turning the lights on for a half hour before feeding and keep on for another half hour after feeding.

As stated in previous posts this is somewhat to be expected in a new tank. Find the root cause of the algae because as much as you remove it manually whatever is causing it will still be there. Feed lightly, keep on top of water changes with quality RO/DI water. If you're not making your own be sure to test it and make sure TDS is zero. You can also try bumping up your mag with kent tech-m. Good luck
 
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